scott and chauncey talk with Alec to get our info on Iowa State.
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Boscoe’s Boys
Summer School Behind Enemy Lines: Iowa St.
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Learn more at bankofamerica.com/customized cash. What would you like the power to do? Please put your hands together and make a little noise for your favorite wildcatters, the handsome Bosco boys. Boom. The boys are back. And as of time, you guys are listening to this. This is the final class, the final episode of our summer school behind enemy line series. We're talking about Farmageddon, the last one to play it be played state side until 2026, which is wild to say, but hey, whatever I'm looking forward to that Ireland trip. I have a special guest for you guys. You may remember him from his time at EMA online. He is now with Cyclone alert on the 247 sports network is the man, the myth, the legend, the person that Mason both loves to say RIP, but not dead. Alec Bussy, Alec, welcome to the show, my friend. I don't know if I ever had you on while you were covering case at EMA online, but I do have to say I miss your coverage with case state. I miss you and Mason doing podcasts together. And I know you're covering Iowa state. Well, even as much as I don't love the cyclones, I'm sure you're doing a great job. Welcome to Bosco's boys. Hey, thanks for having me on. Appreciate it. And of course, the kind words from in the past when I was covering a case state for rivals was obviously a lot of fun to, you know, meet Mason and meet Gabe. And we were, you know, also really close together and we used to talk every day. Mason and I were up till about one 130 in the morning after calls for Paul 25 released. So that just kind of gives you a good insight into how close we all are. Yeah, Mason comes on the show quite often. So I'll give you this opportunity. If you want to give us any embarrassing Mason stories from your guys's gear working together or even afterwards, you can do so now. And I won't tell him. So if he doesn't listen, he can't, he can't, you know, get back at you the next time he comes on with me. So now's the time if you want to take it. Yeah, I don't know if there's anything that immediately comes to mind. I would just say our road trips together were like incredibly fun across the big 12. We never worked with each other at all when I got hired by rivals to cover case state full time. And I remember our first road trip, it was down to Oklahoma, because I was a first road game. And we were still kind of trying to get to get to know each other. And yeah, that road trip was great. I guess one of the first moments that I kind of like realized that we were going to become really good friends. We were listening to the Missouri Auburn game. I don't know if you remember how crazy that ending was where they like lost it out of bounds, right? It the goal line and overtime. And we were listening to that. We were both just like screaming, laughing, like having a good time as we listened to this hectic ending on the radio and the car drive down to Norman, which ended up being a obviously great night for the Wildcats upsetting the Sooners again. So yeah, I mean, that was probably one of the first moments where I've realized that we were going to be great friends. And then it obviously just kind of blossomed from there with, you know, so many other road trips across the big 12. And then, you know, even further into the postseason work for the wildcat basketball team that, you know, obviously advanced the elite eight. Yeah, your season, it was a big 12 championship, sugar bowl, birth and an elite eight run. If you had to just zero in on one memory or one moment or one game from that year when you're covering K state that sticks with you the closest, which one would that be? Yeah, for me, it's probably, you know, the reporting I did on a story on Marquis Noelle the night before or the day of actually that game against Michigan State in the sweet 16. I believe it was maybe it was the elite eight game. I believe it was a sweet 16. You know, it traveled around New York his hometown with his dad and his brother first story and what's all the different parks that he grew up playing in saw their carbon building that he grew up in. And just kind of, I don't want to say unfortunate, but, you know, challenging circumstances that he kind of grew up in and was able to overcome on his path to becoming, you know, an all-American at Kansas State and achieve everything that he did, which I'm saying in his last season as a wildcat. And I would say that that was probably my most rewarding moment covering K state that year. There was obviously a ton of great moments inside Bramledge. You think about the game against KU. You think about, you know, being able to go to Allen Fieldhouse, someone who doesn't have a hatred for Kansas basketball built into me. That was an awesome experience being able to experience the fog and everything that kind of goes into that environment and the history there. And then even, like I said, the road trips with Mason, I feel like those were all just great moments. And, you know, as someone who didn't grow up rooting for K state, right, like it was fun to be able to be around football that mattered is what I would kind of always say to Mason because I grew up not rooting for the most successful college football programs. But it was fun to be around a program that mattered, had a strong following and was selling out their home games every single Saturday. Awesome. Well, as much as I'd like to keep talking about that year in K state sports, you're here to talk about the cyclones. And I got to admit, you know, I stole this idea from, you know, CBS Sports two, four, seven, you did a great job talking about the cyclones once already at a more national level. It's a more niche audience for K state. But the first question is kind of looking back at last year, I look at Iowa state and I see some folks, Josh Payt. I know he has adopted Iowa State, but saying they're going to win the conference. And I see some folks saying Dark Horse, oh, they'll get to Arlington. I look at it and say, Hey, it's a seven and six season that, you know, I'm biased, but I think without a blizzard, maybe it's a six and seven type season. When you look at the external folks talking about Iowa state, do you think that there's not enough hype too much hype or just enough? And how do you perceive that being a little bit closer to the program? Yeah, I would say there's just enough right now. And I would honestly say it's kind of growing, but that could just be the content silos that I'm in and who I'm kind of absorbing. It's hard to not have, I think confidence if you're an Iowa state fan looking at this team and what their potential could be given, how much they return 18 to 20 starters depending on who you're deciding to count. Either way, it's a very large number. You know, I kind of lean closer to the 20. Then I do the 18 just for my numbers. And obviously losing TJ Tampa and all American corner, all big 12 corner was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens on the third day of April's draft. Will be hard to replace, but they also carry on a respected leader at the linebacker position, but I think he's somebody who they're prepared to replace with some of the players that they have returning at that linebacker position. And on the offensive line, they return everyone, they return everyone at the skill positions, except two running backs, Cartavius Norton and Eli Sanders. Those guys actually led Iowa State and Carries, and I believe yards entering the last week of the year before Abu Samuk had his record breaking performance at K-State. So I think that if you're looking for a concern with this Iowa State team, it's going to be how well they're going to be able to run the ball. But you know, it's going to be your ball coach defense. They have been for the last few years, but John Haycock is a DC. I think Rocco Beck is one of the top half big 12 quarterbacks at worst. And then you can kind of flirt with the idea of including him in the top four or five of that group too. I think the big 12 quarterback depth is pretty impressive when you look at a guy like KJ Jefferson down at UCF coming in the league. But yeah, I think that there's a reason to be optimistic if you're an Iowa State fan, but there's also a reason to kind of look at what their schedule looks like and understand that, you know, there's potentially some roadblocks there that could prevent you from getting to, you know, eight, nine wins potentially getting to a big 12 title game appearance down in Arlington. It's like you read my mind because when it comes to Rocco Beck, I think he's almost like, you know, one of those ink blot tests, you know, you can see whatever you want to. I see him as a borderline top half guy. You see him more as a cemented top half, maybe even competing for top four in the conference at quarterback. What is it about him that that makes you confident that, hey, he will cement himself solidly in that top half and maybe challenge for that, you know, top, you know, 25 top 33% of the league. Yeah, for me, it's he's a really good decision maker. He threw some picks early in the season. If you go look at like his game logs, but by the end of the year, he was, you know, making really good decisions. He only had one interception in the last, you know, four or five games of the year was against obviously Texas, one of the best teams in the big 12 best teams in the country last year. And he threw for 3,100 yards, 23 touchdowns in his first season as a starting quarterback. I think he's a really good decision maker gets the ball out quickly. But I also think that he has a strong group of pass coaches around him that help elevate him. Jaylenoll, Jaylen Higgins, two potential all big 12 players on the outside or receiver Higgins. Obviously a preseason all big 12 selection. Ben Bramer at tight end is someone that Iowa State is really high on. Really good athlete. He had a touchdown reception or two as a true freshman a year ago. And then they made some additions at pass catcher as well with Isaiah Allson transferred in from army. They added Eli Green and a transfer from North Dakota State after the spring. They've surrounded him with players that should help elevate him. I will say, I think it's worth noting that like Kansas State and like KU and some other schools in the big 12, Iowa State has replaced their offensive coordinator. HU Haas was hired by the LA Rams as a pass game specialist on stomach based staff. And they've decided to kind of promote from within and Taylor Mauser will take over play calling duties. He's coached tight ends for Matt Campbell for a while, but he's never called played before. So there is some reason to, you know, be skeptical, I guess, about the next step coming for him because I think HU Haas had a really good first season as a play caller for Iowa State in 2023. But I do think Rocco has the consistency to be a top half big 12 quarterback, but maybe not the central leading playmaking ability that you're going to see out of a cam rising a KJ Jefferson, certainly Jalen Daniels. And you know, I'm really high on what Avery Johnson can do for K State this year with his athleticism and his overall talent. I think Rocco can just be really, really steady and really consistent. And when I would say it's had that at the quarterback position, they've been pretty solid under Matt Campbell. Is there any concern third play caller in three years with Iowa State or is it? Hey, it's being promoted from within. So things should continue to just chug along and maybe a growing pain here there learning how to call plays, but not a lot of hang up because it is from within. Yeah, I think it's a really good question. And so there's something that I want to monitor throughout training camp in the early weeks of the season. Play calling is something that's challenging. I talked to you about it for a story in the fall shortly after I started covering Iowa State and he was like, do you have to really observe some of the best play callers in the country, whether that's Steve Sarkeesian, you know, Lane Kiffin is in that group. You know, there's so many guys, Petrino, who's just hired at Arkansas to be their offensive coordinator. Those are guys that have been respected offensive play callers throughout their careers. And I think it'll be really interesting to see how well Mauser kind of comes about that. I think that the overall scheme isn't going to change much, right? Like it's Matt Campbell's program. It's his ninth year here. The scheme has ever really changed that much from my understanding. So I think it'll be really interesting to see how Mauser kind of fits into that adds his own your wrinkles and his own new flavor. They have said they want to throw the ball vertically a little bit more in 2024 than they may be having the past. But to be able to do that, you need guys to get open downfield. And I think that Iowa State, you know, has one of the better receiver rooms in the conference and they should be able to do that. But you also have to be able to pass pro and you have to do other things to, you know, effectively throw the ball vertically. eBay Motors is here for the ride. With over 122 million parts, you can make sure your number one ride or die stays running smoothly. Great kits, LED headlights, bumpers, whatever your baby needs, eBay Motors has it. And with eBay guaranteed fit, it's guaranteed to fit your ride the first time every time. Plus at these prices, you're burning rubber, not cash. Keep your rider die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only exclusions apply. All right. So Abu Sama, that's a name that's going to haunt K State fans, probably for as long as they live. Is he going to go down as the next great running back at Iowa State or is that Blizzard game going to just be something that goes down in folklore and he's kind of more of a cult hero than an all time great. Yeah. Obviously, the gaming up to Kansas State is a memorable one 16 carries, I think 275 yards through touchdowns, all of which I think were what like 60 70 yards or something crazy like that. It was just the, I mean, I don't think Iowa State took a snap like in K State territory. I think every touchdown was over 50 yards. I yeah, I don't think my life, usually a 45 minute drive because I came from Topeka. It took me like two and a half hours to get there. It took me three and a half to get back. I, I, I, I want to throw up just talking about it, but I'm a perfect one, not a professional. But you know, I do this podcast. I try to do a good job. So I figure I'd ask about it even as much as I hate doing that. It's the weirdest football game I have ever seen and probably ever will see in my entire life. I was down there. Oh, there's some good stories coming down there for that game. You know, stay in Manhattan the Friday night before. Wake up and they're still on the ground. I'm like, Oh, this will be fun driving because I wasn't able to get a hotel room in Manhattan. That's Saturday night. So then was like you going to go back to Topeka, but I had heard from some of the TV reporters. I think Laney Gerberts told me, yeah, like it's backed up for like two and a half hours. I'm like, I'm not at one o'clock in the morning because it was a night game. I'm like, I'm not sitting on the interstate for two and a half hours. I'm going to Topeka of all places. So I ended up staying with Mason's brother on the couch and Mason did too, because he's a student at K state now. And I was fortunate that Marriott and Topeka, they, uh, they refunded my room, but back to a boo boo. They are high on his potential. Um, they were high on him entering his freshman year, um, his athleticism, his speed, their high on. I do think that like, I'm skeptical ish on him compared to other people just because I remember like his struggles at different points in the year. And he was a true freshman back like freshman, usually struggle, um, at various points, but he had about, you know, 600 yards last season and about 300 of them came in two games. Um, against K state, he had a really good game against, uh, BYU had to touch on runs against BYU. Um, and I would say it's bull clenching victory in 2023. But he also had a ton of games where he finished with less than 50 yards. Um, he had four yards against Memphis in the bull game on 12 carries. He had 11 yards against a really good Texas defensive front at Jack Dreyce. He only had 21 yards against Baylor included a fumble and didn't get much opportunity after that. Um, so there is reason to be skeptical that he does take the next step at tailback for Iowa State. And I think they're running by our position overall for me. It's just like the biggest question mark that I maybe have, especially on the offensive side for Iowa State. Um, Carson Hanson didn't get a ton of carries last year, played in all 12 games as a true freshman. They're high on what he can be, but he just didn't see it on the field last year as, as a rusher of the football. Um, they had Joe and Jackson, a transfer from Eastern Michigan. He, uh, transfers in after about 900 rushing yards last two seasons with the EMU, um, good throughout out of the backfield in the passing game too. But I think a bull is going to be the interval on tailback for Iowa State entry in the year and they need him to take the next step and be more consistent. Like you would rather have a guy rush for 50 yards in four-story games than 200 yards in four games. And it all come in the last game. Right. Like that's just kind of the way my mind works and they need him to be more consistently productive and they need the offensive line to help him more too. All right. Before we keep going, this podcast is brought to you by our friends at Charlie Hussle, clothing company, Charlie Hussle specializes in the vintage inspired hometown and collegiate gear and produces some of the best case state and any Iowa State fans listen, some great Iowa State gear as well. Shop Charlie Hussle's case state collection and show off your purple pride and styling comfort shop online at Charlie Hussle.com. Or if you're in the Kansas city metro like me, any of their multiple spots in Kansas city, Charlie Hussle, vintage made fresh. I believe memory serves me. All right. You're an Illinois guy, correct? Yeah, it's very good to school. Yep. They got some Illinois gear for you as well. So you might need to check out charliehustle.com. All right. Where a few weeks from preseason camp will heck it by the time folks are listening, this will be a it'll go out next week. It might be like a week and a half week out from preseason camp. So what are the expectations for Iowa State? You talked about it earlier. It is a tougher schedule. Matt Campbell teams seemingly have a tough time, you know, ramping up early, but they finish strong. So if you're to put some sort of baseline expectation out there for the cyclones, what would it be? Their Vegas win line is seven and a half. And I think you're going to be right around there. They have a pretty fortunate start to the schedule, in my opinion, but a really difficult November. You know, the game at Iowa, the Sihawk series, they've struggled to win that series for the most part. They go to Iowa City this year. So it's a road game on November 7th. That'll be challenging for Iowa State. But if they can find a way after the Baylor game to be four in one, in their first five games before going on the road to play West Virginia, I think they're going to be a really good spot. They then have UCF Tech, a game at KU, which is obviously at Arrowhead. And then they have Cincinnati at Utah and at Kansas State 10 years. So you see how hard it gets late, at least on paper with the last, you know, four games being against three teams that are probably picked within the top five or six of the league. So they need to stack wins early. I think eight wins is realistic for this team. If you win some of those 50 50 games, you take care of business against teams that on paper, we think Iowa State's better than in 2024. You know, if things really go well, maybe you get to nine wins and you're fighting first bot in Arlington in the big 12 title game, which I think is on the table for like eight teams, nine teams in the big 12 this year. I was doing my big 12 preseason ballot. I'm like, okay, like, they could like they could conceivably do it. Well, I can't this team do it. So I think that there's a path for I would say to get there. You know, I think it would have to take some fortune just like it would for every team in the big 12 to kind of get to that point, especially within an unbalanced schedule. But I think seven, eight, nine wins is certainly on the table for this team in 2024. You touched on a couple spots earlier specifically. It sounds like the running game offensive line and tailbacks. So let's flip it to the defensive side. Are there any questions on that side of the ball for Iowa state or is like, Hey, we got a great defensive coordinator. We got a lot of folks back. It's locked and loaded and ready to go. Yeah, I would say corner is a position that I have concerns about just with the depth of the position. You lose TJ Tampa. Like I said, a little bit earlier, they're going to move John Tes Williams into the starting role. He started the KU game last year in place of miles purchase, who's basically started for two games. And then William started the bowl game as well with TJ Tampa opting out of the bowl game. So the cyclones will, you know, have a semi experience corner room with miles purchase and John Tes Williams, most likely to start Darian Porter. He's played a good number of snaps at corner throughout his career or two. But they did add a couple guys in the spring, Matthew Bass, a Juco guy that they seem to be impressed with throughout the summer. And then they added Ryan Robinson, Jr. He's a transfer from LSU from a top 800 guy in our 24/7 sports composite ranking in the 2023 class. I believe it was. And he yeah, it was 2023 class. Counting backwards there is really hard for me, by the way. And it's so weird because you'll have some guys who will enroll early. So they're showing up in December of one year and they committed, you know, 18 months out from when their actual class date is. And no, I hear you that that's, that's. I mastered the accounting ahead thing. Like, if I'm talking about recruiting, it's like, all right, we're talking about 2025. But then it's like, okay, it's 24. And then he was a freshman last year. So 2023. He played in a couple games for LSU, didn't get a ton of snaps at corner, mostly played special teams in time with the Tigers. But if you know anything about college, well, nationally, like LSU secondary was horrible last year. Their defense overall was awful. And probably the reason they didn't end up competing for a CFP. Well, I hated it because one of my, you know, big takes, I was like, Brian Kelly is going to win a the national title with LSE last year. So I was trying to be bold. So I was like, all right, come on, make me look smart. And then that defense did not make me look smart, made me look like an idiot. I'm a Brian Kelly stockholder. I think he eventually gets over the hump at LSU. If I smile, it's a net or order I can, I think Brian Kelly can as well. I was just about to say, because you brought it up, if he wins a national title at LSU, do you have to say that is the best job in college football? Because how many spots would then have what four national titles in what? Hypothetically, 25 to 30 years? Yeah, it's, it's in the conversation for me. Like, I mean, do you remember like fall of like 2021, Joe Klatt, like randomly tweeted out his top five jobs in college football and like, it ignited a firestorm on college football Twitter. Oh, it was nuts. Yeah. LSU's in the conversation. I think Georgia's probably the best job when you think about how much talent is in the state. And like, you don't really have to compete with Georgia Tech for in state talent. I think Georgia's probably number one. But I think LSU is right there, because there's a lot of talent in LSU that just wants to play for the highest. Less miles and Ed Orger on guys who just didn't do it. I guess less miles was okay at Oklahoma state, but I mean, I don't know. I don't know. Well, what about that conversation another time? Yeah. Save it. Save it unlocked the path at LSU, like the formula, I guess you could say. But yeah, Robinson transfers in from LSU didn't get a ton of snaps. He'll be a richer freshman for Iowa state this year. They just don't have a lot of bodies at corner, in my opinion. They've got a lot at safety. And maybe one or two of those guys ends up moving over to corner. If there's an injury or whatever. But just having to replace in all American corners, concerning to me, especially with some of the limited snaps that they have. And they don't have a great, like, big corner either that I think they're expecting to start. I think purchase and Williams are both under six foot. So if you have to match up against a more physical receiver in the Big 12, like a tetarombic millin, for example, which, you know, Iowa state doesn't play in the regular season, but perhaps in Arlington or whatever, that could be a challenge for them. Ryan Reynolds here for, I guess, my hundreds mint commercial. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Honestly, when I started this, I thought I'd only have to do, like, four of these. I mean, it's unlimited to premium wireless for $15 a month. How are there still people paying two or three times that much? I'm sorry, I shouldn't be victim blaming here. Give it a try at midmobile.com/save, whatever you're ready. $45 up from payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speed slower above 40 gigabytes of CDTails. All right. And then where on the field, offense or defense, would cycling fans be the most confident in as we're sitting here in late July? Yeah, I think it's got to be either receiver or defensive line. We talked about receiver a little bit earlier, a couple, all the 12 candidates with Noel Higgins, a couple of transfer editions as well. And then Benigna Goya is someone that Matt Campbell's been high on, but the defensive line is a spot that I think it started to gain a lot of attention across the Big 12. Like, hey, this D line could be pretty good. Their turn, Tyler Onieta, and they return, JR Singleton, Dom Orange, three starters from a year ago. Canard Snyder transfers in from Louisiana Monroe. He's going to be a pretty valuable pass rusher for this team, I think in 2024. They added him, I think, with the expectation of him just being like a third down pass rusher, but in 2024, I think he has potential to play a good amount of snaps, potentially take snaps away from Joey Peterson, someone who's been on this team for a few years now, and then a couple of other young guys coming off the edge. I can easily, I was saying, you know, Samay, Samir Hawke on the interior of the D line could be valuable as well. There's a lot of depth on the D line, and it's a group that was pretty productive by the end of the last season. And with Tampa departing, I think they understand there's an increased sense of urgency, I guess, for them to get in the backfield in great negative plays. I love it. I don't love it because I really buy into the farm again in rivalry, but it is, I love talking trenches. And I do think that Dominic Orange is a guy who, I remember his recruitment, I remember he's, I believe he came to the city area kid. And the talk was, okay, a lot of schools completely backed off and Sheil House, who was a Kansas City guy, the story in this neck of the woods was one of the high school coaches said, Hey, just take him. I know he's disappointed in his last, you know, 18 months here, but he can be a player. And when he went there, I was like, all right, well, he'll be in the portal and he'll end up at Missouri State or something later. Sure enough, he has been a player for Iowa State. So I like talking trenches, don't like Iowa State being good. But we'll move on. Before we do, I want to give a shot to Manhattan Brewing Company. They've been rocking with us for over two years now. And remember football season, it'll be here before you know it. And the official tailgating beer of Boscos was for the third season straight is Tony Wheat from Manhattan Brewing Company. Make sure you're always following them on social media. We're recording this a little bit in advance. So look, I can't tell you exactly what events are going to be going on this weekend and next week. But I guarantee there's fun stuff. There's always events going on Friday in the alley. They have great food trucks. And if you guys listen to the episode, the sponsor spotlight episode from a couple of weeks ago, you know, there's going to be all sorts of fun events, all football season long Manhattan Brewing Company, truly the best brewery in the state of Kansas. And I think the region shout out to Manhattan Brewing Company. All right, we've got two final questions. And this one, I've asked a version to everyone, but I think it'll be interesting to get your take on it. We talked about Iowa State's schedule earlier and they have a lot of fun games. A lot of them are away from Jack Trice though. But how would you rank the excitement meter for Iowa State K-State? Is it the top game that K Iowa State fans have circled this year? Is it behind the Iowa game? I'm sure, you know, if you're having a good season, there might be 30,000 people going to Arrowhead. So how does the hierarchy of excitement rank for all these big game for Iowa State this season? Yeah, I think you probably highlighted the top three. There might be more hatred amongst Iowa State fans for Iowa than there is Kansas State and football particularly. So I think they really look forward to Psyhawk, but it's obviously on the road. So they're not going to be able to get as many people into the stadium as they will against K-State for farming at him. I'm intrigued to see what happens with the ticketing situation against K-U and Arrowhead. I think there's a world where Iowa State fans do what they do for the big 12 basketball tournament and they like find a way to take over the stadium because they love going down there. I think it's those three. I don't know how easily it is for me to put them in order. I guess I would probably just go Iowa State K-U just because I feel like that's probably the order that a lot of Iowa State fans would rank their rivalries. Now, I don't really think that K-U is necessarily like a huge football rivalry. Like there's some extra disdain there than there is for like Texas Tech or whatever, but all right K-U was so bad for so long that like I think a lot of people are just like oh K-U football like we're playing Kansas this week. It's obviously not that way for K-State fans, but like there's a growing displeasure. I guess you could say for Iowa from Iowa State fans towards K-U as they've gotten better at Lance Leipold has done really good work at Lawrence. But yeah, I put in that order at Iowa then the game against K-State 10 a year and then depending on how the ticketing situation, how aggressive Iowa State fans want to be for the game at Arrowhead against K-U. Yeah, that one's going to be interesting. My brother is a K-U fan. He's a football season ticket holder. You guys master's degree from K-U. He and I talked about that game and I said, look, if Iowa State's having a season where they at that point they think they're going to be contending for Arlington. There's a chance there could be 30,000 Iowa State fans down there, especially, you know, I would imagine it's not going to be that, I mean it's a 76,000 seat stadium and again K-U. It sounds like they're kind of having trouble selling season ticket packages. They've had to send out a bunch of kind of pleased by ticket emails already. So that could be a very interesting game. I assume you'll be at that one covering it. Planning to be, yeah. Haven't like looked ahead to travel for those different things yet. It would be fun. It's not going to happen, but it would be fun. Like the one year that K-U is doing this, if they played Iowa State like a 50/50 neutral game at Jack Trice. Like if they made it like kind of like a Red River or the cocktail party down Georgia, Florida, if they did it just this one year, K-U won't do it and quite frankly there's no reason for them individually to do it because you're only hurting yourself at that point. Like you're increasing the revenue for your, you know, conference rival and making it more difficult for you, but it just be fun for fans. So I wouldn't hate it if they did it. I think it'd be fun, but I don't expect K-U to do that. Yeah. So back, I think it would have been 2009 and 2010 K-State and Iowa State tried to make that happen in Arrowhead. But I think maybe like, I don't know if either game broke 50,000 and they're like, all right, let's just go back to campus. It doesn't, it doesn't work for very many college football things to not be on campus. Like I'm a huge proponent that like games should be on campus, but there's like certain things that you can do off campus and like fund environments. Like Red River is awesome. Like you do it around the Texas State Fair. The cocktail party is sweet. You mentioned Illinois earlier when you were doing your ad read like they're playing Northwestern at Wrigley Field this year. They did that back in 2009. Northwestern is in a similar situation as K-U getting a new stadium. Like those are fun. Like those are like one-offs. Like Illinois Northwestern played at Soldier Field a few times. It was just like empty. Like you have to do it with like randomness, like one-off things with like fan bases that I actually are like passionate about and teams that are good. Like Red River and the cocktail party, it works really well there because it's an institution and those teams are always good and they have massive fan bases. I would just kind of like to see like if you did it one time between K-U and I would say like how would it work? Like would it sell out? Would you have a lot of fans there especially as the two teams are picked on the top half of the league? Yeah, I think I think if Farmah get it and that's where the name actually originated, it all started as a joke on goemaw.com. And then it just took off and had a life of its own. But if that would have if they would have tried to do that with I was state. Well heck K-State was I think what in 2009, six and six and didn't go to a bowl game because they played two FCS teams and I think they were seven and five or eight and four. Not great the second year and I would say it was garbage for both those. Yeah. If they would have tried it you know more recently with both teams on the up, I think that K-State and I would say both could probably bring 35, 40,000 to Arrowhead and it could have that but I don't think they will ever try it again after it failed. I don't either and it's a good series to have on campus and it's fun. It's anti-Aerland I take it all the stuff that I've picked up for me and I'm not looking forward to that. No I think it's I think it's fun. I don't know. It's just like a unique I like games to be on campus. If you're going to do a game in Ireland like do it in week zero like they are, I think it's I don't know like did you like read or listen to any like the things that were said about the whole Ireland thing like how many fans are expecting to go over there and they like so yeah so I watch recent numbers it's like okay like you can't you can't use Notre Dame as your example for how many fans come over like or in the attendance for the game like you can't do that it's Notre Dame and there's a lot of people who are going to go there to see family because they're Irish or like Irish people are going to go because it's like the one collegeable team they watch because they're the fighting Irish like remove Notre Dame. So so I I agree but they I believe because I've been tracking this ever since I caught wind that it could be happening. I'm pretty sure Florida state and Georgia Tech sold out as well. So I I think in you know my listeners have heard me say this and I've said this on a couple other shows I think that I wish it wasn't case say I would say and I wish it wasn't a year where you know I wish case state was the road team so like throw out some of that logistics and I know there is some you know financial game for case state but whatever. I think that there is an appetite growing for American football in Europe and if you look at what there's going to be two games in Germany and there's like three in one NFL games this is the next that the Ireland college football game is the next highest level of American football that gets played over there. So I think look it's like 47,000 I think in the stadium for American football or something like that I think between case state and I was I think maybe 25, 30,000 combined but I think it'll get close to a sellout I think you're going to see Irish fans I think you're going to see people from the UK which anyone who's going over there this is not the part of Ireland that is part of the United Kingdom don't say you're in the United Kingdom don't ask for a pound it's euros and all that stuff don't get in trouble with any IRA folks but I think people will come over from Germany I think it will get close to a sellout if it doesn't I think it will be a pretty fun event. It very well could I don't know I just think they college games in general should be on campus like I've said I will say Matt Brown the guy who does extra points newswater he's gonna follow on Twitter he was big and like covering the video game release using a bunch of FOIA stuff he had an interesting thread yesterday about how like college football in this video game could be huge for the growth of the sport overseas and college football could be like the thing that European people with American football like you said grows overseas latch onto because it's the closest thing in terms of like the tribalism and the passion that college football fans have for the team that club soccer fans would have to their teams like are you a Chiefs fan I see the Chiefs pennant behind you yeah yeah sorry yeah I'm a Bears fan like I like the Bears like they're they're fun not really but they could be fun like you're probably a big Chiefs fan they've been to the Super Bowl however many times last four years they won back to back Super Bowl but like you're doing a K-State podcast you're doing a Chiefs podcast like you can't wait more about K-State football than you do the Chiefs like yeah I where you at school and everything else like you just care way more like there's an intrinsic value with it there that I think could grow college football overseas if it if you're able to kind of like do this with the video game I don't know I think it will be interesting look if that is college football's aim they need to get the licensing deal for the Ireland stadium because that is not in the game I don't have a system I'm not playing it but I was following that stuff around so apparently the licensing fee they didn't want to pay for the stadium but look if that's going to be the kick off to college football every single year they need to get that license in the game and I would not be shocked if what five ten years from now you're going to have a game in Ireland a game in Scotland Liverpool Frankfurt Germany some of these spots that will not be getting NFL games and you see almost a full week zero slate of games being played in Europe I am that bullish on American football and the college game over there so it'll be interesting I'm going so I'm looking forward to experiencing it and I could have egg on my face if there's 20,000 total fans in the stadium I'll look pretty dumb but I think it'll be a little bit better than that so we'll see yeah I'm certainly looking forward to it it'll be fun to track I know I would say fans are looking forward to going over there and you can find affordable ish packages if you're looking to kind of get it through the sponsor Erlingus so it's not like it's going to kill you financially to go as long as you're responsible and you're making good decisions with it all yeah there you go always be responsible with your money unless you don't want to I'm not going to tell you what to do the final question I've been asking everyone if K-shaped fans listening to this are doing their own homework putting together their own power rankings and just getting ready for the season what would you tell them to spend a little bit of extra time on Iowa State researching oh that's a really good question I guess I would just say look at how much is returning for this team they're top five in the country both offensive and offensive returning production I think they're the only team in the country that can say that Oklahoma State's close there too I think but I know Iowa State is the only team that's kind of right there and look at the production that they have returning and how important it was to their success a year ago when you return so much especially in this era of extreme player movement it's hard to not be a little bit bullish especially when the team last season ended the year on a hot streak 23 of 4 I think it was 10 the 2023 season excluding the bowl game so yeah I I guess it was three of five and before that it was one two three four five five of seven so if you end the year while you return a lot there's a reason to be bullish the next coming season so I think I would just really look into you know how much they return and why those returning pieces could be really valuable for Iowa State as they take the next step into becoming sophomores and juniors and then just a few seniors on the roster because there's not a ton awesome well Alec I appreciate you all the time you spent with me plug in anything you got going on at the site plug your social media is anything you'd want to or talk trash on masons nc AA or I guess it's college football 25 if you want to talk trash on him you can do that as well yeah I can't do that he beat me I'm in two games that we played so I won't do that oh okay what what do you play with Illinois who do you play I did so the first game we did was I was Ole Miss I thought playing as Ole Miss would be fun they're supposed to be good they have some players I like good uniforms he beat me with K-State what as I was playing Ole Miss and the second game we played we did Oregon and Tennessee and that one was pretty close but he got me and now I'm I think it scored too but that one was close that one was fun so yeah we've been playing that we'll probably continue to play that as much as our significant others will allow us to do that but yeah you can check us out check our workout over at cyclone alert myself and pay in blazavitch we are pretty proud of the work we do at the Iowa State 24/7 sports website you can follow me on twitter @alek_bussy if you don't appreciate you having me on and you know appreciate getting an off topic too that was fun at the very points we did yeah no that that's what makes some of this fun so Alec I appreciate you as long as you're covering Iowa State you're gonna be the guy I come to because we get a talk you know about your time at K-State and all sorts of fun stuff so I appreciate you coming on folks listening again if we recorded this in advance because I have a busy week next week but this is the end of the summer school series this is the final full week of July as you guys are listening to it next week or the following week we are going to have preseason camp back before you know we're gonna have the blitz month series where we will be talking to everyone who covers K-State to get ready for the season so thank you everyone for following along I'm declaring the offseason officially over with this podcast with Alec so congratulations you get to put that feather in your hat you're part of the end of the offseason so for Alec for my dog Chauncey who slept through this entire episode my name's Scott McFarland we love you guys and go cats hail to the white wildcat in spirit wildcat in fight hail alma mater from sea to sea onward for ever hail victory fight you can stay wildcats for alma mater fight glory in the combat for the purple and the white faithful to our colors we will ever be a fighting ever fighting for a wildcat victory fight fight fight you can stay wildcats for alma mater fight fight fight fight glory in the combat for the purple and the white faithful to our colors we will ever be fighting ever fighting for a wildcat victory go state One, two, baratamala, baratamala, baratamala, baratamala. 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