Future Memorial Stadium Expansion

[8bucks 7,664]

10 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

University of Florida.

Acceptance rate 19%.

And Steve Spurrier was unquestionably the seed for the academic  turnaround. And Urban Meyer and Tebow cemented it… sent it from a top 100 university to a top 25 that takes students away from the ivies who want a full campus experience and think that UM is too cold.

I was amazed to learn how strong Florida is now academically.  I suspect some of that is attributed to the bright scholars program keeping Florida's best in-state but do you know what else have they have done away from sports to make such a turn around?  

[Stuhoo 91,891]

1 hour ago, 8bucks said:

I was amazed to learn how strong Florida is now academically.  I suspect some of that is attributed to the bright scholars program keeping Florida's best in-state but do you know what else have they have done away from sports to make such a turn around?  

It's a combination of a lot of things that helped UF to get positive momentum. IMO many of these things could be applied to IU:

1. Football in a real way helped make it far more famous.
2. The population of the state has grown so, so much, which has made admission for in-state students far more competitive.
3. As you said, Bright Futures makes it incredibly cost effective. Full disclosure; my kid is a sophomore at UF Honors. He/we turned down auto-admission to Kelley Honors and some very good Northeast Schools for UF because, well, UF is actually paying him to go there. Yes, after he pays tuition, room, and board, he is coming out about $2,000 ahead each year he stays. That is compared to Kelley/IU out of state for about $15k for room and board and some Northeast schools for over $80k annually.
4. The weather + Gainesville, which is a very Bloomington-like campus and is attractive to out-of-staters.
5. And finally (and very importantly) perception = and creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. The perception that UF is now a destination school makes the best students nationwide want to apply. And the more they apply the harder it is to get into, which further contributes to the perception that it's a destination school.

The State of Florida is certainly not 'all-that' academically at other levels; there are still massive swaths of crappy school districts and relatively cheap but lower end state and private colleges. But UF has raised into the top-25-ish range, right there with the Michigan, UVA, NYU, UCLA class of schools, and UCF, all 60,000 students has gone from an anyone gets in school to a top 125 school with a 45% acceptance rate.

[Pagoda 6,113]

Fascinating topic.  I’ve never looked into why schools fall or rise in the rankings.

It’s interesting @Stuhoo listed reasons and none where that UF hired a bunch of great professors students wanted to learn from.  Maybe the better faculty comes after the student demand increases?  I don’t know.  Marketing/perception seems to be a key driver more than anything.

As for IU, it’s great is we are embracing football as a marketing tool.  Whether it’s the Flutie Effect at BC or Saban’s program driving applications or what happened at UF, it works.  IU probably got more coverage the week of the Oregon game than we will for almost our whole bball season.  And now Big Noon is going to showcase IU for two hours on network TV this weekend.

It will be interesting to follow if IU sees a rise in applications next year.

[Brass Cannon 26,145]

5 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

Fascinating topic.  I’ve never looked into why schools fall or rise in the rankings.

It’s interesting @Stuhoo listed reasons and none where that UF hired a bunch of great professors students wanted to learn from.  Maybe the better faculty comes after the student demand increases?  I don’t know.  Marketing/perception seems to be a key driver more than anything.

As for IU, it’s great is we are embracing football as a marketing tool.  Whether it’s the Flutie Effect at BC or Saban’s program driving applications or what happened at UF, it works.  IU probably got more coverage the week of the Oregon game than we will for almost our whole bball season.  And now Big Noon is going to showcase IU for two hours on network TV this weekend.

It will be interesting to follow if IU sees a rise in applications next year.

Curb stomping in state rivals should help as well I imagine. 

[Stuhoo 91,891]

2 hours ago, Pagoda said:

Fascinating topic.  I’ve never looked into why schools fall or rise in the rankings.

It’s interesting @Stuhoo listed reasons and none where that UF hired a bunch of great professors students wanted to learn from.  Maybe the better faculty comes after the student demand increases?  I don’t know.  Marketing/perception seems to be a key driver more than anything.

As for IU, it’s great is we are embracing football as a marketing tool.  Whether it’s the Flutie Effect at BC or Saban’s program driving applications or what happened at UF, it works.  IU probably got more coverage the week of the Oregon game than we will for almost our whole bball season.  And now Big Noon is going to showcase IU for two hours on network TV this weekend.

It will be interesting to follow if IU sees a rise in applications next year.

Accomplished professors very much want to teach where the best students are. They also want to live in safe, nice, interesting places.

Kelley and Jacobs (for instance) have incredibly accomplished professors. My older son is a music kid and looked hard at Jacobs almost exclusively because of the professors on staff. 

[68Hoosier 1,368]

Would upgrades to the press box be complete removal and something new or keeping the same look and just literally upgrading the inside?  
I remember Cig saying something about it being gone or something to that effect.

[Pagoda 6,113]

3 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Curb stomping in state rivals should help as well I imagine. 

Doesn’t hurt.

Honestly I think PU is a quality academic institution.  They have good to very good programs, keep tuition down, and I find their graduates to be generally pleasant and trustworthy people despite their usual quirky Purdueness that comes from four years in West Lafayette (barf).

BUT…

They’ve got one hell of an obsession with us.  They chant about IU at most FB and MBB games. I never think about PU when we aren’t playing them.

As a result, I hope they never win another game in any sport.  They brought it on themselves.

[Pagoda 6,113]

1 minute ago, 68Hoosier said:

Would upgrades to the press box be complete removal and something new or keeping the same look and just literally upgrading the inside?  
I remember Cig saying something about it being gone or something to that effect.

I think that thing is end of life at 60 years old. I’m pretty sure a new one is coming.

[steubenhoosier 1,998]

Based on the direction that this thread has taken…

Let’s install top notch academic facilities in Memorial Stadium and link them to primo seat season tickets that can only be accessible to elite students. 
Two birds with one stone, I tell ya.