RANDY PETERSON

Peterson: Business decision or a fear or losing? Peeling back the curtain of soon-to-be over Hy-Vee Classic

Randy Peterson
The Des Moines Register

Basketball games among our state’s four most significant programs aren’t kaput. The door’s aren't closed for Iowa State and Iowa to continue facing Drake and Northern Iowa ...

As long as the games aren’t in Des Moines or Cedar Falls.

That’s my takeaway from Thursday’s news about Iowa pulling the plug after this year’s Hy-Vee Classic at Wells Fargo Arena.

Iowa State senior Monte Morris scores over Drake sophomore Billy Wampler in the second half of the Hy-Vee Classic on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard actually said it. Iowa AD Gary Barta’s statement wasn’t as clear, but there at least appears to be scheduling wiggle room, so hallelujah ...

There’s still hope. As long as the games are at Hilton Coliseum in Ames and Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City — which is unfortunate.

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Welcome to the world of big-time college athletics, where money trumps in-state camaraderie.

Home basketball games are worth more money to Iowa State and Iowa than the $150,000 or so they receive each year for playing at The Well, so come one and come all — as long as the games aren’t in Des Moines or Cedar Falls.

Pollard: “Although we would certainly welcome continuing to play games against UNI or Drake in the future, our ability to do that will most likely depend on each of their institution’s willingness to play games in Hilton Coliseum.”

Barta: “The Hawkeyes will continue to evaluate playing in-state schools on a sport-by-sport, case-by-case basis.”

So there, alarmists among you. There’s still a chance — it just won’t be under one roof.

I asked Drake AD Brian Hardin about that Thursday, to which he answered:

“We’ll have to see. I’d love for them to come back into our building. ... Never say no to anything.”

Hardin is good. He’s been around. He finally hired the head basketball coach Drake should have hired a long time ago — Darian DeVries.

If there’s a way to bring everyone back into a workable arrangement (and that’s a big "if") — he and David Harris, the AD at UNI, will work something out.

It’s unlikely, though, that we’ll see home-and-home arrangements — and again, that’s unfortunate, albeit predictable.

Past rivalries went out the window, remember, during the last round of expansion. West Virginia in the Big 12? Rutgers to the Big Ten? Give me a break, but it happened.

Traditional rivalries be damned.

Raise your hand if you didn’t see this coming — the end of the event in which our Big Four men’s college basketball teams play each other annually in downtown Des Moines.

It was coming — and quite honestly, I understand the reasoning behind next December’s “classic” being the end.

That doesn’t mean I like it, though.

With Iowa State adding an annual game against someone from the Big East (announced during the Cyclones Tailgate Tour) to its 18-game Big 12 schedule plus an annual SEC opponent ...

And Iowa facing a 20-game Big Ten schedule plus someone annually in the ACC plus involvement in the Gavitt Games against someone from the Big East ...

And our state's two major basketball schools having only just a handful of optional nonconference availabilities ...

This business decision — and that’s what’s college athletics have become in 2018 — is another instance where mid-majors like Drake and Northern Iowa are being left in the dust, while big-time programs take up all the oxygen.

Remember the chatter about Power Five schools separating from the others to form their own affiliation a few years back? That hasn’t happened, thankfully, however it’s becoming clear that the Bulldogs and Panthers probably won’t be hosting Big Brother anytime soon.

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery yells to players as they take on Northern Iowa Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, during their game in the Hyvee Classic at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Why swap games against Drake and Northern Iowa, for games against lesser opponents someone’s never heard of?

Because there’s more money involved by playing home games, that’s why, and believe it or not:

Every little bit counts.

There’s high-dollar head coaches to pay, remember. There’s high-dollar head coaches to fire, as well.

All streams of revenue are important, regardless how many millions the Big 12 and the Big Ten reimburse our schools annually. It’s an ironic intersection of amateurism and the cost to compete favorably in the Power Five arena.

Sure, I remember the day students lined up outside Vets Auditorium (Drake’s basketball home arena back then) to sit in the courtside student section, and yes, I was one of them.

Hundreds, although it seemed like thousands, of us students couldn’t wait to see the Bulldogs play against what was (back then) wonderful Missouri Valley Conference competition.

We couldn’t wait for that every-other-year game at Vets against Iowa State or Iowa — so in that vein, it’s sad that Drake and UNI home games against the Cyclones are Hawkeyes likely aren’t happening.

Whether it’s a money decision or, heaven forbid, the fear of an occasional loss — I’m still sad if this ends up the way it appears to be headed.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson has been with the Register for parts of five decades. Randy writes opinion and analysis of Iowa State football and basketball. You can reach Randy at rpeterson@dmreg.com or on Twitter at @RandyPete.