ISU attracting an OOC opponent like OSU to Ames would be great for ISU and ISU only. Same if they got USC or Bama or any other OOC helmet to come there. It would be a boon.
Ya think Texas or OU would ever venture into the beehive in Iowa City? Not a chance. It would hurt ISU.
Interesting question. Iowa almost never schedules a major school off-campus without a return to Iowa City. But, in 1979 Iowa played @ Oklahoma, losing 21-6 in Hayden Fry's 1st year. It must have been scheduled a decade earlier, but why a return was never scheduled is a complete mystery and I lost track of this scheduling blunder, until I read this thread.
In many ways Iowa State, despite its little brother tradition, could eclipse Iowa in football following, as it has about the past 5-years in enrollment. It is becoming a real future possibility. It's proximity to the Big Apple of Iowa, and expanding fan base, and increasingly good coaching staff, contributes to its prospects for doing so. I am an advocate for Iowa dropping Iowa State at least occasionally from the schedule and rescheduling Iowa's traditional rivalry week rival, Notre Dame, who was dissed 50-years ago by Iowa, in favor of the politicians' reinstatement of Iowa State yearly.
When the Iowa State - Iowa rivalry renewed in 1977 (after a hiatus since 1934) Iowa State had a stadium seating about 35,000. Iowa State now seats 61,000. And it could grow more. ISU has a surging fan base.
The Iowa-Iowa State rivalry did more to elevate Iowa State in the long run than anything else Iowa State accomplished in football in the Big 8 or Big 12. This "rivalry, acts against Iowa's long-term interest, and the people in charge of Iowa athletics are not from Iowa, do not understand its history, and are incapable of moving away from it.
Ostriches are rare in Iowa, but you can find them, if you keep your head above ground.