Today, the Big 12 Conference announced a brand new requirement for football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball to provide publicly available injury reports in the days leading up to each game, as well as a “final” report 90 minutes prior to the start of the game.
Understandably, this initiative is something the public has clamored for for years, as fans seek more transparency in their college athletics programs amid the quickly rising financial investments being asked of fans in the form of subscription services, rising ticket costs, and donations for NIL and revenue sharing.
Many coaches have been quite hesitant in the past to share injury information, most likely as their own version of gamesmanship, so as not to allow opposing teams to know where potential weaknesses might be.
Few programs in college football have been stingier with this information than Iowa State, which has a track record of not disclosing major details about player injuries. Somewhat regularly, player statuses would be simply described as “week-to-week” or “he’s working hard to get back on the field,” only for the player to miss months at a time with what turns out to be a major injury. If a player was publicly announced as being out for multiple weeks, it was fair to assume he may in fact have been in a coma.
However, Matt Campbell is not one to be bested so easily by the new injury reports, as he’s found a way to continue to hide any injuries the team might be dealing with by listing the entire team as “questionable.” WRNL has gained access to an exclusive leaked copy of the first injury report.
Stay tuned to WRNL as we keep you up to date on all of Iowa State’s injury reports through the season.