the question from a more national audience perspective. Historically (going back to the Big 8 days), when Kansas, K-State, and Iowa State were in the cellar, the only times they seemed to get on the RSN station was when they were playing either the marquee Big 8 team or whichever Big 8 team was "hot" that season. So for those games, how much of the ratings can be attributed to them vs. their opponent? If the rivalry games made it to the RSN (including Kansas-Mizzou), then it was usually because their was a bigger Big 8 game on one of the other channels. That trend seemed to continue into the Big XII until those 3 programs had their various "magical runs" that changed people's perceptions even for a brief moment.