Cyclones will be ranked preseason #5 or #6

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jctisu

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I will say we come in at #9. There is going to be at least one team that sneaks into the top 10 that is nowhere to be found there right now. As others have said, these AP voters are lazy and do a lot of name on the jersey, returning players and recruiting rankings from the previous year. I expect Oregon to get a decent ranking for that last reason I said. Maybe not in front of us but all of that young talent likely garners them a top-15 ranking. after this year going 4-3 you wouldn’t say that was likely but I bet they are right in that #14-16 area.

Maybe I will be surprised but I don’t see #5 or 6 for us because of the blue blood crap that happens every year.
 
  • Agree
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CapnCy

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Where we will be and where we should be aren’t necessarily the same thing. That said, it’s hard to believe we won’t be in the preseason top ten.

I would argue Iowa State is every bit as good as Oklahoma going into next season.

Agree....and honestly, I'd be ok with us not being super high and earning it. Meaning, #5 and a slow uni start and we look foolish to national media. We will start high enough that if we win, we will be a top 10 team by conference with wins anyway.

But, for the same of national awards, this will help our guys get a fairer shake as we all know you gotta be on the first lists.

Ah, what good problems to debate
 

bozclone

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We should be in the preseason top ten, but the majority of national media wasn't on our side this year. I doubt they will be on our side next year. Here was the top ten in week 5 of this year. I expect many of the same players next year plus OU and A&M. Voters will be lazy. Ask yourself why some of these teams were ranked so high early in 2020.

1610328490957.png
 

AuH2O

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We should be in the preseason top ten, but the majority of national media wasn't on our side this year. I doubt they will be on our side next year. Here was the top ten in week 5 of this year. I expect many of the same players next year plus OU and A&M. Voters will be lazy. Ask yourself why some of these teams were ranked so high early in 2020.

View attachment 80640
All of these teams finished in the top 15 the previous season with the exceptions being Texas (25) and Miami (unranked). Miami got a big boost with the addition of King and were fairly impressive up to that point. Texas should’ve probably been more like 15 or so, but otherwise there really wasn’t anything weird up to that point.
 

bozclone

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All of these teams finished in the top 15 the previous season with the exceptions being Texas (25) and Miami (unranked). Miami got a big boost with the addition of King and were fairly impressive up to that point. Texas should’ve probably been more like 15 or so, but otherwise there really wasn’t anything weird up to that point.

All the schools in the top ten in week five (start of this weird season) would be considered traditional football powers.

Here is the top 15 at the end of 2019

1610330445608.png
 
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ForeverIowan

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Schweiger probably won't even be a starter in 2021. It's gonna be crazy how much depth the o-line will have when he and Ramos will most likely be 2nd stringers.

He was second team all conference last year. Haha I hear what you are saying though. I suspect he and Simmons are going to have a helluva a battle on their hands for that RG spot. Steel sharpens steel.
 
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cycloneworld

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I guess I’m one of the people who doesn’t think there is some conspiracy against Iowa State or any good team returning a ton. In fact, there is a lot of buzz around ISU right now. I think we’ll be around #8 which should be around what we finish at this year. Ceiling is probably #6, low point is probably #10.
 

superiorcyclone

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At least 3 from the SEC, at least 2 from the ACC, 2 from the Big Ten, and OU. That puts us at #9. That is my guess and maybe substitute 1 from the ACC or Big Ten for another team. AL, TAMU, CLEMSON, GA, Notre Dame, OSU, OU, and at least one other ahead of us. Winning takes care of everything.
 

cstrunk

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I guess I’m one of the people who doesn’t think there is some conspiracy against Iowa State or any good team returning a ton. In fact, there is a lot of buzz around ISU right now. I think we’ll be around #8 which should be around what we finish at this year. Ceiling is probably #6, low point is probably #10.

Quoted for those in the back.

8-10 is where ISU will likely start next season.
 
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Chitowncy

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I'm going to guess ISU will be ranked 9th or 10th, but I'll settle on 10th. I will be happy with anything 12 or better though. It's extremely exciting to be in this position. We have to almost pinch ourselves.

I do hope fans exercise good judgment if ISU loses some games. We got some good bounces this year; sure, we could have also won a couple more games, but we could have lost several as well. We came back on several games and as Campbell says, "this team has to win in the margins." Thus, if the team goes 8 - 4 or something similar, I hope people on this board aren't complaining and losing their minds. I imagine many will because expectations are so high, but I hope people will just enjoy the ride and take a long-term perspective. 8 - 4 would still be among the top 10% to 5% of Cyclone seasons ever. Just enjoy the ride:)
 

Cydkar

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I'm honesty looking for names of teams the AP may try to justify being higher.

Pac 12: We just crushed Oregon. Not sure who else in the Pac 12 could be considered? USC?

SEC: Outside of Bama and Georgia - Florida loses a TON. A&M loses their QB

Big Ten: Outside of Ohio State was a laughing stock. NW loses their QB. Michigan, Penn State and Wisky all had bad years.

ACC: Outside of Clemson only teams that may be considered are North Carolina and Miami which I don't think either school would be rankehigher.

Independent: Notre Dame again gets crushed on the big stage and had a ton of seniors on their depth chart.
Poll voters don’t need to justify anything.
 

AuH2O

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All the schools in the top ten in week five (start of this weird season) would be considered traditional football powers.

Here is the top 15 at the end of 2019

View attachment 80641
The top ten were all traditional powers, but they also happened to finish 2019 ranked highly and none had lost (some hadn't played). Miami was ranked so highly due to the transfer of a QB thought to be a Heisman candidate, and they were off to a good start. Texas was a few spots higher than they should've been, but what's new?

I think people are acting like the top 10 or playoffs are always full of undeserving big-name teams. These teams are usually in the playoff/top 10 because they are the best teams.

As for the CFP, the biggest outrage that people point to is Ohio State getting picked over TCU and Baylor. It was not clear-cut. At the time of the playoff selection they all had one loss. Baylor's SOS sucked. OSU and TCUs were both were pretty good and very similar. However, do you pick TCU when Baylor won the head to head and also had one loss? Not to mention, OSU used their last weekend to completely dismantle a solid Wisconsin team. It just was not as clear cut as people remember.

And this year people are mad about OSU getting in over A&M? Going in to the selection OSU was 2-0 vs. the last CFP top 25. A&M was 1-1. Are we going to value a bunch of wins vs. unranked teams? I would've preferred A&M getting in since their only loss was to Alabama and avoiding a slip-up in the SEC for that many games is impressive. But I am not going to buy that OSU getting in over A&M is some travesty.
 
  • Disagree
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ISUKyro

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Another reason - new comers. Where is our recruiting class rank, somewhere in the 40s? (I haven't looked in a while)

5 years of having a class in the 40s makes it hard for an outsider to rank you preseason in the top 10.
 

convoluteme

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Another reason - new comers. Where is our recruiting class rank, somewhere in the 40s? (I haven't looked in a while)

5 years of having a class in the 40s makes it hard for an outsider to rank you preseason in the top 10.

2016: 55
2017: 52
2018: 55
2019: 46
2020: 46
2021: 55 (not final though)
 

VeloClone

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As for the CFP, the biggest outrage that people point to is Ohio State getting picked over TCU and Baylor. It was not clear-cut. At the time of the playoff selection they all had one loss. Baylor's SOS sucked. OSU and TCUs were both were pretty good and very similar. However, do you pick TCU when Baylor won the head to head and also had one loss? Not to mention, OSU used their last weekend to completely dismantle a solid Wisconsin team. It just was not as clear cut as people remember.
Yes, you give it to TCU. As you said all had 1 loss. TCU's only loss was to a CFP top 10 ranked team on the road by a field goal as time expired. If as you say OSU's strength of schedule was similar to TCU's the fact that TCU's was a much, much better loss should have been the deciding factor. Remember OSU lost to Virginia Tech at home. At the time of the final CFP ranking Virginia Tech was 6-6.

If SOS doesn't matter than you give it to Baylor. If it does then you eliminate Baylor and look at their losses which clearly gives it to TCU.

You know that people are struggling to justify the selection when they start breaking out the "all top 60 opponents" arguments. When have you ever heard that before or since?

The 13th data point was also stupid since the difference in their schedules was an additional non-conference game (Big 12 was playing 9 and the Big Ten was playing 8 conference games) so choose between VT, Cincinnati, Kent State or Navy. TCU played Samford, Minnesota and Navy.
 
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AuH2O

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Yes, you give it to TCU. As you said all had 1 loss. TCU's only loss was to a CFP top 10 ranked team on the road by a field goal as time expired. If as you say OSU's strength of schedule was similar to TCU's the fact that TCU's was a much, much better loss should have been the deciding factor. Remember OSU lost to Virginia Tech at home. At the time of the final CFP ranking Virginia Tech was 6-6.

If SOS doesn't matter than you give it to Baylor. If it does then you eliminate Baylor and look at their losses which clearly gives it to TCU.

You know that people are struggling to justify the selection when they start breaking out the "all top 60 opponents" arguments. When have you ever heard that before or since?

The 13th data point was also stupid since the difference in their schedules was an additional non-conference game (Big 12 was playing 9 and the Big Ten was playing 8 conference games) so choose between VT, Cincinnati, Kent State or Navy. TCU played Samford, Minnesota and Navy.

I agree I would've selected TCU, but they both had one loss and about the same SOS. And of course the committee is going to do some gymnastics to get OSU in.

If SOS doesn't matter why would you select Baylor over OSU? They had the same record, and both had pretty mediocre losses. Not to mention OSUs happened in September, which we know does come in to play. Recency bias has helped ISU in the CFP every year since 2017.

The fact that the team that was probably better (TCU) lost head-to-head to another one loss team in consideration (Baylor) really screwed TCU.

I think TCU should've been picked based on how their loss happened. But I strongly disagree that OSU getting selected with an almost identical SOS and record resume, plus the recency advantage (early loss, statement game to finish) is some kind of outrage.