CFN has us going...

[cyhiphopp]

Are there any teams that you would list as unbeatable on your schedule?

I don't think so. The closest would be Oklahoma. Iowa may be too tall of a task. OK State is pretty tough this year.

I think K-State is a win, Kansas is a definite win, Northern Iowa is a win, TTU is a maybe, A&M is a maybe, Texas is a maybe, UConn is totally beatable, Texas, Baylor and Mizzou are not good enough to consider automatic losses.


I can easily see 5-7 ISU wins.

Oklahoma is unbeatable in Norman. A&M and OSU would both be huge upsets. I agree with the rest of your analysis however.

Iowa wont be as good this year as they have been. It's in Ames and I think it's possible.

I think A&M is beatable. It would be a big upset, but they are annually overrated and usually lose a game they aren't supposed to. They are talented, but somehow they are never as good as the should be. I think they might dissapoint this year and cost Sherman his job.

Baylor is getting better but they are one dimensional. I think we can beat RGIII.

We have played Mizzou tough the last few years. the defense did their job against them last year in Ames. If we can get any offense this year it's a possibility.

OSU will be tough. They usually get more out of their talent unless it's against OU. It is in Ames, but our last game against them was horrible.

OU is almost a sure loss.

 

[ribsnwhiskey]

So they were 1 game off on us last year?

Yes, they were. Glad you can read.

 

[jaretac]

I kinda think this as well. I'm a little surprised (but not shocked) at them picking A&M as one of our wins though. Anything's possible

Im shocked too. We really don't match up with them well. I would go for UConn or Texas or Missouri before A&M.

I think this team has the talent to win more then four games depending on how well the other schools are rebounding. Here is what I think will happen (I know a lot of people will disagree).

Schools I suspect will be down from last year:
Kansas State
Missouri
Texas Tech

Schools about the same as last year:
Baylor
Iowa State
OSU
Oklahoma
A&M

Schools improved from last year
Texas
Kansas

I'm not really predicting that these schools would have more, less or the same number of wins, just that they will be better, worse or the same as last year in terms of a quality opponent.

If this falls out, we beat Tech last year, lost in the last in the last seconds to KState, and hung with Missouri so all three of those could be winnable. Baylor I don't think is ahead of us at all. Their four conference wins last year were against teams that were 8-24 (25%) in Big 12 play. Our three conference wins were against teams that went 6-18 (25%). Texas and Kansas I think will be improved, but marginally and both those I fell could be winnable. That is six teams that I feel like we could play any given Saturday and feel like we could win.

Note that the key is could win. Just because a game is winnable doesn't mean we are going to win it. If everything goes perfect we could be 6-3 or if not we could be 1-8. I'm predicting 3 Big 12 wins to get us to at least 4 wins on the year.

 

[CyFan61]

Oklahoma is unbeatable in Norman. A&M and OSU would both be huge upsets. I agree with the rest of your analysis however.

I completely agree. If we are putting KU and UNI into the win column, we have to put OU/TAMU/OSU in the loss column. That gives us a 2-3 record before factoring in seven games that, while they may lean one way or the other, could certainly go either direction.

Go 4-3 in those either-way games, and go bowling.

 

[Clones85']

Yes, they were. Glad you can read.

I'm just shocked at how bad their predictions on us where! A whole game off? Just a terrible job out of them

 

[clonedude]

I think 4-8 is about right on the money for this team with this schedule. I don't think we beat A&M, but possibly someone else instead. Although, right now I hope A&M doesn't win a game all year.

If Rhoads takes this team to a bowl game this year with the schedule we have, he should be coach of the year.

I seriously think we could be anywhere from 2-10 to 6-6, but 4-8 the most likely. We're just WAY too unsettled on offense right now without having a starting QB, and a lot of question marks about whether or not we have any playmakers at WR or not? Defense is average overall, but very thin in depth. Any injuries on this side of the ball and we're in trouble IMO.

I heard Urban Meyer kind of ripping on Notre Dame this weekend on ESPN because they have 4 QBs competing for the starting spot I guess? He said that it's really tough to not have a clear #1 guy because now you are splitting reps evenly between 4 guys instead of 1 guy getting the majority of reps, which he needs.

The only good thing we have going for us versus ND though is that Urban Meyer said that they not only have 4 QBs, but they have 2 different offenses they will use depending on who wins the job. A spread offense and a pro-style offense. So they aren't even sure what offense they'll be running yet it sounds like? It depends on who wins the job.

I guess if Rhoads settles on a #1 guy in the first week or two, then that guy can start getting the reps he needs after that? But it needs to be decided on before the week we play UNI IMO. The winner needs to get comfortable with the #1 unit.

 

[psycln11]

Ten Best Iowa State Players
1. LB Jake Knott, Jr.
2. LB A.J. Klein, Jr.
3. OT Kelechi Osemele, Sr.
4. RB/KR Shontrelle Johnson, Soph.
5. QB Jerome Tiller, Jr.
6. NG Stephen Ruempolhamer, Sr.
7. LB Matt Tau’fo’ou, Sr.
8. P Kirby Van Der Kamp, Soph.
9. CB Leonard Johnson, Sr.
10. CB Jeremy Reeves, Jr.


Seriously??? Tofu and Tiller ahead of LJ? I would also add Benton to the list before some of those.

 

[State43]

I say 4-8 unless a QB much improved arrises this fall.

 

[delt4cy]

IMO- from this vantage point, this is the most "winnable" the Iowa game has been in about 5 years. Their OLine will be excellent but most other areas will be weaker, especially in the early weeks. They lost a ton of talent that had been key for the past 3/4 seasons.

Also, we are due for a victory over K-State. Their QB situation isn't any better than ours and I think we finally have the depth on the DL to hold the rushing attack in check.

The other game I'm optimistic about is UConn. A new coach and new offense will most likely lead to a defensive battle. But, they return 9 or 10 D starters which makes me leary of calling for an upset. Huge opportunity for exposure on ESPN/2.

 

[cyfan15]

It looks like they're picking our A&M game as the annual Rhoads big upset (e.g. Nebraska 2009, Texas 2010).

 

[ribsnwhiskey]

I'm just shocked at how bad their predictions on us where! A whole game off? Just a terrible job out of them

I'm not shocked about dealing with another d-bag on this site.

 

[ZJohnson]

We aren't going 4-8 if we beat A&M.

 

[cyatheart]

If the QB play isnt better it's going to be a very long year and we will lose a lot of low scoring games. This is the best defense we will put on the field since 05 and that was one of the better defenses we have ever had. I really do not want to waste this defense, someone has to step up and give us a chance at the QB position.

 

[CykoAGR]

If there is any drop off at the QB position at all we will be lucky to win 3 games. AA was a great leader but an average QB at best. We need someone to step up and take control of the offense so that our D is not always on the field and constantly having to defend a short field.

If the offense can be just slightly above average I think that we have a great shot at a bowl. If it is the same or worse than last year we are screwed.

My prediction is somewhere between 3 and 6 wins depending on the productivity of our QB with the outside chance of getting 7. This would likely only happen if the QB is head and shoulders better than what we had in a 3 year starter.

 

[Clones85']

I'm not shocked about dealing with another d-bag on this site.

My 2 cents. If you don't want people to act that way towards you, maybe change your approach with your posts. If you go back and look at your posts you are swearing or calling other posters names in every thread. You do that and people will probably be rude back.

As for the prediction. CFN has predicted ISU at 6-6 and we finished 2-10 that year. I bet nobody complained when they predicted us to be better than we really were. I think we will be slightly better than 4-8 but I also realize that is extremely fair.

 

[Tre4ISU]

I will make this simple. If we beat aTm, we are going to a bowl and maybe a pretty decent one. IMO, aTm could be the second best team in the conference next year. If we beat them, we will have the ability to beat KU, KSU, Baylor, Iowa, UCONN, UNI, Mizzou at least. I think aTm is that good. I don't think we will beat them either.

 

[weR138]

We aren't going 4-8 if we beat A&M.

I will make this simple. If we beat aTm, we are going to a bowl and maybe a pretty decent one. IMO, aTm could be the second best team in the conference next year. If we beat them, we will have the ability to beat KU, KSU, Baylor, Iowa, UCONN, UNI, Mizzou at least. I think aTm is that good. I don't think we will beat them either.

Ha, yeah, that was my first thought. I think aTm finishes second to OU (who go to the NCG).

 

[Wesley]

Are there any teams that you would list as unbeatable on your schedule?

I don't think so. The closest would be Oklahoma. Iowa may be too tall of a task. OK State is pretty tough this year.

I think K-State is a win, Kansas is a definite win, Northern Iowa is a win, TTU is a maybe, A&M is a maybe, Texas is a maybe, UConn is totally beatable, Texas, Baylor and Mizzou are not good enough to consider automatic losses.


I can easily see 5-7 ISU wins.

With the home crowd aggression at JTS and a new scoreboard showing replays, Iowa can be beat. We will be faster on the field this year and fired up to prove we can play ball also.

 

[Tre4ISU]

Are there any teams that you would list as unbeatable on your schedule?

I don't think so. The closest would be Oklahoma. Iowa may be too tall of a task. OK State is pretty tough this year.

I think K-State is a win, Kansas is a definite win, Northern Iowa is a win, TTU is a maybe, A&M is a maybe, Texas is a maybe, UConn is totally beatable, Texas, Baylor and Mizzou are not good enough to consider automatic losses.


I can easily see 5-7 ISU wins.

Oklahoma. I don't give us a snowballs chance in hell of beating them. OkSt and aTm also. Those teams are all pretty balanced. We can point to the Nebraska and Texas game but those teams had glaring weaknesses. Both offenses were incompetent. OU, OKst and aTm are all very balanced and can win on either side of the ball. I don't expect a meltdown from them on one side of the ball. Other than that, I can find a reason we can beat every team on the schedule.

 

[stateofmind]

I'm saying 3-9 or 8-5, with a bowl victory. I think that this team will have a better D and if the offense finally moves like a Herman offense is supposed to, the sky is the limit with this group. Coaching, plus heart, plus effort equals success no matter who you play on the schedule. Every year there is a team that surprises and if CPR and gang are as good as we know, we can be that team.