Sad thing is just how plausible that scenario is...though I wouldn't put money on it. Perception of the program really hasn't changed nationwide. Not seen as a threat, not taken seriously.
ESPN's Big 12 blog picks Cyclones to go winless in league
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
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We'd basically have to win a national championship for anyone else to care about ISU football. It will never surprise me, and we haven't earned any respect anyway.
I remember when writers for major publications like ESPN used to have at least some semblance of a clue.
Guess I'm getting old.
Guess I'm getting old.
Yep.
Anything is possible, sure. But I find it hard to believe ISU wouldn't get at least one among KU, Tech and West Virginia ... and maybe outside shot at stealing OSU/TCU.
West Virginia at 4-5? I'd have to go back and check the game-by-game predictions, but that seems high. KU at home, probable, at ISU perhaps ... TCU at home maybe. then what, KSU? at OSU?
In all honesty, this team is just way too hard to judge. I could see us going anywhere from 1-11 to 7-5, and that's no joke.
There are just a ton of question marks going into the season. The offense has been atrocious ever since Rhoads set foot on campus as the head coach. Every year we think we have a lot of talent on the offensive side, but it never leads to very many victories. The "hope" they are selling us this year is that Mangino is going to come in and turn this thing completely around in one year. Seems like many across the country are doubting whether he can do that or not, and you can't blame them. It's tough to make much of a difference in your first year.
The other problem offensively is we're not sure what we have at QB? That's kind of a big deal folks. We could have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have an above average to good QB, it won't really matter. So, even with all the talent we think we have at RB, WR, TE, etc..... and even with the addition of Mangino, it may not matter a whole lot if we get poor QB play.
And defensively.... who knows what to think honestly? We lost a LOT off of last year's defense, but of course, last year's defense stunk, so maybe that's a positive? Maybe the younger, inexperienced talent will be an improvement over guys like Irving, Coe, George, Washington, Broomfield, etc? Who knows? But there is a decent chance that the defense could be worse than last year since we'll be younger and less experienced too. Why wouldn't the national pundits think that when they look at what we're returning? You can't really blame them.
So a 2-10 prediction isn't all that surprising, and it really shouldn't be to any of us either IMO. You can easily make the argument that we were bad last year, and we could be worse this year. That is not a hard case to make.
However, if Mangino is the genius we all think and hope, and we get really good QB play, and the defense ends up being better than we think, we could also somehow end up doubling our win total from last year as well IMO. It truly is anyone's guess this year. So don't be surprised with any predictions.
There are just a ton of question marks going into the season. The offense has been atrocious ever since Rhoads set foot on campus as the head coach. Every year we think we have a lot of talent on the offensive side, but it never leads to very many victories. The "hope" they are selling us this year is that Mangino is going to come in and turn this thing completely around in one year. Seems like many across the country are doubting whether he can do that or not, and you can't blame them. It's tough to make much of a difference in your first year.
The other problem offensively is we're not sure what we have at QB? That's kind of a big deal folks. We could have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have an above average to good QB, it won't really matter. So, even with all the talent we think we have at RB, WR, TE, etc..... and even with the addition of Mangino, it may not matter a whole lot if we get poor QB play.
And defensively.... who knows what to think honestly? We lost a LOT off of last year's defense, but of course, last year's defense stunk, so maybe that's a positive? Maybe the younger, inexperienced talent will be an improvement over guys like Irving, Coe, George, Washington, Broomfield, etc? Who knows? But there is a decent chance that the defense could be worse than last year since we'll be younger and less experienced too. Why wouldn't the national pundits think that when they look at what we're returning? You can't really blame them.
So a 2-10 prediction isn't all that surprising, and it really shouldn't be to any of us either IMO. You can easily make the argument that we were bad last year, and we could be worse this year. That is not a hard case to make.
However, if Mangino is the genius we all think and hope, and we get really good QB play, and the defense ends up being better than we think, we could also somehow end up doubling our win total from last year as well IMO. It truly is anyone's guess this year. So don't be surprised with any predictions.
I am worried about our offense as well. Most programs that change offensive coordinators struggle the first year. Im sure our offense will be better than last year (how can it get worse) but Im not sure it will improve enough to overcome our defense.
With talent on offense (wr,rb, and ol core) and a defense that will be better than expected (not saying much but better) we will win 5-6 games. We will have the element of surprise and under-estimation in most games. Nds, Kansas, Toledo, tcu will be wins with a surprise win somewhere.
I just don't get how anyone can be angry, upset, shocked, surprised, or any emotion close to those, about this prediction. If you step away from being an ISU fan for a second and look at it, it's definitely possible and somewhat likely that we go winless in conference. But we just have to take this in stride and try to prove them wrong. Hopefully we will, for all our sake's.
Why do TCU and WVU keep getting so much respect? It is not like they have been great teams since joining the conference.
If last years team had any form of offense last year things would have been different. Any MM offense is better than the crap we had last year. As for KU beating ISU, there is a coach on staff that has probably had that game circled since the day he was hired
If last years team had any form of offense last year things would have been different. Any MM offense is better than the crap we had last year. As for KU beating ISU, there is a coach on staff that has probably had that game circled since the day he was hired
ISU has absolutely destroyed KU the last 2 years, and I don't see that changing this year, even if the game is at KU. WVU, TCU and TT all were not very good last year. Not saying ISU will be great, but they will be better with the offensive coaching changes, and less internal friction on the coaching staff. I still firmly believe that 30% of the offensive failure from last year was that Messingham was in way, way over his head, and struggled with even getting plays in from the sideline on time.
