Greg McElroy: 'Ludicrous' to call Iowa State football a top-four team

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Cyched

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May 8, 2009
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It’ll be a whole season of this, whether it’s ISU or another surprise team.

Then, when the same 4 teams make the playoff they’ll all scratch their heads and wonder why the ratings are down again
 
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jdoggivjc

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Seems like a high-risk, low-reward take imo

Lets say ISU falls short of these ridiculously high "expectations" - everyone already thinks they will; but IF ISU lives up to the hype... well I'm not sure there will be enough crow to go around.

Maybe the best strategy would have just been to say nothing?... Then again we are talking about a has been 'Bama quarterback who rode the twin-headed backfield of Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram to a Natty over UT playing their 2nd stringer - I mean that 'Bammer team was DOMINATE against the likes of FIU, North Texas, and Chattanooga

Sounds more like a “never was” QB instead of a “has been”.
 
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DeereClone

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Nov 16, 2009
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It’s a lazy take, but the point in the article about how the FPI is calculated is spot on. Are Iowa States returning players better than Ohio States “next men in”? I’d like to think so, but I can definitely see the argument against how the FPI is calculated, especially seeing MSU in the top 10.
 

cyfan92

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"5 of their 9 wins were decided by a TD or less"

First of all it was 4 of the 9 unless I'm looking at something wrong. And of those four, one was against OU and the other was at Texas. Hell the other two were at TCU and a big come from behind game against Baylor after playing like dog **** the first half.

What a lazy take

Agree. This point makes Greg look like an idiot... Close wins: OU, Baylor and Texas. TCU scored a garbage time TD to make the game appear "close"
 

NorthCyd

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If you think OU is legitimate at 2 then you're going to have a hard time saying ISU shouldn't be at 4.
 

stuclone

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Greg McElroy better Get Back before the Cyclone fans Rollout to put him in his place. Matt Campbell is going to be shaking his Money Maker after winning the national title while the team goes Pimpin' All Over the World to celebrate the impossible.

Ok I'll see myself out
 

cyfan92

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iowa state doesnt get the luxury to play

rutgers
penn st (trash last year)
northwestern
nebraska
michigan st (trash last year)

so youre right greg our games arent going to be 52-17 blowouts.

Right?? Ohio St's 2020 B1G opponents went a combined 24-23... How much worse would that look if they didn't have COVID games cancelled against 2-3 Maryland, 2-4 Michigan and 2-6 Illinois
 

AlaCyclone

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Interestingly, GMac has called several games @ Iowa State, and he is generally complimentary about Iowa State football (team and fan support), so let's try not to give him the Kirk Herbstreit treatment! He is not an anti-ISU guy.

I think he is off the mark on some things (ludicrous is a strong word, and the Ohio State comparison about dominance is off), but being, staying and finishing as a top 4 thing is no easy task - something about which Greg knows from first hand experience. With or without GMac's support, this is going to be very hard to do.

As for his time at Alabama, he was a solid QB on a very tough team. He was recruited by Shula, but played for Saban from Day One (2007-10). So, he was part of the rebuild of the program. Those early days were not for the feint of heart.

In the BCS Championship Game vs. Texas, he played with healing cracked ribs from the Florida Game (which he finished too). He may look like Opie, but he is a tough S.O.B.

fyi: I saw him play in person multiple times in 2008 (back-up) , 2009 (starter) and 2010 (starter), and I think ISU fans would have loved him as a Cyclone QB.

Let's Go State!
 

BillBrasky4Cy

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I don't think there should be poll Top 25's until after the 2nd or 3rd week. Let teams play a few games first.
Hint: It wouldn't matter, the poll will still be heavily biased towards certain teams whether it's pre season or week 5.
 
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