Big 12 Football Preseason Power Rankings: Boomer Sooner
By VF Castro
No. 9: Iowa State Cyclones
Once again, I hate to sound like a broken record, but it’s hard to give Iowa State a higher ranking than No. 9.
Iowa State made a great hire this offseason by bringing in Matt Campbell from Toledo, and defensive coordinator Jon Heacock.
Campbell has a 35-15 record as a head coach, but he’s an offensive guy so hopefully that brings improvement to the Cyclones’ offense, which ranked No. 58 nationally last season in total offense.
With the return of receiver Allen Lazard, and leading team rushers last season in Mike Warren and Joel Lanning, the offense should find some explosion, but defensively, it could be a different story.
Heacock inherits a defensive unit that ranked No. 107 last season in total defense and No. 8 in the Big 12 conference. With that in mind, the Cyclones could be leaning heavily on its offense if it wants any possibility of pulling upsets this season.
Perhaps the Cyclones break free from the bottom tier if all the components can come together. However, with an intensely back-loaded Big 12 schedule full of teams notorious for offensive assaults, wins against Northern Iowa, Iowa, San Jose State, Kansas, and 1-2 upsets are absolute musts if Iowa State wants a shot at a bowl bid.
Silver Lining: Expect major improvements throughout the season. For fans, even losses will result in teachable moments during film study.