College Football Playoff 2017: Case for the Iowa State Cyclones
By Dana Becker
Case for Iowa State
How about going on the road and defeating Oklahoma and Baker Mayfield, allowing them to score just seven points in the second half? Or what about returning to the road a couple of weeks later and dominating Texas Tech in Lubbock, leaving with a 18-point victory?
And don’t forget the recent 14-7 triumph in front of a rowdy Jack Trice Stadium crowd over TCU, which gave Iowa State a second win this year over a team ranked in the Top-5 when they played?
There honestly might not be a team that can make as strong a case for being an outside contender for the CFP than the Cyclones at this stage in the season. Look at the two losses suffered by Campbell’s crew.
First, Iowa State lost to rival Iowa in overtime, 44-41, in a thriller. The second was a 10-point setback on a Thursday night in Ames to Texas. Since that time, ISU has switched quarterbacks and found a knack for both forcing turnovers and not committing them.
If come Nov. 26 we are sitting here and the Cyclones are 10-2 with wins over Oklahoma, TCU, West Virginia and Oklahoma State, all they will need to do it likely beat one of those teams again and win the Big 12 to earn a berth in the College Football Playoff.