We were wrong.

The Iowa State Daily. The odds makers. Cyclone fans.

We were all wrong.

In Friday’s Gridiron, the Daily staff didn’t give the Cyclones a chance.

Jeremiah Davis, Daily sports editor: “Oklahoma State – Cyclone fans could hit 50,000+ for all six games for the first time ever Friday night. My guess is all of those will not be there at the end of the game.”

Jake Calhoun, assistant sports editor: “Oklahoma State – Let’s be real, the only thing Iowa State can do is hope it doesn’t get blown out.”

Dan Tracy, senior sports reporter: “Oklahoma State – Paul Rhoads characterized an upset as ‘unheard of.’ The only thing we’ll be hearing at Jack Trice on Friday night will be ‘Touchdown, Oklahoma State.'”

Jake Lovett, Editor in Chief: “Oklahoma State – Iowa State can only stay in the game if it brings out some early fireworks against an awful OSU defense.”

Dean Berhow-Goll, guest pick and assistant sports editor: “Oklahoma State – Even if Iowa State manages 50,000 fans for a Friday night ESPN game, that’s not going to stop Justin Blackmon.”

We were wrong.

Paul Rhoads’ bunch was a 27.5-point underdog. Iowa State had never beaten a team ranked No. 6 or better, and no one thought Friday night would be that night. Oklahoma State was 10-0, headed for a winner-to-the-Championship matchup with Oklahoma. The Cowboys had scored 51.7 points per game entering the night. None of that mattered.

Have we mentioned we were wrong?

After a four-hour marathon, 177 plays from scrimmage, a 17-point comeback and two overtimes, Iowa State proved everyone wrong, knocking off No. 2 Oklahoma State 37-31.

In the wake of the triple-overtime win against Iowa on Sept. 10, many of us and many of you readers said it was the greatest game you’d seen. This game, we believe, trumps that in a big way.

If he hadn’t already, Paul Rhoads has proven he’s the perfect man to lead this program. Cyclone nation feeds off him, and he feeds off Cyclone nation. His passion and emotion are palpable whenever the Cyclones are on the field.

The Cyclones are bowl-eligible for the second time in three years, something that hasn’t been true since the mid 2000s under Dan McCarney.

Rhoads is the present and the future of ISU football. His leadership has changed the culture around the program and is making it relevant nationally.

We, along with many of you, we assume, couldn’t quite comprehend what we were watching on Friday night. It was like a movie that was playing out before our eyes, and it was a script that seemed too good to be true.

So serve us up our crow. We were wrong. Iowa State beat No. 2 Oklahoma State in the greatest college football game in ISU history. It happened.

And we were all witnesses.