Iowa State could go bowling once again.

The Cyclones have not been to a bowl game since 2005. A 17–10 win against Colorado on Saturday gave the team six wins on the season and qualified it for a bowl.

“We’ve come so far,” senior center Reggie Stephens said. “To come full circle like that today, there’s just no words. Just pure joy.”

Reaching a bowl game is a new experience for everybody but the redshirt seniors on the team, and even they didn’t play in 2005. The fact that the team is coming off a disappointing two-win campaign a year ago makes the team’s sixth win all the more special.

“It means a lot,” senior wide receiver Marquis Hamilton said. “All the turmoil that we have been through in the last few years, for us to go out there and get the sixth win, I know it doesn’t guarantee us a spot in a bowl game, but for us to get that one is very important for us.”

Although most fans and pundits did not expect Iowa State to challenge for a bowl this season, coaches and players said that it was a goal of theirs all season. First-year coach Paul Rhoads said that his expectations of the program are to reach a bowl game every year.

“College football is all about bowl games and the pageantry and what goes along with them,” Rhoads said. “So you start the season and you work for one, and at this particular point we are bowl eligible and are thrilled with that.”

This year’s seniors have been through two coaching changes and before this season had experienced only nine wins. The fact that the team’s sixth win came on Senior Day made it that much better for the graduating class.

“It’s special,” senior linebacker Jessie Smithsaid. “It is a heck of a way to go out. I’m going to remember this day for a long time.”

Yet, although the team has reached the minimum number of wins for bowl eligibility, the team was careful to point out that they are not guaranteed a bowl game with just six wins.

“A lot of teams are at five and six wins so, the only thing that we are focused on is Missouri,” said junior quarterback Austen Arnaud.

With a win against Missouri next Saturday, the Cyclones would be certain to receive a bowl bid. If the Cyclones lose and are stuck at six wins, their future would be determined by how other Big 12 games turn out.

The top eight teams in the Big 12 are guaranteed a bowl game as long as they are 6-6 or better. So far, Texas, Oklahoma State and Nebraska have seven wins or more. Colorado was eliminated from bowl contention with its loss against Iowa State this weekend. The rest of the teams in the Big 12 all are between 4-6 wins and vying for a bowl game.