Not even Gene Chizik saw this coming.

The ISU football team will travel to Lawrence, Kan., Saturday for a meeting with the fourth-ranked, undefeated Kansas Jayhawks, who finished the last three seasons near the bottom of the Big 12 North.

“If somebody in this room would have predicted two years ago that Kansas would be ranked what they are and 10-0 right now, you wouldn’t be writing,” Chizik said. “You’d be doing something else, you’d be a millionaire, multimillionaire.”

Under fifth-year coach Mark Mangino, the Jayhawks have turned their football program around from a team that averaged only four wins a season under former coach Terry Allen ,to a team at the top of the conference.

“I’ve always thought he’s [Mangino] done a great job coaching,” Chizik said. “I think he’s done a really great job with building that program to this point and the right way.”

Under the Mangino, the Jayhawks finished their last two seasons with 7-5 and 6-6 records. Now, behind the No. 2 scoring offense in the nation, Kansas has raced to a 10-0 record, its best start since 1899.

“They’ve got some great players,” said senior linebacker Alvin Bowen. “Receivers are big, running back is getting the job done, the defense is making plays, causing turnovers – they’ve got a great team.”

And for the past two games, so have the Cyclones. With a 31-28 victory over Colorado, Iowa State has won back-to-back games for the first time this season.

With wins against Kansas State and the Buffaloes, Chizik said his team has found some late-season confidence.

“The win streak lets our football team know that if we do the things that on Saturday make you successful, that we can play against the best teams in the country and be in the game,” Chizik said.

It’s even added to Mangino’s assessment of the team.

“Iowa State is playing very well and we’re preparing for them to come down here, and for us to play well on Saturday,” Mangino said in a national teleconference Monday.

Saturday’s nationally televised game will also be an opportunity for the Cyclones to beat a team ranked higher than seventh in The Associated Press Poll for the first time in school history.

“It would be a good opportunity,” said sophomore free safety James Smith.

“We’d have people talking about us. We’ve got to come out hard in practice this week, and try to make that possible.”

Colorado coach recalls Saturday field goal calls

Colorado coach Dan Hawkins was looking for answers Saturday.

Hawkins’ senior place-kicker Kevin Eberhart hit a pair of game-tying field goals late in the fourth quarter that didn’t count.

After the game, he was searching for reasons as to why neither of them counted.

After speaking with Walt Anderson, coordinator of football officials for the Big 12, Hawkins said he was clarified about the rulings.

When asked if he was happy with what Anderson told him, Hawkins said “I’ll let the conference office say that.”

The first field-goal attempt, a 50-yarder, was brought back after a delay-of-game call when the Buffalo offense snapped the ball before the referees were ready. The second, a 55-yard attempt, was also waived off when officials ruled that with only one second to play, the snap was too late.

Hawkins was later asked if he thought the second snap was on time.

“Yeah, you’d have to talk to the conference office about their interpretation of it,” he said.

Despite neither of them counting, Cyclone senior place-kicker Bret Culbertson said he was impressed with both of Eberhart’s attempts.

“He proved himself,” Culbertson said. “Both of those. He smoked them.”