As the Cyclones try to capture their third bowl win in school history, nothing will come easy.

With Iowa State accepting an invitation to play in the Ev1.net Houston Bowl on Sunday, the Cyclones were the other team to do so. The first: No. 14 Texas Christian University, who received an offer Nov. 22 after claiming the Mountain West Conference.

“[TCU’s] got a great program,” ISU coach Dan McCarney said. “Obviously, we’ll be an underdog in this game, but I think this will be one of the great matchups in all the bowls.”

The Horned Frogs (10-1) opened the year with a 17-10 win at Oklahoma, but stumbled in their second game, falling to Southern Methodist 21-10. Since that game, however, the Frogs have run off nine consecutive victories.

Iowa State has played TCU twice in school history – 1995 and 1998 – with the Horned Frogs winning both times, 27-10 in Fort Worth and 31-21 in Ames.

“TCU’s a tremendous football team,” McCarney said. “They’re playing with great confidence and it should be a tremendous challenge.”

It appears that the fans agree with McCarney’s assessment of the game, as ISU fans purchased around 3,600 tickets before the final destination was even announced.

“It’s about this team, and supporting this football team,” McCarney said. “It’s a real fun team to watch and follow and the possibility of going to one of the great cities of America . it’s pretty special.”

Iowa State is coming off a 24-21 overtime loss to Kansas in their regular season finale, a game which McCarney said is behind them.

“We’ve forgotten it and it’s behind us,” he said. “It’s something that happened, we didn’t close the deal. But we’ve moved on. In the big picture of things, this has been a real good season.”

The Cyclones will look to win their second straight bowl game after last year’s 17-13 victory over Miami (Ohio) and wash out some of the bad taste of missing out on the Big 12 Championship game.

“You want to be there obviously,” ISU quarterback Bret Meyer said. “I don’t know if it makes you feel any better if [Colorado] lost by 60-some points.”

The Houston Bowl will provide a chance for nine Cyclones to return home and play in front of their friends and family. Several ISU starters hail from Texas and the Houston area.

Defensive end and Houston native Jason Berryman was even recruited by TCU before he made the decision to come and play for Iowa State.

“I got a couple letters from them and I looked into them a little bit,” Berryman said. “They have a good program and we have some work on our hands.”

Berryman said Reliant Stadium, which is home to the NFL’s Houston Texans and where the Houston Bowl will take place, is just minutes from his house. He said the stadium is “awesome” and he can’t wait to play there.

Iowa State will use the next three weeks to prepare for TCU’s running attack, which is averaging nearly 200 yards-per-game and to get players healthy and rest.

The Cyclones will have four practices inside Reliant Stadium.

The Houston Bowl is set for a 1:30 kickoff on ESPN2.