First came frustration, followed by anger, then disappointment, then disbelief and finally resignation. Those were some of the emotions I experienced watching the Cyclones lose this weekend – at home – to Baylor.

After thinking a little harder about it, I had to remember things could be worse, and so I offer you, fellow suffering ISU fans, 10 things worse than the Cyclones losing to Baylor at home.

10. Being a Baylor fan for the past 10 years.

9. Being Ryan Baum’s knee.

8. Losing to UC-Davis, like Stanford did.

7. Getting kicked out of your conference, like Temple out of the Big East.

6. Having Gary Pinkel as your team’s coach.

5. Having dog biscuits lining the neck and sleeves of your team’s jerseys … oh wait, I remember, that was us.

4. Being lit on fire.

3. Being Steve Bartman.

2. Having to watch more than one reality TV show in a year’s time.

1. Losing to Kansas and Baylor in the same season.

Alas, the faithful fans of Iowa State have been smote once again by the cruel hand of fate, luck or karma.

Expected to compete for the Big 12 North title this year, and with dreams of a Cotton or Holiday Bowl berth dancing in our heads, we all watched in horror this weekend when the team’s yearlong offensive anemia finally cost them a game they needed to win.

I have heard apologists talking about how this is the best Baylor team in a long time – to which I respond, “So what?”

This is Baylor, and even if the Bears make it to a bowl game this season, it is a right of passage in the Big 12 that if you want to so much as sniff a bowl berth, you have to beat Baylor – especially at home.

Instead, the lifeless crowd at Jack Trice was treated to the Cyclones’ one-dimensional offense consisting of Meyer completing some passes to keep us in the game, and virtually nothing else from the offense.

No deep passing.

A complete inability to run the ball, which I blame more on bad run blocking than on Greg Coleman, who has done more than anyone could have expected of him.

And I blame a defense that cannot stop an intermediate passing attack.

Between the Cyclones’ perceptible lack of passion, the truly abominable playcalling in the second half and an inability to hold on to the ball, I don’t like what I see the rest of the season looking like.

Only Pinkel will find a way to not exploit the Cyclones’ defense, and, as much as I hate to say it, even if we beat Missouri this weekend, which I do not expect, the outlook is not rosy for the Cyclones at this point.

After all, if you can’t beat Baylor at home, who can you expect to beat?

– Nathan Chiaravalloti is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.