The whistle blew; the game was over. Missouri won. In Section F of the Jack Trice Stadium balcony, veteran Cyclone fans immediately stood and dutifully packed their blankets while the band played one last round of “Fights.”

Then they began edging (stiffly, awkwardly, feet numb from the cold) toward the exit tunnel.

Each one wore the same expression: “I suspected as much.”

What, exactly, do you say after a game like that?

Some said, “Same old Cyclones. Couldn’t get it done.”

And that attitude is really too bad.

Apparently, the Red Sox used up the last of underdogs’ luck for the year. Iowa State was this close to beating Missouri and earning a division championship, but the Cyclones … just … couldn’t … quite … get … it … done.

Any game like Saturday’s invites fans to play the what-if game. That’s fine, but please don’t level any frustration toward the principals in those what-if plays. Bret Culbertson, Ben Barkema, Bret Meyer and the Cyclone coaching staff (or whatever other supposed “villain” you saw) deserve better than your ire.

This is a good team — flawed, but fun.

Yes, it’s been talked up to death; but one last time, consider the magnitude of the 4 1/2-game improvement in Iowa State’s record from 2003 to 2004.

Late Saturday afternoon, it came down to first-and-goal from the 3 for Iowa State for the North Division.

Tailback Stevie Hicks, November 2003:

“I think we’re going to be really good next year,” Hicks said. “It will improve a lot more because we’ll have a lot more time to work with each other.”

Did anybody here believe a word of that? Didn’t think so.

We’ll happily eat our crow.

And although we’ll be staying home from Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, we’ll still be cheerily munching on those earlier dismissals of the ISU football team later next month in Houston or Fort Worth or Orlando or even Shreveport.