The opportunity to play in a third straight bowl game and finish the season on a high note will be on the minds of Cyclone players when they head to Boise, Idaho, for their Dec. 31 game.

What won’t be on their minds are the thoughts of Florida, Texas and Michigan. Those are history if you ask any of the Cyclone players. They have already begun talking about the various winter activities that they might partake in on the New Year’s holiday.

“I’ve heard that the schools that have been there in the past had a real good time there,” wide receiver Jack Whitver said. “They said it’s cold up there, but they had a good time snowmobiling and that kind of stuff, so we’re looking forward to it.”

Safety JaMaine Billups can’t wait to enjoy the generosity the Northwest has to offer.

“I heard it’s going to be pretty fun,” Billups said. “We get to play in the cold weather and the hospitality is great up there. There are a lot of teams that don’t get to make it, so right now we’re fortunate that we are going to a bowl game. We’re happy for it.”

Not only are all the players anxious to play in a bowl game, they all know they have an opportunity to end the season on a good note. After dropping the final regular-season finale to Connecticut the Cyclones will look to take added anger onto the blue field of Bronco Stadium.

“Some of the guys got their heads down a little bit after the UConn game, and we should have, because we didn’t perform the way we are capable of performing,” said senior tight end Kyle Knock. “But we are given another chance and we’ve got to make the most of it.”

Atif Austin uttered a similar statement. “We had a real good beginning to the year and went down in the second half of the year, so we’ve got to find a way to bounce back,” he said. “The way we played in the second half, we’re happy to be playing in a bowl game, so we’re going to take this opportunity and seize the moment.”

Defensive lineman Jordan Carstens sees this game as a chance for redemption. He wanted to see the best competition available no matter the destination. “Of the bowls we were likely for, this was probably the best team that we were going to be able to play,” Carstens said.

Even though the Cyclones will face the hometown Boise State Broncos, Whitver added that this road atmosphere is nothing new for this team.

“We’re used to going to play at Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas State and those types of teams, so it’s another good challenge for us, but that’s why we come to play at Iowa State.”

Seneca Wallace will be suiting up for the last time as the Cyclone signal-caller.

“We just want to go out there and prove to the country that we weren’t a joke, that we played well and some things just didn’t go our way in the second half of the season,” Wallace said.