On paper, it looks to be a good meet. In the pool, it will be a great meet.

The “great” meet is set for Saturday, as the Iowa State swim team hosts Kansas and will be looking to complete a perfect dual meet season.

The Cyclones also host Northern Iowa today at 4 p.m., but are expected to cruise to victory.

The 7-0 start has been the best in Coach Trip Hedrick’s nine-year tenure at ISU. Hedrick’s previous best team record was 10-2 in the 1994-95 season.

That year, the Cyclones won the Big Eight Championship and Hedrick was named the conference coach of the year.

This season the Cyclone swimmers are looking to garner similar honors. And after victories over perennial powers Nebraska and Iowa, Hedrick’s first-ever win over the Jayhawks is a possibility.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Hedrick said. “[But] I’m confident we’re up to the challenge.”

Hedrick will be looking for bragging rights over his good friend and coaching colleague Gary Kempf of Kansas.

“I think both of our teams are very competitive. We know it’s going to be a good meet,” Hedrick said. “It’s typical for them to come in here and swim well.”

Hedrick said his Cyclones, ranked 24th, are slight underdogs against the Jayhawks, who are deserving of their 21st spot in the polls.

He said he is cautious about his team because at this point in the training cycle, the swimmers are subject to inconsistency.

The meet will be the last home performance for ISU’s six seniors: Johan Andersson, Bob Bredice, Dan Flannery, Tim Hansen, Brian Roska and Jay Schindler.

Hedrick thinks the whole team will be looking to give the senior leaders something to remember. “This team wants this win for the seniors,” he said.

Hedrick said his seniors have been the core of the team this season and have been coaches for the younger men. “They’re a real special group,” he said.

However, two of his upperclassmen are not at 100 percent heading into the weekend. Flannery was recently diagnosed with bronchitis, while Hansen has a broken foot and is questionable for the competition.

Injuries aside, the ISU seniors are excited about the duel with Kansas.

Andersson said he is looking forward to the fact that his final swim in Cyclone water is in such a big meet. “It’s going to be fun,” he said. “It’s kind of like a finale.”

He said the underdog role is one the ISU squad will cherish. “We’ve been in that position before. We kind of like that,” Andersson said.

Flannery, a co-captain, said he expects the Jayhawks to swim their best meet of the year on Saturday, but he thinks the meet’s emotional circumstances will help propel ISU.

Flannery said he knows getting the upset victory will be difficult but not impossible for the team searching for respect. “We’ve been there before,” he said.

“It will be special to me because it’s the best team I’ve ever been a part of. If we go out with a win, it’ll make it all the better,” Flannery said.

Flannery said the undefeated season is in the back of the team’s mind, but the main concern is doing well at the Big 12 Championships in three weeks. He said the perfect record would be something to look back on and remember, though.

Hansen said that pending clearance from his doctor, that he will take his final competitive swim at Beyer just like all the others.

“I try to swim every one like its my last,” he said, adding he hopes he hasn’t swum his last dual meet.

He said Saturday’s meet will be an “emotional and mental challenge” for the squad.

A challenge that the ISU swimmers will gladly accept. After all, they’ve enjoyed the contest in the lanes and not on the lineup cards all season.