Homecoming typically brings with it a time for nostalgia, a time to reflect on Cyclone years gone by.

But as current Iowa State students, it’s hard for us to conceive of the tradition without a history lesson. So — because it’s the “Who cares?” year in professional baseball and professional football that has yet to impress me — I’ll give you the cliff notes.

Don’t expect to be wowed and don’t get your hopes up for anything too insightful.

*Saturday will be a tough test for the struggling Cyclones. Colorado brings a big squad to Ames that ranks among the nation’s elite teams. But Homecoming tradition, too, says it could be a long afternoon.

Since the first Homecoming game, ISU has had more difficulty beating … you guessed it … Colorado than any other team. In the 12 times the two teams have met for ISU’s Homecoming, the Buffaloes have won 10.

The last time the Cyclones won? Jim Criner had just taken over the head coaching duties from Donnie Duncan and Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was a favorite at junior high school dances. ISU won 22-10 in 1983.

*This is the 83rd Homecoming game that the Cyclones will play. Over that time, ISU has a 30-50-6 record. The first Homecoming game played was in 1912. That year, ISU dropped a 20-7 decision to rival Iowa.

The Cyclones, under the direction of Head Coach Clyde Williams, went on to finish 6-2 in 1912 with wins over Simpson, Missouri, Grinnell, Morningside, Cornell and Drake.

*ISU’s all-time streak for Homecoming wins stands at three. The Cyclones did it between 1926-28 with victories over Drake, Kansas State and Oklahoma. It took 50 years before the mark was matched, between 1976-78 with two wins over Kansas State and one over Kansas.

Since ISU lost last year’s Homecoming game, 41-23, the record is not in danger of being broken.

*The Cyclones have been shut out in Homecoming games 10 times. The first was a 21-0 route by Nebraska in 1915. On a brighter note, the last came in 1958, a 20-0 loss to Colorado, no less.

The worst defeat for a Cyclone team came just after World War II. Apparently ISU football players didn’t have much time to hone up their skills after returning from the battlefield. The Cyclones lost to Oklahoma 63-0.

*On the flip side, ISU has shut its opponents out six times in Homecoming games. The first was a 46-0 win over Kansas State in 1919. The last came only a year after the 1958 embarrassment, a 26-0 win over Kansas State again.

*Unlike professional football, college football games are allowed to end in a tie. Sometimes teams are so evenly matched that determining a winner just isn’t possible. But when a contest does end in a tie, both teams have usually made an impression on the scoreboard.

Not the case in 1934. In front of 5,843 fans with George Veenker calling the shots for ISU, the Cyclones played Kansas to a 0-0 tie.

*ISU has won more often than not on Homecoming day when it plays Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Beyond those two teams, the Cyclones only have winning Homecoming records against Drake and Wyoming.

ISU beat Drake once in 1926 and Wyoming once in 1986.

*Perhaps the strangest Cyclone Homecoming game came in 1918; there wasn’t one. A flu epidemic was apparently wicked enough to cancel the game. Incidentally, ISU went 0-3 that year with losses to Camp Dodge, Iowa and Kansas State.

*And finally, if the Cyclones can muster just four points on Saturday they will have surpassed the 1,300th all-time-points-scored mark in Homecoming games.

Just what that proves I haven’t a clue.