Let me be one of the first to admit: I think I’m wrong.

Before the football season rolled around, the other football writers and I compiled a bunch of preseason predictions where we guessed things like team MVP and who was going to be a breakout player.

But what I’m referencing here doesn’t have to do with that — it has to do with my Big 12 Championship prediction.

To be fair, I had Iowa State competing in the Big 12 Championship, but I had it losing to the usual favorite in the Oklahoma Sooners.

Take this with a grain of salt, since we’re only four games into the 2020 college football season and three games into Big 12 play, but from what I’ve seen out of the Cyclones, I truly think they’ll be the ones hoisting up the Big 12 Championship trophy, not Oklahoma or anyone else.

We could talk about the season opener, and yes, that could be considered a bad loss IF Louisiana wasn’t consistently sticking around the AP top 25 polls, something that Big 12 teams have struggled with this year.

Outside of that, I think the Big 12 Championship has “Iowa State Cyclones” written all over it, considering how the downfall of other teams are essentially paving the way for Head Coach Matt Campbell and his squad.

Let’s take it back for a second — if you had to list three or four schools that should be in contention for the Big 12 title, who would it be? Oklahoma? Oklahoma State? Texas?

I think it’s reasonable to think that every single one of those teams will struggle to make it to the championship with Iowa State.

For starters, Oklahoma AND Texas have started out Big 12 play with uncharacteristic 1-2 conference records.

It’s so uncharacteristic that Oklahoma’s losses to Kansas State and Iowa State was the first time since 1999 that it lost consecutive regular season games. For reference, I was born in 1999. This is literally the first time in my entire life that Oklahoma has lost back-to-back regular-season games.

Oklahoma State, in my eyes, poses the biggest threat to Iowa State, and for good reason, considering it’s currently ranked at No. 7 in the nation. But an issue could plague the Cowboys in the regular season, and it’s something that’s not even in their control.

Iowa State and Oklahoma State are slated to play Oct. 24, which is the next game for Iowa State following its current bye week. Oklahoma State was going to play another top-half Big 12 team in Baylor, but 28 Baylor football players tested positive for COVID-19.

This means Oklahoma State and Baylor won’t be playing until December, and now, Oklahoma State will have to sit stagnant for two whole weeks before hosting an Iowa State team that’s starting to find its groove.

Another team that posed a little bit of a threat is the Kansas State Wildcats, which is the only other team in the Big 12 that can match Iowa State’s 3-0 conference record, ranked inside the AP top 25 and has an early conference win over Oklahoma.

The Wildcats have been rolling but suffered a major blow Monday when Kansas State Head Coach Chris Klieman announced that starting quarterback Skylar Thompson is out for the remainder of the season after Thompson underwent surgery for an upper-body injury.

While Iowa State has suffered some injuries as well, it’s nothing compared to losing out on QB1. Even without Trevor Downing, Iowa State’s offensive line has stepped up and is assisting in running back Breece Hall’s dominant year thus far. Even without Tarique Milton, quarterback Brock Purdy is finding a way to spread the ball behind a great run game.

After watching Iowa State through four games this season, there’s been a ton that I’ve been impressed by.

Outside of former Heisman candidate Chuba Hubbard, Breece Hall has to be either the first- or second-best running back in the Big 12 and easily one of the top backs in the country so far. All I need to say is 531 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in four games.

Purdy and the pass game started out very slow, but now we’re starting to see the pass game thrive, as Charlie Kolar returned to the lineup after missing the first game and Xavier Hutchinson starting to step up as the true No. 1 receiver on the Cyclones roster.

The defense looks as good as ever, especially after the Texas Tech game. Albeit, the Red Raiders are currently last in the Big 12 at 0-3, but the Cyclone defense has really stepped up when it matters, like recording a game-winning interception against Oklahoma and holding Texas Tech to 0/10 on third-down conversions.

So in my eyes, outside of Oklahoma State, the only other team that can really pose a threat to Iowa State’s Big 12 Championship hopes is Iowa State.

Iowa State really is in control of its own destiny when it comes to the Big 12 title — it just comes down to Campbell and company taking advantage of the opportunity to take the throne.