It’s probably safe to say that nobody within the Iowa State football program wants to play Incarnate Word on Dec. 1.

That’s because they have their eyes on a bigger prize – the Big 12 Championship.

After a 1-3 start to the season there weren’t many that could imagine that Iowa State sits with a legitimate shot at playing in the Big 12 Championship game with only four conference games remaining.

Yet, here we are.

Here are several scenarios that get Iowa State to Dallas on Dec. 1:

The simplest scenario:

 IF Iowa State wins all their remaining conference games

 AND West Virginia loses at least one more game (with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas still on their schedule)

 THEN Iowa State finishes at least in second by owning tiebreakers with each possible team and plays Oklahoma in the championship game.

A rematch with West Virginia:

 IF Iowa State wins all their remaining conference games

 AND West Virginia wins all their remaining games

 AND Oklahoma loses an additional game

 THEN Iowa State finishes second by owning tiebreakers with all possible teams. West Virginia finishes first to set up a rematch of the 30-14 Cyclones’ win.

First place Cyclone scenario:

 IF Iowa State wins all their remaining conference games

 AND Texas Tech wins their remaining games (defeating Oklahoma AND Texas)

 AND West Virginia defeats Oklahoma

 AND West Virginia loses an additional game

 THEN Iowa State finishes first by owning tiebreakers over all other two-loss teams. Iowa State would play Texas Tech in the championship game. The top-five in the conference at the end of the season would look like:

 1)    Iowa State

2)    Texas Tech

3)    West Virginia

4)    Texas

5)    Oklahoma

Some scenarios are a stretch but the Cyclones definitely have a path to Dallas and to a Big 12 Championship.