Christian Royston, Sports Editor (6-6)
Iowa State 36, Memphis 28

Although opt-outs and the transfer portal make the bowl season a wild west for predicting games, I am still fairly confident in Iowa State’s ability to take down the 9-3 Tigers.

Iowa State has not been hit hard with the portal or opt-outs, as the only real loss is T.J. Tampa. With Memphis sporting a top-15 passing offense in the nation and averaging nearly 40 points per game, the Cyclone defense is in for a tough task. However, the teams that Memphis dogged on are in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).

Although there are good teams in the AAC, Memphis has beaten up on some of the lesser ones to hit the nine-win mark. When matched up with good teams like Missouri, Tulane or even SMU, the Tigers could not hit that 40-point mark. In fact, they averaged less than 30. Along with that, Memphis’ defense has let up a considerable amount of points in each game.

I have a strong feeling that Iowa State is going to run up the score early, pun intended, and keep a lead throughout the game with strong quarterback play and a good showing from its bend-don’t-break defense. In the end, Iowa State is going to secure yet another Liberty Bowl victory.

Logan Shanks, Assistant Sports Editor (8-4)
Iowa State 28, Memphis 23

Despite being one of the highest-scoring offenses in the nation, Memphis’ level of competition is about to drastically change when they take on the Cyclones on Friday. Iowa State is coming off its best one of the year when it last took the gridiron against Kansas State, and despite the opt-outs and transfers, I believe they are set to repeat the magic they had in 2017.

For the Cyclones to pull off their first bowl victory since 2020, they will need to do what has worked for them all season, rely on their defense to force stops and get their offense in better field positioning. The more Iowa State’s disruptive defense can help their young offense, the easier it will be to throw Memphis off their high-scoring groove.

Now if Memphis jumps out to an early lead, Iowa State won’t be able to keep up, as we have seen a couple of times this season against some of the top teams in the Big 12. But the Cyclones are playing their best football at the right time, which was not the case in 2017, and I think that is what will ultimately propel them over the Tigers.

Pavle Markovic, Sports Reporter (10-2)
Iowa State 27, Memphis 16

It’s been just over a month since Iowa State finished their regular season with an upset win against No. 25 Kansas State and now they look ahead to officially ending off their season with a bigger bang.

The Cyclones travel to Memphis, Tennessee, to take on the Memphis Tigers in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in their second matchup all-time with the Tigers in this specific bowl game. The last time these two teams faced off in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl was back in 2017 when Iowa State pulled off a close 21-20 win against Memphis.

But that was six years ago. A lot has changed with both programs that will make this matchup one to watch as the season concludes for both these teams that have succeeded in their expectations in many ways.

Memphis has found ways to beat opponents both on the ground and through the air which has helped lead the team to a 9-3 record on the season. However, the Tigers have been prone to let up a lot of points on the defensive side of the ball, which the Cyclone offense can take full advantage of led by quarterback Rocco Becht.

I do end up having Iowa State pulling out another win versus Memphis in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, but this time it should not be as close as last time around.

Jacob Rice, Visual Editor
Iowa State 38, Memphis 17

I’ll keep this simple. Iowa State 38, Memphis 17. Simply, Iowa State will score more points.

All that matters to me is that Becht has made great improvements in leadership and decision-making and Abu Sama III has shown us that he is the next great running back for Iowa State. If Iowa State’s defense can hold off Memphis’ high-scoring offense, this shouldn’t be too stressful of a game for Iowa State fans.