Iowa State achieved a 10-win season after a 29-21 win over Kansas State on senior night. This is the first time the Cyclones have reached the 10-win mark in their 133-year history as a football program.
Fans of Iowa State of all ages should celebrate this feeling. It’s never happened before. But as special as this win total is, there is still a job to do.
It was announced in the midnight hour of Sunday that Iowa State would play in the Big 12 Championship game after BYU defeated Houston 30-18. This is now the second time in the past five seasons that the Cyclones have made it to Arlington.
It’s also the second time ever Iowa State will play in the Big 12 Championship.
The first time was back in the 2020 season, which was shortened. The Cyclones finished that season 9-3 after a loss in the Big 12 Championship to Oklahoma before they won the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon to cap off a strong season.
Now that head coach Matt Campbell has been there before and now has another shot at a title, I have no doubts he will take advantage of the opportunity.
In the 2020 Big 12 Championship, Iowa State lost by six points but the deficit felt bigger than that. The Cyclones had to claw their way back into the game after a costly targeting penalty early in the game, followed by a multitude of mistakes that shouldn’t happen that late in the season.
I think Iowa State can look at that game, take the lessons it learned and use those to better itself in this season’s title game. I know the roster is quite different, but Campbell is still there. He knows what happened last time.
The path to get there wasn’t without its moments. The Cyclones’ conference slate was nothing short of nail-biting.
It started strong with three resounding wins over Houston, Baylor and West Virginia, but then it got rocky. After surviving a big scare from UCF, Iowa State fell to Texas Tech by one point a game later.
That loss led to another in the game against Kansas in Arrowhead Stadium. But that was all the losing the Cyclones did against Big 12 teams.
With a dominant second half to beat Cincinnati and the ability to combat mistakes and miscues against Utah on the road, Iowa State wrapped everything up with a win over Kansas State.
That final game is what college football is all about. There was so much at stake for the Cyclones.
The game itself was a rivalry: Farmageddon. It fell on senior night, it was for the first 10-win season in program history, it kept Iowa State alive for a spot in the Big 12 Championship and it was on the final day of November, a month that always has meaningful, impactful college football games.
Everything that culminated throughout the season led to the moment that happened Saturday night. The fans knew it too, as they stormed the field as the clock rolled down to zero.
It was inevitable. The students cleared the upper student section, packed into the lower bowl and made their way onto MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium to celebrate what all Cyclone fans have waited a lifetime and longer for.
Now, while that moment was special, the season is not over. There is still a job to do. The Big 12 Championship awaits.
Iowa State’s last outright conference championships came in back-to-back seasons in 1911 and 1912 when the Big 12 went by its maiden name: The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
In the 1912 season, the Cyclones went 6-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
For historical context, the Titanic sank just months before the 1912 season started and both championships predated World War I and the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
Yes, the Titanic sank in between Iowa State’s last two football conference championships.
Now, over 100 years later, Campbell and the 2024 Cyclones have the opportunity to finish out what already has been the best season in school history. They are one win away from becoming Big 12 Champions.
Iowa State takes on Arizona State for the right to become the best in the Big 12. AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will host the game, which kicks off at 11 a.m. and will be nationally televised on ABC.
