Win over Tigers would solidify ISU’s bowl prospects

Long before he coached his first game with the Cyclones, Iowa State's Paul Rhoads made it clear he wanted his players thinking beyond the regular season.

“That's one of the first things he came out and said - he said one of our biggest goals is win a bowl game,” linebacker Jesse Smith said Monday. “That's what we've been working toward every day. That's our mentality.”

The Cyclones first have to get to a bowl game before they can win one, but they've at least put themselves in position to do that. They'll take records of 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12 into their regular-season finale at Missouri on Saturday, that critical sixth victory coming in last weekend's 17-10 win over Colorado.

Six victories doesn't guarantee a bowl game, but just being able to talk about the possibility is a huge step forward for a team that stood 2-9 at this point last year.

“It's more relaxed, upbeat,” senior wide receiver Marquis Hamilton said. “I feel like we're playing confident. We've got a lot to work for. It's not like we're dreading being out there. We're actually excited to come to practice and work every day.”

The Big 12 has agreements with eight bowls, including a BCS game for the champion, and every team except Colorado either has six victories or still has a chance to get six. But there's a big difference between what's possible and what's probable.

Kansas State (6-5), for example, needs to win seven games because two of the Wildcats' victories have come against FCS teams and they can only count one of them toward bowl eligibility. They finish the regular season at Nebraska on Saturday night and are 16 1/2-point underdogs.

Baylor (4-6) finishes against Texas A&M and Texas Tech. The Bears are 7 1/2-point underdogs this week and they won't be favored against Texas Tech, either.

Kansas (5-5), which has lost five straight since beating ISU on Oct. 10, plays at Texas on Saturday and finishes against Missouri in Kansas City.

So if those three teams fail to get bowl eligible, the Cyclones are in, regardless of what happens at Missouri.

“There's so many teams with five and six wins, it's just kind of ridiculous right now,” quarterback Austen Arnaud said. “And Baylor's got four. You look at it and like man, there's a lot of jumble in the middle of this conference.

“But what better for the Big 12 Conference than to have all these teams having these victories. Every week each team's fighting.”

Iowa State's cause would get a boost if Oklahoma State (8-2) wins out and secures one of the at-large berths in a BCS bowl. If that happens, the Big 12 would have nine guaranteed bowl spots.

The Cowboys are 12th in this week's BCS standings, one spot ahead of Iowa, so that remains a possibility.

Rhoads, though, isn't getting caught up in any of that speculation.

“Have you seen Alexander catch the football for Missouri?” he said, referring to Tigers wide receiver Danario Alexander. “No, I haven't taken any time to peek at that. We've got enough with our hands being full preparing for a very good Missouri football team.”

The most likely Big 12 bowl destinations for Iowa State would be the Texas Bowl in Houston against Navy, the Independence Bowl in Shreveport against an SEC team or the Insight Bowl in Phoenix against a Big Ten opponent.

If Iowa State gets passed over for one of the Big 12 games, the Cyclones could fill a bowl spot for another conference that doesn't have enough bowl eligible teams. But teams with seven victories must be picked ahead of six-wins teams for those replacement slots.

“We know we need to get this one more (victory) to make sure and guarantee it,” center Reggie Stephens said. “That's what we're working for.”

Iowa State hasn't gone to a bowl since losing to TCU in the 2005 Houston Bowl. Arnaud thinks Cyclone fans are eager for another postseason trip.

“Boy, it's been a while,” he said. “We'd travel well. We'd travel real well.”