Ahead of the 2024 college football season, the Big 12 Conference was labeled America’s most unpredictable and exciting conference. Over the past six weeks, it has absolutely lived up to the hype.
One aspect of the Big 12’s unpredictable nature can be seen in some recent College Football Playoff odds, which feature one team selected outside of the Top 5 in the Big 12 Preseason Media Poll, leading the league with the best odds to make the CFP.
That team is the Iowa State Cyclones, currently ranked 11th in the nation, with an impressive 5-0 overall record. Matt Campbell’s squad was picked to finish sixth in the league by members of the Big 12 media and select others behind Utah (4-1, 1-1 Big 12), Kansas State (4-1, 1-1 Big 12), Oklahoma State (3-3, 0-3 Big 12), Kansas (1-5, 0-31 Big 12), and Arizona (3-2, 1-1 Big 12).
Iowa State is leading all Big 12 teams in CFP odds with a 37% chance to reach postseason play and +170 odds from the Action Network’s recent rankings.
Iowa State kicked off their season against North Dakota on August 31st, a game the Cyclones won 21-3. The low-scoring affair alerted some fans, but in typical Matt Campbell fashion, the team hadn’t hit their stride just yet. The Cyclones followed up the win with a statement victory on the road, 20-19, over their in-state rival, Iowa. The group closed out the non-conference schedule with a dominant win over Arkansas State, 52-7, before beating Houston and Baylor in their first two conference outings.
Iowa State’s next batch of games appears to have worked out relatively well this fall, with West Virginia, UCF, Texas Tech, Kansas, and Cincinnati, each of which sitting outside the Top 25. The final test for the group before the CFP conversations continue to grow rests with back-to-back games vs. No. 16 Utah and No. 18 Kansas State.
If Iowa State can find its way through the always-tricky Big 12 Conference play, the argument for the Cyclones to make the College Football Playoff will be stronger than ever.
