Iowa State Cyclones Put On College Football Playoff Bubble Watch by ESPN Projections

The Iowa State Cyclones are squarely on the bubble for the College Football Playoff with one slight edge.

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The Iowa State Cyclones kept their undefeated record intact last week, defeating their in-state rivals, the Iowa Hawkeyes, 16-13 to take home the Cy-Hawk Trophy for the second consecutive season.

With a 3-0 record, the team is steadily moving up all sorts of rankings. The AP Poll has them at No. 14, up two spots from the previous week. In the AFCA Coaches Poll, they are ranked No. 14 as well, moving up four spots. Over at PFF, they are even higher, coming in at No. 12.

The arrow is pointing up for the program right now, heading into their fourth game of the year. The Cyclones will be traveling to take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves out of the Sun Belt. A massive spread leads one to believe this should be a cakewalk for Iowa State, but playing in their first true road game of the campaign will present some challenges. 

If they don’t take the Red Wolves seriously, a major upset could be brewing. That would be a worst-case scenario for the Cyclones, who have done a great job building their resume in the early going. Defeating the Kansas State Wildcats, who were ranked No. 17 at the time, in Ireland, in their first game of the season, got the team off on the right foot. Not only did they start with a win, but it gave them a nice head start on the Big 12 season, getting out to a 1-0 start there.

Where Does Iowa State Rank for College Football Playoff?

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Handling business against Arkansas State is imperative because the team cannot afford any slip-ups before getting into the teeth of their conference schedule. That is because of how much of a negative impact it would have on their postseason outlook. Over at ESPN, Iowa State is squarely on the bubble for the College Football Playoff, being the school highlighted in this week’s CFP Bubble Watch.

In the early going, the Cyclones have a close edge on their Big 12 competition because of the two Power 4 victories already on their resume. That is something that will be evened out as the season moves along and conference play picks up. Alas, an edge is an edge, and right now, it is the best one Iowa State has.

If they are going to hold onto that spot, they will have their work cut out for them. Right now, ESPN projects the Cyclones to have the fourth-best odds of winning the Big 12 at 9.5%. The Utah Utes currently lead the way at 21.9%, followed by the TCU Horned Frogs (19.9%) and the BYU Cougars (17.7%). In a wide-open conference, things are going to change on a weekly basis, which makes this weekend’s game against the Red Wolves almost a must-win for Iowa State.