Can Iowa State Cyclones Remain in Big 12 Title Picture With a Win?

Will the Iowa State Cyclones be able to keep up in the Big 12?

Jul 12, 2023; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of the Iowa State Cyclones helmet and logo during Big 12 football media day at AT&T Stadium. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones will be getting set to host the BYU Cougars in what will likely be the most important game of their season. With a slim chance of making the conference title game right now, the Cyclones are in desperate need of a win. 

Thanks to back-to-back losses on the road for Iowa State, they find themselves with their backs against the wall and little margin for error in Week 9. This is going to be a very telling game for the team and could dictate which way the rest of the year will go. 

With a win, the Cyclones will be right back in the hunt for a spot in the Big 12 title game and could potentially move back into the AP Top 25. However, with a loss, the campaign would be all but lost with three defeats in the conference. Fortunately, nobody has run away with the Big 12 just yet, and the door is open for them to make some noise. 

Bill Connelly of ESPN recently wrote about the landscape of the Big 12 conference and spoke about the Cyclones not being completely out of it just yet. 

Iowa State Can Change Their Outlook

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Even though per ESPN SP+ the Cyclones just have a 2.6 percent chance of winning the Big 12 title, they aren’t out of it just yet. Currently, it is the Texas Tech Red Raiders who still have the highest chance of winning at 34.8 percent. They are followed by BYU at 25.1 percent heading into the weekend. 

While Iowa State is significantly behind them as of now, there still hasn’t been a team that has run away with the conference as of now. This leaves the door open for the Cyclones to potentially find their form from the first part of the year and make a run. 

That will have to start against the Cougars in Week 9, and it won’t be an easy task. BYU is ranked 11th in the country and has yet to lose this campaign. They feature one of the best rushing attacks in the conference and play a very physical brand of football. 

The recent injury update to their star defender Domonique Orange is a bit concerning with him being arguably the best run defender on the team. That could pose a problem for the defense, but this is still a Cyclones team with a lot of talent in a must-win game.