Would you rather:

[Cyched]

Nebraska. They attempt to avenge last years "fluke" and get rolled

[ahaselhu]

Depends year to year, but this coming year, I would say Iowa as I think they have the best team of the three and to beat them on their home field would be huge this Fall.

I agree that Iowa is probably better than Nebraska, but I don't think they're better than Texas.

As I've said in similar threads, my answer depends on how the question is worded. If the question is that one game is a guaranteed win, which game would you choose, then my answer would be the conference game against the toughest opponent.

If the question is that ISU gets only one win all year, who would you want to beat, then my answer is Iowa.

[bostrem00]

So what your saying, there is more schools than just Iowa State in the state of Iowa? .......Obviously i'd rather beat Texas and Nebraska before the "other apparent occupant" of this state's college football world....

[AlleyAddict]

conference wins are more valuable than non-conference wins

Ding Ding Ding!!!

[UNIGuy4Cy]

Poll still going the way I thought it would, but not quite the run-away that I thought it would be.

Thats cause the Hawk fans are voting for a win over them. Thats why they are so egotistical, they WANT the game to be ISU's "super bowl."

[chuckd4735]

conference wins are more valuable than non-conference wins

This. Go back to 2005. I would have much rather beat Baylor at home and lost to Iowa at home than the opposite.

[sodakjoe]

The epic-ness of being able to beat Nebraska the last two times we play them would trump almost ANYTHING in my book.

[CTTB78]

Beating Iowa has become ho-hum the last 12 years or so. Now if we could beat Texas a couple of times, that would be a big deal.

[Omaha Cy]

Beating Iowa means the national media would just gloss over it because its a rivalry game. Beating Nebraska or any other B12 power sends a bigger message to the nation about the job Paul Rhoads is doing at ISU.

Personally I'd like both to happen.

[jdoggivjc]

I'll go one better - I'll do the entire season.

1. Nebraska (our last real crack at them plus a top 10 win)
2. Texas (because we have never beaten them plus a top 5 win)
3. Oklahoma (because we have never beaten them in the Big 12 era plus a top 10 win)
4. Iowa (it's a top 10 win and I'd like putting those d-bags in their place)
5. Utah (top 25 win)
6. Texas Tech (top 25 win)
7. Missouri
8. K-State
9. Kansas
10. Colorado
11. Northern Illinois
12. Northern Iowa

It's not that I don't want 8-12 as badly as I want Nebraska or Texas or Iowa, it's that I view those as "should win" games for ANY successful season. I think this is more about if we could win one game that would "set" our program, which would it be. K-State, Kansas, Colorado, Northern Illinois, and Northern Iowa aren't those kinds of wins.

[Clonegrad07]

I'd EASILY take the win vs. Iowa over the win vs. Nebraska...

HOWEVER... a win vs. Texas is program changing... I'd take that over a win vs. Iowa ANYDAY!

[mj4cy]

Probably not the best for the team, but for me personally, beat Iowa every freaking year.

[cyclones500]

I'll go one better - I'll do the entire season.

1. Nebraska (our last real crack at them plus a top 10 win)
2. Texas (because we have never beaten them plus a top 5 win)
3. Oklahoma (because we have never beaten them in the Big 12 era plus a top 10 win)
4. Iowa (it's a top 10 win and I'd like putting those d-bags in their place)
5. Utah (top 25 win)
6. Texas Tech (top 25 win)
7. Missouri
8. K-State
9. Kansas
10. Colorado
11. Northern Illinois
12. Northern Iowa

It's not that I don't want 8-12 as badly as I want Nebraska or Texas or Iowa, it's that I view those as "should win" games for ANY successful season. I think this is more about if we could win one game that would "set" our program, which would it be. K-State, Kansas, Colorado, Northern Illinois, and Northern Iowa aren't those kinds of wins.

I think that's exactly how I would rank it. I could flip-flop NU/UT with little problem. Putting Tech above Iowa & Utah might make sense, too, since it'd be a conference win.

Here's a question: How many wins toward the bottom would you sacrifice for one win at the top? That's where it gets tricky.

Could you live with a loss to UNI and NIU if it meant beating Nebraska?

I assume if something like that happened, we'd be maybe a 3-9 team that happened to pull one major upset.

[Tornado man]

Probably not the best for the team, but for me personally, beat Iowa every freaking year.

I think it's best for the team to beat Iowa too. We're not recruiting against Texas - we sure do against Iowa.