Since I don't know which rankings you like to use, I am referencing TR. So the 7 bowl teams #20 Iowa faced are ranked:Iowa played 7 bowl teams and beat 5. How many did ISU beat and play?
8. Wisconsin - Loss
11. Iowa State - Win
12. Penn State - Win (against backup QB)
22. Purdue - Loss
26. Minnesota - Win
71. Maryland - Win
97. Kent State - Win
Iowa State played 7 FBS bowl teams and 1 ranked FCS team. They went 3-5 in those games with 4 losses being single score losses. Iowa won the close games, Iowa State lost the close games. Reverse the luck and the records are reversed too.