Game by Game Predictions

[Clones85']

What do you guys have? Here are mine......


Tulsa - I really think our defense is going to be good this year but Tulsa will find ways to score. I look for us to score on them thru the air and on the ground. ISU wins 31-20

@ Iowa - I think their OL will be tough but who runs the ball and how effective? If they thought their DLine struggled to get pressure last year, I wonder what they will think this year. Still at Kinnick, but I think ISU wins 23-20

Western Ill - They aren't any good. ISU wins 38-6

TT - I'm high on TT. They return a lot of players and you know they have some talent. I just don't have a good feeling about this one. TT wins 31-24.

@TCU - I wish we played them later in the conference season. Still, I'm not high on them and I probably should be. I just think we will match up well with them and steal one on the road here. ISU wins 20-17.

Kansas St - We are finally going to beat them. I think if we can stay healthy in the front 7 of the defense, we will really slow KState down. ISU wins 27-17

@ OSU - Revenge game for OSU. On the road. I look for OSU to win 34-24

Baylor - I really don't feel good on this one and I don't know why. At home, I'll be a homer. ISU 31-30

Oklahoma - Their defense is to good. OU win 31-13

@ Texas - I think this could be the annual beat down. Hope I'm wrong but that defense, plus being on the road, equals nightmares. Texas 41-10

@Kanas - Get back to winning with this game. ISU 31-24

West Virginia - This is going to be a huge game. It's either going to be a game we need to get bowl elgible or a game we need to get a really nice bowl game. Place should be rocking but West Virginia has to much speed for us. 34-24 WV


So I have us going 7-5 (4-5) on the season. Probably a game better than I thought I would predict before I broke it down. I think TCU and Baylor are the big ones.

 

[swarthmoreCY]

NU is lucky to have retreated to the Big 10. Damn that is a tough schedule.

 

[hawkeyescott]

NU is lucky to have retreated to the Big 10. Damn that is a tough schedule.

It looks tough on paper in August but a lot can change between now and the end of November. I would be willing to bet that TCU, Oklahoma St and K-St won't be as good as their preseason rankings by the end of the year.

 

[geburgess]

It looks tough on paper in August but a lot can change between now and the end of November. I would be willing to bet that TCU, Oklahoma St and K-St won't be as good as their preseason rankings by the end of the year.

And I bet that Texas, OU, and WV will be top 10 teams at the end of the year, with the possibility tahat each of them will be in the top 5 at some point in the season. Still doesn't take away from the schedule much at all, even if the teams you mentioned do fall off some from their pre-season rankings.

 

[d4nim4l]

Here's what I posted on WRNL.

Tulsa - W - 28-24 - Offense is efficient but not outstanding and the defense has early season kinks to work out against veterans at the skill positions for Tulsa.

@Iowa - W - 21-17 - Rivalry games tend to err on the side of the defense and this one will be no different.

Western Illinois - W - 42-10 - WIU scored on average a little over once per game last season. Offense is again efficient and talent alone eats up large chunks of yards.

Texas Tech - W - 42-28 - Tech's offense will show up unlike in 2011 but the third defensive coordinator in three years will not allow the Red Raiders to keep pace. Plus their physicality has hardly ever been an issue in Tubberville's tenure and Rhoads knows this.

@TCU - L - 35-27 - TCU's offense is dangerous, their defense will still be working out kinks, and this is the first Big XII game in renovated Amon G. Carter stadium. Also this is a loss by virtue of my attendance.

Kansas State - W - 21-19 - Rhoads gets the Snyder monkey off his back in Jack Trice Staidum where no current Kansas State player has ever played.

@Oklahoma State - L - 35-31 - I don't believe in revenge games as motivation but I do believe that OSU still has more talent top to bottom and playing at home makes the difference.

Baylor - W - 31-10 - The Random Rhoads Rout Special of 2012. If Baylor makes the mistake of going full on Air Raid in 2012 they'll have hell to pay in late October in Jack Trice.

Oklahoma - L - 31-27 - Closer than anyone would predict prior to the season. Still very possible for this to be an upset.

@Texas - L - 24-10 - This game concerns me greatly. Iowa State has not played well under Rhoads in November and Texas could be a monster by this point.

@Kansas - W - 28-27 - Biggest trap game in Rhoads' tenure. Could be a loss by virtue of my attendance.

West Virginia - L - 42-40 - ISU's biggest offensive output of the season is not enough in Riot Bowl I. The en vogue upset pick of 2012 has a bit of a similar feeling to Missouri in 2011. Oh so close to the Cyclones having that breakout 8 win regular season.

Final Record: 7-5 (4-5)

 

[CyFan61]

Tulsa - Come out and make a statement early. Being an underdog at home against a C-USA team doesn't sit well with the squad. Defense is stingy, Steele is rusty, but the running game puts it away late. ISU 24-10

@ Iowa - Big game for Rhoads as he was embarrassed during his last trip to Kinnick. Hawks will have blown out Northern Illinois the week prior. Steele comes out with another fantastic game vs. Iowa, restoring fan confidence and shocking the Hawks. ISU 28-14

Western Illinois - Nothing to say here. ISU 31-7

Texas Tech - Rhoads has Tuberville's number. The Jack is rocking for this one, a night game on national TV. It's a high scoring affair, but a late defensive stop followed by a clutch FG starts ISU off 4-0. ISU 38-35

@ TCU - Iowa State has some publicity following the 4-0 start. This is TCU's first-ever home game in the Big 12 and they take advantage of it. You know how ISU tends to have one game a season that they seem completely unprepared in? (OU '10 and Mizzou '11 come to mind.) That's this one in '12. TCU 42-10
Kansas State - After last week's blowout, Rhoads goes toe-to-toe with Old Man River one more time. The Coach Who Refuses To Die just has one too many tricks up his sleeve. A late drive by Purple Kansas leaves ISU fans in despair. KSU 28-24

@ OSU - The Cowboys will start the season rougher than expected, but want nothing more than revenge for last season's upset. They'll have to wait another year because the team is focused and plays the best game of the season in Stillwater. James White has a huge game. ISU 31-20

Baylor - It's Homecoming, things are back on track, and the ISU faithful are feeling it. This game is close at the end, but the 'Clones pull it off. ISU 35-28

Oklahoma - Incredible amount of hype for this game. OU is coming in undefeated and ISU is sitting at 6-2. National TV, the whole shebang. The Cyclones play their hearts out. The effort is incredible. But OU is just too much. ISU leads in the 3rd quarter, but the Sooners pull away late. OU 27-17.

@ Texas - After last week's heartbreaker, the team kind of lays an egg against a Texas squad hitting its stride. UT 35-14

@ Kansas - KU is actually doing better than anticipated. ISU strolls in and gets jumped on early. KU up by double digits at halftime but ISU manages to come back and win it late. Huge confidence boost for the kicker (Arceo or Netten) who wins it close to the end. ISU 24-23

West Virginia - Here it is again. National TV on Black Friday. A 9-1 WVU team coming to face 7-4 ISU. Good amount of national pub for this game, lots of mentions of the OSU game last season and WVU is put on an upset "watch list." Welcome to Ames... the seniors leave it all on the field and WVU is shellacked before they know what hit them. WVU storms back late to make it interesting, but ISU never trails in this one. ISU 28-24

Iowa State finishes 8-4 (5-4). For the fourth straight season, the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl picks a team from the state of Iowa to play in it, as the Cyclones take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. "I am so proud" clip is played about a million times by ESPN before and during the game. In a tight game, NU leads by 4 with a minute left as Steele Jantz, who has thrown 5 INTs in the game already, leads ISU on an amazing drive that includes three 4th down conversions and a 23 yard touchdown pass as time expires to Josh Lenz for the win. Cyclones storm the field and ESPN declares it an Instant Classic. ISU 30-28

ISU finishes 9-4. Best season since 2000.

 

[cyclones500]

I posted in a similar thread a couple weeks ago, without summaries. I’ve changed some of the results slightly.

Asterisk indicates opponent is ranked in Top 25 entering game.

Tulsa, W 27-17 (1-0). Dominant in many aspects, but result is still in doubt entering 4th quarter.

@Iowa, W 24-20 (2-0). ISU doesn’t lead until a late, clock-milking TD drive. Win sealed by INT in red zone.

Western Illinois, W 33-7 (3-0). 17-0 at the end of the first quarter. Everything else is a formality.

Texas Tech, W 38-28 (4-0, 1-0). Offense looks smooth. Fans discuss possibility of 8-win season and bowl potential.

*@TCU, L 31-14 (4-1, 1-1). Solid performance, but badly-time self-destruction on both sides of the ball.

*Kansas State, W 26-20 OT (5-1, 2-1). Crowd storms field. ISU gets four Top-25 votes.

*@Oklahoma State, L 34-17 (5-2, 2-2). Obvious pregame storyline, followed by a routine comeuppance. One Top-25 vote.

Baylor, W 27-21 (6-2, 3-2). ISU outplays Baylor, but still needs two fourth-quarter FGs to win it. Bowl eligible; two Top-25 votes.

*Oklahoma, L 28-13 (6-3, 3-3). More competitive than score indicates — alas, futility skid continues. One vote.

*@Texas, L 24-9 (6-4, 3-4). ISU plays well, but no room for error; opponent is better. Similar to @OU 2011. (No top-25 votes.)

@Kansas, W 27-16 (7-4, 4-4). Survival.

*West Virginia, L 34-24 (7-5, 4-5). Tied at 24 with 10 minutes remaining. WVa does just enough. Exciting game, bummer conclusion.

Regular season: 7-5
Big 12: 4-5, sixth by tiebreaker

 

[Messi]

Tulsa - Come out and make a statement early. Being an underdog at home against a C-USA team doesn't sit well with the squad. Defense is stingy, Steele is rusty, but the running game puts it away late. ISU 24-10

@ Iowa - Big game for Rhoads as he was embarrassed during his last trip to Kinnick. Hawks will have blown out Northern Illinois the week prior. Steele comes out with another fantastic game vs. Iowa, restoring fan confidence and shocking the Hawks. ISU 28-14

Western Illinois - Nothing to say here. ISU 31-7

Texas Tech - Rhoads has Tuberville's number. The Jack is rocking for this one, a night game on national TV. It's a high scoring affair, but a late defensive stop followed by a clutch FG starts ISU off 4-0. ISU 38-35

@ TCU - Iowa State has some publicity following the 4-0 start. This is TCU's first-ever home game in the Big 12 and they take advantage of it. You know how ISU tends to have one game a season that they seem completely unprepared in? (OU '10 and Mizzou '11 come to mind.) That's this one in '12. TCU 42-10
Kansas State - After last week's blowout, Rhoads goes toe-to-toe with Old Man River one more time. The Coach Who Refuses To Die just has one too many tricks up his sleeve. A late drive by Purple Kansas leaves ISU fans in despair. KSU 28-24

@ OSU - The Cowboys will start the season rougher than expected, but want nothing more than revenge for last season's upset. They'll have to wait another year because the team is focused and plays the best game of the season in Stillwater. James White has a huge game. ISU 31-20

Baylor - It's Homecoming, things are back on track, and the ISU faithful are feeling it. This game is close at the end, but the 'Clones pull it off. ISU 35-28

Oklahoma - Incredible amount of hype for this game. OU is coming in undefeated and ISU is sitting at 6-2. National TV, the whole shebang. The Cyclones play their hearts out. The effort is incredible. But OU is just too much. ISU leads in the 3rd quarter, but the Sooners pull away late. OU 27-17.

@ Texas - After last week's heartbreaker, the team kind of lays an egg against a Texas squad hitting its stride. UT 35-14

@ Kansas - KU is actually doing better than anticipated. ISU strolls in and gets jumped on early. KU up by double digits at halftime but ISU manages to come back and win it late. Huge confidence boost for the kicker (Arceo or Netten) who wins it close to the end. ISU 24-23

West Virginia - Here it is again. National TV on Black Friday. A 9-1 WVU team coming to face 7-4 ISU. Good amount of national pub for this game, lots of mentions of the OSU game last season and WVU is put on an upset "watch list." Welcome to Ames... the seniors leave it all on the field and WVU is shellacked before they know what hit them. WVU storms back late to make it interesting, but ISU never trails in this one. ISU 28-24

Iowa State finishes 8-4 (5-4). For the fourth straight season, the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl picks a team from the state of Iowa to play in it, as the Cyclones take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. "I am so proud" clip is played about a million times by ESPN before and during the game. In a tight game, NU leads by 4 with a minute left as Steele Jantz, who has thrown 5 INTs in the game already, leads ISU on an amazing drive that includes three 4th down conversions and a 23 yard touchdown pass as time expires to Josh Lenz for the win. Cyclones storm the field and ESPN declares it an Instant Classic. ISU 30-28

ISU finishes 9-4. Best season since 2000.

I hope that if we have 8 regular season wins we end up in a better game than the BWW bowl

 

[Clones85']

Here's what I posted on WRNL.

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Nice. Looks like we agree on everything except switching the TCU and TT game. I'll tell you what if we can beat TT and get to 4-0, I'm going to start drinking a lot of koolaid on what the season can be.

 

[brianhos]

I think you all are setting yourselves up for disappointment. This schedule is brutal. I only see 2 guarantees on there, a few toss ups, and lots of really tough games.

 

[Clones85']

I think you all are setting yourselves up for disappointment. This schedule is brutal. I only see 2 guarantees on there, a few toss ups, and lots of really tough games.

I agree that the schedule is brutal. But, our program is to the point where we should start expecting 6-8 wins and CPR wouldn't want it any other way. The thing with our schedule is there are no games where we have a week off, but there are still many winnable games on the schedule. At Texas is the only game I look at and don't see a way we win it.

 

[brianhos]

I agree that the schedule is brutal. But, our program is to the point where we should start expecting 6-8 wins and CPR wouldn't want it any other way. The thing with our schedule is there are no games where we have a week off, but there are still many winnable games on the schedule. At Texas is the only game I look at and don't see a way we win it.

I see OU and WVU in that also. Those two are going to be really good.

 

[cytown]

But, our program is to the point where we should start expecting 6-8 wins and CPR wouldn't want it any other way.

6 wins yeah. 8 wins, no. A program coming out of the cellar (2-3 wins) to to get to mediocrity (5-6 wins per year) is more common these days thanks to the 85 scholly limit. I'm thrilled with how quickly CPR has turned this thing around. 18-20 is still a losing record, but considering where we were at, plus our lackluster history, its pretty damn good.

Now, getting from where we are at to EXPECTING 6-8 wins per year is a stretch IMO. I expect 4-6 wins but hope for 7 or 8. Anybody expecting a bowl game (or better) will be setting themself up for dissapointment. Lets put together a decade of 5,6, and 7 win seasons before we expect 7 and 8 wins per year. Not saying we can't shoot for it but I don't want to see us run off another coach because we felt like 6 wins wasn't good enough.

 

[cytown]

Clones85 - completely agree with your forecast except I see us losing @ TCU. That would put us at 6-6. Biggest game, IMO, are @Iowa and KSU. We won't go bowling unless we win those.

 

[CloneLawman]

NU is lucky to have retreated to the Big 10. Damn that is a tough schedule.

O come on, now. Everyone knows that the high and mighty Big Ten is always the toughest conference. Why, the conference is made up of Legends and Leaders. You clearly need to watch more Big Ten network specials like the Hawk shils that post on here.

 

[acoustimac]

6 wins yeah. 8 wins, no. A program coming out of the cellar (2-3 wins) to to get to mediocrity (5-6 wins per year) is more common these days thanks to the 85 scholly limit. I'm thrilled with how quickly CPR has turned this thing around. 18-20 is still a losing record, but considering where we were at, plus our lackluster history, its pretty damn good.

Now, getting from where we are at to EXPECTING 6-8 wins per year is a stretch IMO. I expect 4-6 wins but hope for 7 or 8. Anybody expecting a bowl game (or better) will be setting themself up for dissapointment. Lets put together a decade of 5,6, and 7 win seasons before we expect 7 and 8 wins per year. Not saying we can't shoot for it but I don't want to see us run off another coach because we felt like 6 wins wasn't good enough.

I don't disagree with your first paragraph, but would say the time table of the second is too long. Another 2 years of around 6 wins and then step it up. I would guess the head coaches don't even want to wait that long. If we have to wait another 7 years to get beyond 6-7 wins...there will be unrest in all areas IMO.

 

[EYEoftheSTORM]

the only prediction that I am making is that we will make it to a bowl game with either 6 or 7 wins. (40%- 6 wins, 60%- 7 wins). Reasoning for this is a stellar defense, stellar running game, and stronger play at QB. I am very high on the D excelling this year and being top 3 in the XII likely behind Texas and Oklahoma..

 

[HawkAssassin]

Iowa State has a lot of toss up games this year, you'll win 5 to 7.


Tulsa - W

@ Iowa - L

Western Ill - W

TT - W

@TCU - L

Kansas St - W
@ OSU - L

Baylor - W

Oklahoma - L

@ Texas - L

@Kanas - L

West Virginia - W

 

[EYEoftheSTORM]

I also believe that all the games this year are winnable games with the toughest being @ Texas like another poster has said. I am going into every games expecting them all to at least be close with a chance to win.

 

[HawkAssassin]

the only prediction that I am making is that we will make it to a bowl game with either 6 or 7 wins. (40%- 6 wins, 60%- 7 wins). Reasoning for this is a stellar defense, stellar running game, and stronger play at QB. I am very high on the D excelling this year and being top 3 in the XII likely behind Texas and Oklahoma..

If Iowa State does these things they will have more than 6 or 7 wins.