Iowa Game a Must win?

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LincolnWay187

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I was curious how many people consider this a must win for the Clones. As we all know, Iowa is one of the weaker teams we play this year. They are at best in the middle of the pack in terms of talent we play. I think it is crucial to get some confidence for the team before league play starts as the Big 12 is actually difficult. By the way it is hilarious hearing Iowa fans saying Minnesota is one of their toughest games...what..a..joke.
 

CyTwins

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Not a must win at all. I'd rather win any conference game than beat a mediocre B1G team
 

coolerifyoudid

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From a "making it to a bowl" standpoint, probably. But I would take a win over a better team as a much more significant win. Rivalry games are great to win, but they should not decide your season.


Edit: slow phone typing or I would have just said ditto to the two posts above.
 
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jdoggivjc

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IMO if we want any chance of going bowling this year we probably have to start the season 5-0 and hope we can steal one from at least one of Texas, K-State, or, if we're reaching, OSU - so yeah, kind of a must win.
 

isutrevman

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Must win if we want to make a bowl game. Not a must win in the grand scheme of our program. We can lose this game and still have opportunities to show improvement from last season.

I do think we need to beat EITHER Iowa or Toledo though for fans to be "ok" with this season. Losing both those games likely results in a 4 win season at best and another 2 win season at worst.
 

Beyerball

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Must win if we want to make a bowl game. Not a must win in the grand scheme of our program. We can lose this game and still have opportunities to show improvement from last season.

I do think we need to beat EITHER Iowa or Toledo though for fans to be "ok" with this season. Losing both those games likely results in a 4 win season at best and another 2 win season at worst.

I don't see this team losing to KU at home or TT for that matter..I also think we spank TX.
 

BoxsterCy

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With our schedule, hell yes it is a must win this season. At home against a non-ranked beatable opponent.
 

jdoggivjc

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I don't see this team losing to KU at home or TT for that matter..I also think we spank TX.

Which leaves us at 4 wins. Toledo should be a gimme, especially with how bad they are, but with our history in MAC stadiums... - but for prosperity's sake, 5 wins. Considering the rest of the teams we have left - Baylor, TCU, OU, OSU, WVU, and K-State - still think Iowa isn't a must win if we really want to go to a bowl this year?
 
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SpokaneCY

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Apr 11, 2006
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I was curious how many people consider this a must win for the Clones. As we all know, Iowa is one of the weaker teams we play this year. They are at best in the middle of the pack in terms of talent we play. I think it is crucial to get some confidence for the team before league play starts as the Big 12 is actually difficult. By the way it is hilarious hearing Iowa fans saying Minnesota is one of their toughest games...what..a..joke.

Only if CPR can't find 5 wins somewhere else on the schedule. Don't care about who we beat so long as there are about 6 of them this year.
 

bosco

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Dec 21, 2008
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It's a must win for the advancement of the program. Iowa isn't the worse team on our schedule. They appear to be at least a middle of the road P5 team. If ISU wants to become a consistent bowling team Iowa is the type of team that we must beat, especially at home.
 

madguy30

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If 5-6 more wins are on there at the end of the season after a loss this weekend, it won't be looked at as a must win...so at this point, no.

I used to think this game was a must win because it may have been a nice way to get Iowa fans to shut up, but they typically just got louder and more insular when/if it happened.
 

CyCloned

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Oct 18, 2006
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If ISU is going to a bowl game, it sure is. Even though Iowa appears to be improved, (hard to say after one game) they are still going to be one of the worst teams on the Cyclone's schedule this year.
 

JustAFleshWound

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I was curious how many people consider this a must win for the Clones. As we all know, Iowa is one of the weaker teams we play this year. They are at best in the middle of the pack in terms of talent we play. I think it is crucial to get some confidence for the team before league play starts as the Big 12 is actually difficult. By the way it is hilarious hearing Iowa fans saying Minnesota is one of their toughest games...what..a..joke.

Why is that a joke? A number of commentators consider Minnesota the team to beat in the B1G West.
 

BigSkyCy2

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If we think we can win 6 games and get to a bowl, this is a must-win.

I thought from the start that if we beat UNI and Iowa, we can start 5-0, then just need to pick up one more somewhere along the way.