Iowa State Football Preview With Picks and 2011 Schedule
Considering Iowa State plays in the Big 12 and is always going to be lacking in the talent department when compared to Big 12 giants like Oklahoma, this team has managed to remain fairly competitive over the years. They’ve had a few dud years but also have managed several 7 in seasons.
Last year, Iowa State went 5-7, but when you take into ACCount that they had 6 Games against teams in the top 20, with 4 of those in the top 10, you have to give them some credit. They knocked off Texas, and took Nebraska to OT before losing 31-30. They also stayed close to #15 Missouri, losing 14-0. In fact if you go back and look at Iowa State over the years, you’ll find plenty of examples of where they played to the level of some top Big 12 teams, even pulling some upsets along the way. again, when you’re towards toe bottom of the talent pecking pole, you have to give credit where credit is due.
In 2011 they return 7 defensive starters, but it was a defense a year ago that GAve up on average 29 points per Game, so plenty of room for improvement there. On offense they return just 5 starters with no frontrunner at QB. Like the defense, there’s lot’s of room for improvement. As it is, the offense produced just 21 points per Game last season.
It looks like a tough year ahead for the Cyclones. The Schedule isn’t doing them any favors, but then again, that’s a result of playing in the Big 12. The only good thing about that is they no longer have to worry about Nebraska! When you go Game by Game through their Schedule it’s very difficult to find a way for them to get to 6 wins and become bowl eligible. They’ll likely be competitive and pull an upset along the way as Iowa State teams frequently do, but with the uNCertainty on offense it’s looking like a 4 or 5 win season in 2011.
From a betting standpoint, watch out for October 1st when Texas comes to town. The Longhorns have some big scores to settle this year and Iowa State is on that hit list having won at Texas 28-21 last year. If MACk Brown can win by a large margin, he will.
Iowa State is listed at odds of 80/1 to win the Big 12. No value there. It would be throwing money away.
2011 Iowa State Football Schedule
9-3-11 NORTHERN IOWA
9-10-11 IOWA
9-16-11 at Connecticut (Thur.)
10-1-11 TEXAS
10-8-11 at Baylor
10-15-11 at Missouri
10-22-11 TEXAS A&M
10-29-11 at Texas Tech
11-5-11 KANSAS
11-18-11 OKLAHOMA STATE (Fri.)
11-26-11 at Oklahoma
12-3-11 at Kansas State