Iowa State Cyclones Rightfully See Significant Rise in Power Rankings Following Win

The Iowa State Cyclones were able to finally snap their four-game losing streak in a shocking upset win over the TCU Horned Frogs. 

Coming into the game, there really wasn’t any reason to believe that the Cyclones could have gone on the road and pulled off an upset based on how they were playing. Furthermore, considering how they looked in the game, it was even more shocking to see the final outcome. 

Offensively, the team really didn’t have much in this one. Carson Hansen was able to eclipse 100 rushing yards, but it wasn’t easy. The Horned Frogs limited him to under four yards per carry, and they made him earn everything. 

Due to another poor performance by Rocco Becht, it was shocking to see the team be able to go on the road and win this one. Fortunately, the defense and special teams were able to make some big plays to help secure the win. With the victory, Iowa State was once again able to receive a positive bump in how they are viewed nationally. 

Chris Vannini of The Athletic (subscription required wrote about the Cyclones rising significantly in their power rankings following an upset win. Following Week 11, they moved up from 48th to 39th. 

After free-falling in the power rankings the last few weeks, it was good to see the Cyclones move up into the Top 40. If they had lost to TCU, they very well could have been outside of the Top 50, looking in on their bye week. 

With injuries once again being an issue for the team, the bye week will hopefully help get some of their defensive players back for the final two games of the year. Even though they might not be able to compete for a Big 12 title, winning the last two games would bring them to a very respectable 8-4 regular-season record. 

While that might be a disappointment based on the preseason expectations for the program, a few move wins would make the year feel a lot better. Furthermore, even though some of their goals may have been altered, two more wins might be able to get them back to near the Top 25, which would be a nice accomplishment. 

Hopefully, the team will get healthy and work on some things during the bye week to improve going forward. Despite the win and the move up in the power rankings, it wasn’t an overly strong performance.