Despite their perfect record and No. 11 ranking, the BYU Cougars were the underdogs heading into Saturday’s game against the Iowa State Cyclones.

But that had no bearing on the predictions from ESPN’s College GameDay crew.

Citing a consistently impressive showing from true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, among other strengths, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit all picked BYU to win over Iowa State.

And so did celebrity guest picker Nate Bargatze — but for an entirely different, non-sports related reason.

Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

When it came time for Bargatze to weigh in with his prediction for the BYU versus Iowa State game, the comedian didn’t even hesitate.

“This is a business decision right here,” he said with a smile. “I’ve got four shows in Salt Lake City. BYU, baby!”

Bargatze chose wisely. After a rough start, the Cougars went on to pull off another win on the road, defeating the Cyclones 41-27 and remaining undefeated at 8-0.

When does Nate Bargatze come to Salt Lake City?

Bargatze’s “Big Dumb Eyes” world tour comes to Salt Lake City in December.

The comedian will perform four shows at the Delta Center Dec. 4-6.

He previously did four shows at the Eccles Theater in 2022 and three shows at the Delta Center in 2023. Bargatze spoke to the Deseret News at that time about the popularity of clean comedy in Utah.

“You always heard (Jim) Gaffigan and (Brian) Regan could go there,” he said in 2023. “You heard, ‘If you’re clean, you do really great in Salt Lake City.’ … I actually now have a lot of close friends that live in Salt Lake City. And I actually end up there a lot.”

During one of his 2023 Salt Lake shows, Bargatze called Utah the “clean comedian’s Hollywood,” per Deseret News. That show overlapped with the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the comedian thanked the crowd for sharing the weekend with him, as the Deseret News reported at the time.

“The crowds were so good,” he later said of the Salt Lake City shows, per Deseret News. “You have dreams of it happening like this, but every single time it’s overwhelming.”

Bargatze’s upcoming shows at the Delta Center come just a few months after he hosted the Emmys for the first time — a major moment in his career that he put his own stamp on with a $100,000 plan to keep acceptance speeches short.

Iowa State basketball returns home on Sunday, Oct. 26 to play Northwestern in an exhibition game.

The game is scheduled to tip off at 12 p.m. from Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

Iowa State was 25-10 overall and 13-7 in the Big 12 last season but lost its first exhibition to Creighton, 71-58. Northwestern, meanwhile, went 17-16 in 2024-25 and was 2-9 on the road.

Watch Iowa State vs. Northwestern on ESPN+

What channel is Iowa State vs. Northwestern on today?

Iowa State vs. Northwestern time today

• Date: Sunday, Oct. 26
• Start time: 12 p.m. CT
• Location: Hilton Coliseum in Ames

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State head wrestling coach Kevin Dresser released the brackets for ISU’s 2025-26 wrestle-offs, which will take place this weekend. Semifinals will be wrestled Saturday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m. on the Lied Rec Center main floor. Finals will take place the following day at Ames High School at 2 p.m.

Seven matches will be wrestled Saturday with nine on Sunday. A full bout order can be viewed at the end of this story. 

Stevo Poulin, Evan Frost and Rocky Elam will be held out of competition this weekend and will wrestle off in the coming weeks. Daniel Herrera will also miss this weekend’s wrestle-offs due to his participation in the U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia Saturday and Sunday.

Additionally, Dresser also announced that Nando Villaescusa, Sawyer Bartelt, Carson Floyd and Carter Fousek will miss the 2025-26 season due to injury and will pursue a medical redshirt.

Results from the inaugural Cyclone Invitational Presented by Daily’s Premium Meats, in which two wrestlers per team can enter, will also factor in to setting the ISU lineup.

To see the full wrestle-off brackets, CLICK HERE.

Wrestle-off results will be posted to Cyclones.com following each round.

Fans attending Saturday’s wrestle-offs are encouraged to park in Lot 68 and walk to the Lied Rec Center. Plan for increased traffic in the area due to the football gameday.

IOWA STATE WRESTLE-OFF SCHEDULE

Semifinals

Date: Saturday, Oct. 25

Time: 11 a.m.

Location: Lied Rec Center

Finals

Date: Sunday, Oct. 26

Time: 2 p.m.

Location: Ames High School

Watch: IAWrestle

SATURDAY MATCH ORDER

125: Adrian Meza vs. Ethan Perryman

141: Anthony Echemendia vs. Osmany Diversent*

149: Paniro Johnson vs. Logan Stotts

165: Connor Euton vs. Manny Rojas

165: Aiden Riggins vs. Owen Helgeson

174: Melton Powe vs. Jacob Helgeson

285: McCrae Hagarty vs. Xavier Bruening

SUNDAY MATCH ORDER

125: Christian Castillo vs. Meza/Perryman*

133: Garrett Grice vs. Carter Pearson

149: Jacob Frost vs. Johnson/Stotts

157: Vinny Zerban vs. Kane Naaktgeboren

165: Euton/Rojas vs. Riggins/O. Helgeson

174: MJ Gaitan vs. Powe/J. Helgeson

184: Isaac Dean vs. Tate Naaktgeboren

197: CJ Carter vs. Rowan Udell

285: Yonger Bastida vs. Hagarty/Bruening

*Denotes exhibition