[HaydenHawk56]

I will give them this, they are no longer the incredibly crappy doormat and a joke of a program of the 80s and most of the 90s.

But, I still see them as a poor to mediocre program that is capable of playing good football in stretches. They are capable of pulling an upset against ranked teams (and their Super Bowl Big Brothers) if these ranked teams don't bring their A games.

Paul Rhodes is that Rah Rah Cheerleader Coach type on the sidelines and he is getting his players to over achieve in games.

The question is, can they put together a complete season? Can they do this over the long haul?

Thoughts?

[Doublewide]

We are still middle to lower of the pack Big 12 as of now still. But it is good to see the steady improvement. I wont sugar coat it. Will we ever routinely compete in this conference probably not, unless we get to 12 teams. I am tickled as **** right now so furk it BCS game next year!!!

And its Rhoads

[Win5002]

One thing you have to remember, this is only Paul Rhoads 3rd year but since he came in so late he only has had 2 recruiting classes. I think the guy can develop players and find a few diamonds in the rough to win between 6-8 games regularly(kind of what both coaches need to be able to do in this state).

Look at how bad that defense was at the start of last year and how much they have improved since then until now its a huge difference.

[Captain]

I remember the days when the Hawk teams used to get alot better as the season wore on.

ahh...good times.

[smoot27]

So where is ISU as a football program in the grand scheme of things

Tied with Iowa this year with a head-to-head win over us

[theole12]

They are not middle of the pack. Lower tier forever and ever and ever and ever.

[clim33]

They are getting better but much like us the last few seasons they are inconsistent. That comes from not being deep on the bench low on talent. You have to really not make mistakes and get lucky when you have less talent. Both teams can't overcome many mistakes. ISU is better the last few years. Next year hopefully we can show in Kinnick.....not good enough yet!!

[DuffMan]

It's in Ames.

[cibula11]

cherish the 6 and 7 win seasons...they'll be few and far between

[sonofjim]

I'm respecting Rhodes more and more. That doesn't make me an ISU fan. I think they're headed toward what Iowa is right now. A 6-8 win team and maybe occasionally more. Unless Iowa steps things up a bit, I believe they will catch up. I would never have said that a couple years ago. Iowa shouldn't be jealous of their improvement. That is a losing mentality. They should be inspired to improve themselves. There really aren't a lot of teams that can win against an effort like they put out last night. Anyone who can't take their hat off to that is just in sick denial.

[briankaldenberg]

Originally Posted by Doublewide

We are still middle to lower of the pack Big 12 as of now still. But it is good to see the steady improvement. I wont sugar coat it. Will we ever routinely compete in this conference probably not, unless we get to 12 teams. I am tickled as **** right now so furk it BCS game next year!!!

And its Rhoads

In the grand scheme of things college football has changed. No longer is it acceptable for college football teams to have decades like Iowa State has in the 1980's and 1990's of downright patheticness.

If you look at the landscape now, almost every BCS team will make a bowl once every 4 to 5 years. Where there used to be 2-4 conference dwellers, not there's usually only 1-2. Iowa State is still in the bottom 4th of the Big 12 in the "Grand Scheme" of things.

[Enginerd]

Hopefully they're approaching where they were in the early 2000's. Middle of the road b12 team that can compete for a bowl game and maybe scare some good teams. Friday night a lot of young guys played well and Barnett looks like a winner. It'd be nice to get back to 8 conference games and 2 divisions.

[DwayneTwill]

7th or so in the Big XII.

[Travisam]

Q: So where is ISU as a football program in the grand scheme of things?


A: ****ed

[Cyhigh]

When you have a Top 10 schedule, it's not easy getting your program to that "next level". ISU won't be a Jan. bowl game program, but the direction of the program given the incredibly difficult schedule(s) is very positive and ISU getting to a bowl game this year is nothing short of a coaching miracle and that speaks volumes. As an ISU fan, knowing where we were from 1980-2000, I'm perfectly content with competing for a bowl game every year and possibly making that elusive Jan. bowl game every 5 years or so. What I do know is that during the offseason with all the Big 12 demise talk, ISU was pretty much bagged on and left for dead in all the projections of superconferences without ISU.

We have one of the toughest schedules in the country and will make a bowl. We've basically sold out every home game(give a few thousand) and starting in 2012 with the addition of the new Football facility will have facilities that rival almost any team in the big 12 and big 10 for that matter. ISU is Top 50 program.