Post spring around the Big XII north. Part 2-Iowa State

Last time I talked about a coach on a very hot seat, Dan Hawkins and his Colorado Buffaloes.  A guy that doesn't have anything to worry about this year is 2nd year head coach Paul Rhodes of the Iowa State Cyclones.  Last year the 'Clones surprised pretty much everyone as they went from 2-10 and 0-8 in conference under then head coach Gene Chizik to 7-6, including an Insight bowl win over Minnesota.  While they only went 3-5 in the Big XII, they did have the distinction of winning in Lincoln, Neb in a 9-7 slug fest that sent college football back about 30 years.  3 yards and a cloud of dust this bitches!  They also gave Missouri all they wanted before falling 34-24 against my Tigers in Columbia in a game that was too close for comfort until the 4th quarter.  They did however receive the dubious honor of being the only conference win for the kansas jayhawks.

This year the Cyclones attempt to build on that success in the weak Big XII north.  They lost a large portion of the defense from a year ago, as well as their leading receiver.  They do however return their leading rusher and have an experienced offensive line.  Doing his best Bo Pelini impression, conventional wisdom says that ISU will try to control the time of possession with the running game to take heat off the defense.  However, they do have the most experienced quarterback in the division with senior Austen Arnaud.  He's a guy that may not have the best arm but can dink and dunk and occasionally unload an unsuspected bomb.  

While I believe that Rhodes is a pretty good coach, there are plenty of questions about his recruiting as he brought in the 10th rated class in the Big XII. (60th nationally)  Yes, it's great when you can coach players up, but it's nice when you don't have to coach them up quite that far.  Fortunately for he and the Cyclones, the division includes Colorado, KSU and ku which didn't exactly tear things up either.  Regardless of what talent he has or brought in, they should be able to compete with all of them for 3rd place, well at least Kay State and the beaks.  I feel really solid about picking the Buffs for the cellar. 
So I've talked about 2 of the 6 north teams.  Don't take too much out of the order I'm doing them in though.  If I had to pick right now, I think I'd put the 'Clones in 3rd this year.  This is pretty much based on the level of animosity between their school and my favorite team.  I've always enjoyed the Iowa State fans and have some really good memories of meeting up with some of them at Kelly's during the old Big 8 basketball tournament.
Next time I expect to talk about Kansas State a bit, where former and current head coach Bill Snyder has been up to his old tricks.