Around the Big XII part 1. Iowa State

Up in Ames, it's hard to build a contending team and even tougher to retain one.  Last year the Cyclones fell to 5-7, 3-5 in the conference after going 7-6 including an Insight Bowl win in 2009.  If you've followed this blog a little, then you know I'm a huge fan of Paul Rhodes.  He's a good man in a tough job.  Not only does he have to compete with the University of Iowa in his own home state, but the Big XII where a facilities arms race has been in force for the last decade.  It's not just competing with OU and UT anymore.  The facilities at A&M, Missouri, Tech and even kansas are leaving ISU far behind.  I think Rhodes is an excellent coach and I'm afraid the Cyclones aren't going to be able to keep him for much longer.

Making things worse for the clones is that after 10 years former quarterback Austen Arnaud finally graduated.  It appears that the early favorite to pick up the nod this year would be Jerome Tiller, who filled in last year after Arnaud was injured.  He completed 39 of 82 passes for 363 yards and a touchdown and a quarterback rating of 88.8.  That just isn't going to get it done in the Big XII.  Toss in losing their leading rusher, a starting wide receiver, tight end and 3 offensive linemen and you better be hoping for a stifling defense.  Things look a little better on that side of the ball as only 4 starters depart from last years team that was remarkably average.

And if all this wasn't bad enough, taking a look at ISU's schedule, we all knew the round robin format was going to make the conference tougher, but their 3 non cons feature Northern Iowa, Iowa and UConn.  I don't see any fattening up at the beginning of the season there.  Throw in road trips to Baylor, Mizzou, OU, Tech and K State with home games against Texas, A&M, Okie State and the beaks and it's really tough finding 3 wins here.   Of course things can change and injuries happen once the season starts, but right now I see the Cyclones going 2-10 and 1-8 in conference.  If that happens, you may see Rhodes looking around for another job before his name begins cooling off too much.
We'll move to what used to be the south division whipping boy next time and see what's going on at Baylor.  Have a great week and please stop by my website and catch up on some current events.