RHOADS CONFERENCE. Paul Rhoads' last weekly press conference of the preseason. Most notable news of the day is the former Lattimer BFF/bash brother Ricky Howard is the starter at TE. Still no news on who won the placekicking job, though Edwin Arceo did beat out Cole Netten on kickoffs. Chris Williams has your other notables.
BROOMFIELD INTERVIEW. Noted Cyclone DB/LB/Theater Rapper Deon Broomfield is interviewed about his expectations upon coming to Iowa State and how his perception of the "nickelback" position has changed.
SO WE'RE POOR MAN'S NEBRASKA! Steve Malchow writes about the Cyclones having two very capable runners at QB in a conference of passing offenses.
BOWLSBY NEVER STOPS TROLLING. "We don't want the SEC to win another national championship". Maybe this all the beginning of his elaborate plan to boot Iowa State from the Big 12 for our insolence last year. Bowlsby also talks expansion, and how it's like junior high dating.
NOT SO SWEET CAROLINE. The Neil Diamond classic has been nixed from Happy Valley because of the "touching me, touching you" line. I know plenty of fan bases (including us) like it, but the fact Neil wrote it about a 12 year old Caroline Kennedy wasn't too creepy for a football game already?
SMQ IS BACK! Perhaps you know Matt Hinton from his days as Yahoo's Dr. Saturday, but he is back at SB Nation, writing Sunday Morning QB, which is about 1000 times better than Peter King's takes on coffee and I think I thought I thunk thoughts on Mondays.
BOWL PROJECTIONS! Jason Kirk's 2012-2013 bowl projections do not include the Cyclones. However, Stewart Mandel has us playing in the Military Bowl.
SCHLABACH MIGHT LIKE US. He picks West Virginia to win the Big 12, but also picks them to lose to ISU on November 23rd.
UBBEN MIGHT NOT LIKE IOWA STATE, but he sure loves Knott and Klein, picking them to finish 1-2 in tackles in the Big 12.
THERE'S AN SEC TEAM IN TEXAS... And it may not be the Aggies. Mack Brown is all about transforming the Longhorns into an SEC clone.
A SEASON PRIMER. Speaking of Stewart Mandel, his CFB primer is definitely worth a read.