College Football Playoff reaction: Clear message sent to Iowa State by committee

For Iowa State to reach first-ever CFP, they need to defeat Arizona State

Jayden Higgins hauls in a pass for Iowa State vs. Kansas State last Saturday night in Ames. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It is pretty cut-and-dry that the Big 12 will be getting just one team into the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff.

Iowa State, ranked 16th this week, and Arizona State, ranked one spot ahead of them, meet for the conference title Saturday from Dallas. Win, and you are headed for the opening round of the CFP. Lose, and you will be on the outside looking in.

The committee made it pretty clear weeks ago that the league would only be sending the winner of the conference title game. The Big Ten and SEC have a stronghold on the Top 12 with eight of them from those two leagues. 

Oregon, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Georgia, Ohio State and Tennessee seem pretty much locked in as the Top 7. SMU, ranked eighth, plays No. 17 Clemson for the ACC title. A win by the Tigers could potentially knock one of those at-large teams out for the Mustangs, if the committee views the league as good enough for two slots. 

Indiana, Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss and South Carolina appear to be those hoping to get a crack at making the field. Boise State will qualify with a win in the Mountain West title game vs. UNLV.

Neither Iowa State or Arizona State have that bad of resumes, it just happens to be a year that the Big 12 really isn’t garnering much respect. The league kind of beat up on one another, as teams like BYU and Kansas State dropped down following losses. 

Colorado was making a nice climb late before a crushing defeat to Kansas, who also earned wins over Iowa State and BYU in the final weeks of the season.

Kansas kind of did damage to the Big 12

Looking back now, those upset wins by the Jayhawks might have really hurt the league as a whole.

If those schools who were knocked off by Kansas scored wins in those games, maybe the conference keeps momentum from the likes of Iowa State, BYU and Colorado. Of course, that also drastically changes who is playing for the title this weekend.

Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard took to X late Tuesday night and tossed out his thoughts. 

“Disappointing that strength of schedule clearly does not matter for SMU, Indiana and Boise State,” Pollard wrote. “Message is clear - win as many games as possible regardless of who you play. Time to rethink non-conference scheduling. Very different standards than the basketball committee.”

Disappointing that strength of schedule clearly does not matter for SMU, Indiana and Boise State. Message is clear - win as many games as possible regardless of who you play. Time to rethink non-conference scheduling. Very different standards than the basketball committee. https://t.co/TsZEAjYNYx

— Jamie Pollard (@IASTATEAD) December 4, 2024

Pollard got a reply from Rick Hart, who holds the same position within SMU.

“Jamie, respect you but bad take,” he wrote. “ISU had No. D, Iowa, Ark. St. non-con. SMU had Nev., HCU, TCU, BYU (And scrambled due to Vandy dropping us). SMU 1 of 2 to win all conf. Games, 1 of 3 with 9 P4 wins, trailed a total of 6+ mins. last 9 games. I could go on…Stay off my lawn!”

Jamie, respect you but bad take. ISU had No. D, Iowa, Ark. St. non-con. SMU had Nev., HCU, TCU, BYU. (And scrambled due to Vandy dropping us.) SMU 1 of 2 to win all conf. games, 1 of 3 with 9 P4 wins, trailed a TOTAL of 6+ mins. last 9 games. I could go on… Stay off my lawn! 😂 https://t.co/gsGSAbL9KR

— Rick Hart (@AD_RickHart) December 4, 2024

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