Where does Iowa State land in the latest SP+ ranking from ESPN?

Cyclones hit the road this Saturday for Big 12 action at Utah

Rocco Becht and Iowa State football head off to Utah for a Big 12 Conference showdown Saturday night. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa State football is back in contention, snapping a two-game losing skid with a convincing win at home over Cincinnati under the lights this past weekend.

But that doesn’t mean the road to a potential spot in the Big 12 Conference title game will come easy.

Up first is a long road trip from Ames, Iowa to Salt Lake City, Utah to play a Utah team reeling following a sixth consecutive loss. 

ESPN provides weekly updates to what they call SP+ rankings. The rankings are a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency in a nutshell. It is intended to be predictive and forward-facing, used to measure the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.

Earn a lucky win, and the system takes that into account. Come up short in a tough situation, and the system also recognizes that.

Iowa State currently sits 24th in the SP+, two spots ahead of current conference co-leader BYU. They are three spots ahead of Colorado, who shares the league lead with the Cougars. 

The Cyclones are the second highest-ranked Big 12 team in the system, scoring a 12.0, which has them tied with Boise State. The Iowa State offense received a 30.5, which is 44th-best in the nation, the defense scored an 18.7, good for 21st overall, and special teams had a 0.2, which is 34th-best. 

Kansas State checks in as the top conference team at No. 18 with a 12.9, which is one spot beind Iowa, who the Cyclones topped earlier this year. 

As a whole, the Big 12 is fourth in the conference SP+ rankings behind the SEC, Big Ten and ACC. 

Ohio State sits atop the rankings with a 30.0, as they have the No. 1 defense, sixth-highest offense and are 22nd in special teams. Alabama is second followed by Ole Miss and unbeaten Oregon. 

Georgia, Penn State, Notre Dame, Miami and Tennessee round out the Top 10.

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* What Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield had to say about Cyclones

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