ISU beat OSU last year and both squads return everyone. I think Utah is better (and we play them in Salt Lake) but a whole lot of people have just slotted 2 teams we beat last year ahead of us in OK State and KSU. And it wasn't like we beat OSU when they were doing their stupid 3 man QB rotation. We beat them with Bowman going the whole way. ISU also played UT much closer than OK State did.
I'd take that bet on the ISU/Iowa game too. Iowa will win, but it will be by less than a score. 13-10. 9-6. Far from anything resembling an ass kicking. Other than Campbell's first season, and the 2021 debacle, that game has been stupid close. Iowa is an above average squad that has benefitted from an extremely weak conference schedule, and utter incompetence from their premiere non-con opponent. Look at how they fare against anyone that's willing to put the ball in the air against them. It's not pretty. Campbell's a fucking idiot when it comes to that game and routinely tries to beat Ferentz at Ferentzball, and the only time it ever worked was with the shittiest team that he had assembled in Ames and Spencer Petras at QB for Iowa. Iowa has been blessed with shitty opponents that literally hand them the game, unforced (watch the end of last year's Iowa/Nebraska game if you don't believe me), on a regular basis for year after year and it's continuing again this year. They have a lower SOS than much of the Big 12 despite playing in the vaunted Big 10.
Iowa's going to win 10 games again this year, but if they get into the playoffs, they will once again be exposed as existing on the spoils of a conference that's really mostly mediocre but just has a lot of eyeballs.
I've had to wait to use a portajohn at an ISU tailgate for this exact reason.