The Wiz of Odds

Cyclones Hold Off the Red Raiders

Wiz correspondent Greg Laughlin made his way to Jack Trice Stadium in Ames for Saturday's Big 12 game between Texas Tech and Iowa State. The Cyclones won, 52-38, and set up a showdown against Utah this Saturday.

To view Greg's gallery from the game, click here.

Iowa State Players Battling Floodwaters

Iowa State players who arrived at the Jacobson Athletic Building for a Wednesday morning weight-lifting session instead experienced a different workout. Three nights of heavy rain sent the Squaw Creek over its banks and onto the grounds of the Iowa State Center, which is home to Hilton Coliseum, the Jacobson Building and Jack Trice Stadium. Players were asked to sandbag around facilities and move equipment in an attempt to minimize damage, but floodwaters continued to rise and could surpass record levels of 1993. That flooding resulted in millions of dollars in damages to the Iowa State campus.

Hilton Coliseum, home to the Cyclone basketball and wrestling teams, had eight feet of floodwater on the arena floor (see video after the jump). The Jacobson Building houses most of the athletics department, including the football team, and players were moving as much equipment as possible to the second floor.

Players were also sandbagging entrances to Jack Trice in hopes of keeping the water from spilling onto the field. The Des Moines Register has an aerial shot of the flooding looking north. Hilton is at the top of the photo and the Jacobson Building is on the north side of Jack Trice Stadium. The indoor football practice facility is on the left side of the photo, next to Jack Trice.

Iowa State

Who can forget Iowa State's celebration last season after a 9-7 victory at Nebraska, the Cyclones' first win in Lincoln since 1977. Paul Rhoads made quite the impression in his first season as coach, guiding Iowa State to a 7-6 record that included a 14-13 victory over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl. The Cyclones are in a familiar position entering 2010. Little is expected of the team, but perhaps Rhoads and his players prefer it that way. It makes the highs even better.

As a run up to the start of the season, the Wiz will display one poster each day until our supply is exhausted. Last year, the site displayed 69 posters.

Then we turn it over to readers, who will vote on the poster of the year. In the meantime, send your team's poster schedule to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Click the image for an enlarged view. Thanks to Steve!

A Cyclone Celebration

Watch Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads and his team celebrate a 9-7 victory over Nebraska, the Cyclones' first win in Lincoln since 1977.

Updated: Cyclone fans are wasting no time making fun of the Cornhuskers' eight turnovers in Saturday's game. Check the image after the jump.

Fighting a Big War With a Short Stick in the Big 12

There's trouble brewing in the Big 12, which has evolved into a league of haves and have-nots.

North Division members Iowa State, Kansas State and Colorado are being left in the financial dust by free-spending Texas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald breaks it down this way: Texas makes about $7 million for a home game with its stadium capacity of 101,000. Nebraska makes about $4.5 million with its 85,000 seats.

Iowa State, Kansas State and Colorado, each with stadiums seating slightly more than 50,000, bring in about $1.2 million to $1.5 million per home game.

Barfknecht writes: "Multiply that differential by seven games a year, stretch that over four or five years and you can see why Texas has flat-screen TVs in its football complex bathrooms while other schools are happy to find soap and paper towels."

And the Winner Is ... Iowa State!

Congratulations to Iowa State, winner of the Wiz Readers' Choice Poster Schedule of the Year. The Cyclones survived a bruising primary challenge from West Virginia to advance to the final, then held off a late charge from Louisiana Tech to claim the top honor.

The Cyclones' winning margin was a slim 39 votes out of 4,041 cast in the final.

"Iowa State is very excited about winning this contest," said Mary Pink, ISU's associate athletic director for marketing. "There was some great competition from the other schools. The real credit for the design goes to The Meyocks Group, our design agency who created the poster and the slogan for this season."

This is the fourth year the site has displayed poster schedules, and this feature would not be possible without contributions from schools and friends of the site. Thanks for your support!

A record 69 posters were displayed, and you can view them all by clicking this link.