Iowa State is a College Football Playoff contender next year after Pop-Tarts Bowl win

Not everyone can make the expanded College Football Playoff, but you have to like the Iowa State Cyclones' chances of doing so next season. They finished the 2024 college football season with a stellar 11-3 record. After getting blown out by Arizona State in the Big 12 Championship, Iowa State responded by winning a shootout with the Miami Hurricanes in the Pop-Tarts Bowl late last weekend.

Had it have been a 16-team playoff with the Big Ten and SEC getting three automatic qualifier spots and the ACC and Big 12 getting two apiece, Iowa State would have been either the last team in or the first team out in that playoff format. Getting blown out by Arizona State probably would have done them in with BYU possibly taking their theoretical spot, but I am so high in the Cyclones next season.

There are three reasons for this. One, Matt Campbell is one of the best head coaches in the game today. Two, the Big 12 still has a power void at the top of the league, one that Iowa State's current football infrastructure can take advantage of. And three, their star quarterback Rocco Becht plans to return to Ames for his junior season. He was coveted by ACC and SEC schools in the transfer portal.

If Becht can play up to his standard in the next year or so, he can become a first-round NFL Draft pick.

Of the teams occupying the top quarter of the Big 12 now, I trust Iowa State to be there again in 2025.

Iowa State is a way-too-early pick to make next College Football Playoff

If we wanted to break down the Big 12 after this past year, the top quarter of the league was, in order, Arizona State, Iowa State, BYU and Colorado. While I would not be the least bit shocked if any of them went on to win the league next year, I feel that Iowa State is probably the best equipped to sustain excellence for 2025 of that quartet. There are other teams that I think could be on their heels as well.

Teams like Kansas State and Baylor might be better. Keep an eye on other teams like Kansas and Houston potentially crashing the party because they are so well-coached. Frankly, Iowa State's track record under Campbell for the better part of a decade now leads me to believe that the Cyclones will remain a fixture inside the top 25 throughout pretty much all of next year. Becht is a reason for that.

Ultimately, Iowa State is now one of the best programs in college football that has not made the playoff to date in the first 11 years of its existence. Penn State was that program up until this year. Now that the Nittany Lions punched their ticket in, you have to wonder what Big 12 team checks that box the most now between Iowa State, UCF and Utah. I like Iowa State way more heading into 2025.

As long as Becht continues to grow and mature, I will remain very bullish on Iowa State next season.