Iowa football: A look at preseason predictions that aged quite poorly

LINCOLN, NE - NOVEMBER 29: Place kicker Keith Duncan #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates kicking the winning field goal against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - NOVEMBER 29: Place kicker Keith Duncan #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates kicking the winning field goal against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
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AMES, IA – SEPTEMBER 14: Defensive back D.J. Johnson #12 of the Iowa Hawkeyes breaks up a pass meant for wide receiver Joseph Scates #9 of the Iowa State Cyclones in the first half of play at Jack Trice Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA – SEPTEMBER 14: Defensive back D.J. Johnson #12 of the Iowa Hawkeyes breaks up a pass meant for wide receiver Joseph Scates #9 of the Iowa State Cyclones in the first half of play at Jack Trice Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)

Iowa State will be in their first conference championship game

Iowa State, coming off of two consecutive eight-win seasons, seemed poised to make serious waves in the Big 12 in 2019.

While they lost production to the NFL at running back and wide receiver, they returned a dangerously efficient quarterback. From what I had been told, if the Cyclones had Brock Purdy start against Iowa football in 2018, they would have won.

This apparently was not true.

I will fully admit that this bad prediction was mine. I believed that Iowa State would find a way to win against every Big 12 team not named Oklahoma to find themselves in a rematch against the Sooners.

Now, this prediction looks pretty bad. Iowa State lost close games to Iowa, Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma before they lost a closer-than-the-score-indicates game against Kansas State.

Their 5-4 conference record put them in a four-way tie for third place.

I feel for Cyclone fans, as they had a season very similar to the Iowa football season. Iowa State played five teams of similar talent level but lost all five games.

Iowa also played five games against teams of similar talent levels. Lucky for us Hawkeye fans, Iowa football came away with two wins from those five games.

The funnier thing about this prediction was that Miami (OH) did actually make it to their conference championship game and won. If only I had predicted that instead.

My prediction that Iowa State would play in their first conference championship game did not age well.