Written by Mitch Sherman at ESPN.com
Iowa State’s October of knocking Big 12 contenders from prime position in the College Football Playoff race came to a raucous and resounding end on Saturday.
The No. 25 Cyclones, ranked for the first time since 2005, upset No. 4 TCU 14-7 to leave the league without an unbeaten as the CFP committee prepares to unveil its first rankings of the season Tuesday.
The storybook resurgence under second-year coach Matt Campbell continued as ISU (6-2, 4-1) claimed a share of first place in the Big 12 with TCU and Oklahoma State, pending the result of Oklahoma’s meeting with Texas Tech on Saturday.
The Cyclones, bowl-eligible for the first time since 2012, own the tiebreaker over the Horned Frogs and Sooners — both victims in a month for the ages at Iowa State. The Cyclones have won four straight games since a Sept. 28 home loss to Texas.
One of six remaining Power 5 teams before Saturday without a loss, TCU (7-1, 4-1) scored for the 314th consecutive game only on KaVontae Turpin’s 94-yard kickoff return to open the second half. Otherwise, Iowa State held the Horned Frogs, averaging 41.6 points through seven games, to 307 yards and four of 14 third-down conversions.
Iowa State defenders J.D. Waggoner, JaQuan Bailey and Willie Harvey teamed to sack TCU quarterback Kenny Hill and force and recover his fumble on a second-and-goal play from the ISU 3-yard line with 7 minutes, 11 seconds to play.
Marcel Spears’ interception of Hill at the Iowa State 44-yard line with 1:16 left in the game clinched the victory.
So now, what happens to the Big 12, which was shut out of the playoff in two of its first three years and is the only Power 5 conference without a semifinal victory?
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