After Iowa State beat Iowa for the third time in four years on Saturday, friends and others around me in Black and Gold started with some of the same explanations that have grown as common as Iowa State beating Iowa in recent years.
One of those explanations, if you can call it an explanation, makes me curious as to how much Iowa fans truly care about winning or losing when playing Iowa State.
“The game is their Super Bowl,” I’ve heard Iowa fans frequently reason in the face of defeat.
It’s an interesting belief that makes me wonder if the state’s biggest football rivalry is losing some of its sizzle.
The idea implies a couple of obvious yet interesting points. One, that Iowa State won’t play in a game with bigger implications and, two, that Iowa will. Clearly condescending, which may very well be the intent of those who express it.
The head-to-head numbers in the Cy-Hawk series, as well as other successes — Iowa has had a Heisman trophy winner, Iowa State hasn’t, Iowa’s won a BCS game, Iowa State never played in one, etc. — certainly give Iowa supporters some muscle with their words.
But do Iowa fans, specifically those who suggest the game is Iowa State’s Super Bowl, actually dislike their team losing to the Cyclones, or are they simply annoyed when having to hear their counterparts from Ames celebrate or talk about a victory over their beloved Hawkeyes?
Back-and-forth banter between fans is present in any rivalry, and to some extent, it’s those exchanges that make rivalries what they are. Suggesting a rivalry game means more or less to one team or another seems a disservice to the rivalry itself, which brings me back to my original point: Do Iowa fans care, or are they getting bored?
You’ve probably read by now that Kirk Ferentz is 7-9 against Iowa State. That record generally doesn’t sit well with the fan base. But what’s 7-9 against a team that’s always playing you in its Super Bowl?
Iowa and Iowa State have played each other in football every year since 1977. I’ve read and heard suggestions that the Hawkeyes have nothing to gain in playing the Cyclones and everything to lose. From the Iowa perspective, if the Hawkeyes are favored to win, what’s to be had in beating a team that will, at best, be fighting to become bowl eligible?
Pride, if nothing else. The looks on the faces of the fans in Kinnick following the conclusion of the game Saturday were of those who had taken a hit to their pride, no doubt.
Contact Sports Writer Ben Schuff at (641) 792-3121 Ext. 6536 or at bschuff@newtondailynews.com.