One team is playing for history, the other is playing for a spot in a minor bowl game and to not be embarrassed in a nationally televised football game.
It's Oklahoma State vs. Iowa State on ESPN Friday Night football.
"It doesn't even have to be said," Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden stated. "At this point, with where we're at, I don't think anything has to be said. Four years ago, guys might have needed a little pep talk. Guys might have been a little tight. This team won't get tight."
For the Cowboys, ranked No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series standings, a meeting with Iowa State has never been this meaningful. With a win in Friday's contest at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Oklahoma State would be 11-0 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12.
"Any time you play a team this good, you get excited," Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said. "We are playing against a team competing for a national title."
The Cowboys don't again until Dec. 3, when OU visits Stillwater for a prime-time, nationally televised spectacle at Boone Pickens Stadium. But first, OSU encounters an Iowa State team (5-4 overall, 2-4 in the conference) in a game that most say will be one-sided.
"They play hard. They are in the right spot," Gundy said of the Cyclones. "They are well-coached and they play hard. Like any other game, we ask our players to respect everybody we play and prepare and go play with great effort."
One week after stifling Texas Tech's passing offense, the OSU defense competes against a Cyclone team that rushes for 183 yards per game and 4.3 per attempt.
The line tonight is Iowa St. getting 27 points at home. In Ames, Iowa the weather will be cool (temps in 40s) and windy. I guess anything could happen, but I like those 27 points.
