2013 Record: 3-9

2014 Las Vegas Season Win Total: 3.5*

2014 Season Win Total Picks NCAA Football: 'Under'

Paul Rhoads is one of the most underappreciated coaches in the country. He's kept Iowa State competitive during his five years at the helm despite being completely outmanned in one of the best, deepest conferences in college football. Rhoades has carried the Cyclones to three bowl games in five years but will be hard-pressed to accomplish that again this year.

Iowa State has nine starters back on offense and five on defense. They went just 3-9 last year but they were on the wrong end of nearly every close game they played, including a weird loss to Northern Iowa to start the season and a heartbreaking last-second loss at Texas. If the ball bounces their way this season this team will be much better.

Iowa State has a strange schedule. After a soft opener against FCS team North Dakota State, the Cyclones actually open league play by hosting Kansas State in Week 2. That game comes right before ISU's rivalry game with Iowa. The Cyclones also have a matchup with Toledo sandwiched between trips to Oklahoma State and Texas in early October.

Iowa State's schedule softens late. They play at Kansas on Nov. 8 and then have a bye before a home game against Texas Tech. I think they will win one of those games. Assuming NDSU and Toledo are in the bag that would mean the Cyclones would have to pull just one upset - something they've been adept at under Rhoades - to clear their season win total.

I think that this is a pretty easy call. Take Iowa State 'over', as they should manage to win four games.

2014 Iowa State Cyclones Schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIME (ET) Location Result

Sat, Aug 30th, 2014 North Dakota St 12:00 PM Jack Trice Stadium

Sat, Sep 6th, 2014 Kansas State 12:00 PM Jack Trice Stadium

Sat, Sep 13th, 2014 at Iowa TBA Kinnick Stadium

Sat, Sep 27th, 2014 Baylor TBA Jack Trice Stadium

Sat, Oct 4th, 2014 at Oklahoma State TBA Boone Pickens Stadium

Sat, Oct 11th, 2014 Toledo 03:30 PM Jack Trice Stadium

Sat, Oct 18th, 2014 at Texas TBA Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial

Sat, Nov 1st, 2014 Oklahoma TBA Jack Trice Stadium

Sat, Nov 8th, 2014 at Kansas TBA Memorial Stadium

Sat, Nov 22nd, 2014 Texas Tech TBA Jack Trice Stadium

Sat, Nov 29th, 2014 West Virginia TBA Jack Trice Stadium

Sat, Dec 6th, 2014 at TCU TBA Amon G. Carter Stadium

All Times EST

*Season Win Total Odds from Raphael Esparza. Esparza was a Las Vegas sportsbook manager for 13 years at some of the largest books on The Strip. He is a proven oddsmaker and this is his projected total.

Robert Ferringo was the top football handicapper in the country last year, earning nearly $8,000 in total football profit in 2013-14 and posting one of the best seasons in America. He hit 62.1 percent for the entire NFL season (95-58) and was amazing down the stretch, closing with 11 of 14 winning NFL weeks and 12 of 15 overall winning football weeks. Robert has posted 3 of 4 winning football seasons, 6 of 7 winning NFL seasons, 30 of 44 winning football months, and 6 of 7 winning NFL preseasons. Also, Robert's proprietary KING College Football Betting System posted another winning season (now 2-for-2) and is 83-58 over the last two years (58.9 percent).

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