The month of November is always the most important yet hectic month of the college football season, as teams across the country are battling for bowl eligibility or, with the expanded playoff, a spot in the big dance.
One team that seemingly had a straightforward path to the playoff out of the Big 12 was the No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones. Along with BYU, they have been standing alone at the top of the Big 12 and simply needed to win out to meet up in the Big 12 title game to settle who'd make it and who would be praying for an at-large bid.
On a rainy Saturday in Ames, Iowa, the Cyclones welcomed the Texas Tech Red Raiders to town. Iowa State came into the game as 14.5-point favorites but ended up allowing a Tahj Brooks touchdown at the end of a 71-yard drive with just 20 seconds remaining. The Cyclones had a chance to answer with a prayer of their own, but couldn't get anything going as they went on to lose 23-22.
The loss marks Iowa State's first on the year, and now means that there are just six undefeated teams across college football. As for Texas Tech, this marked the program's first win against a 7-0 team since 2008, when they took down the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
Texas Tech's Joey McGuire also became the first Texas Tech coach to win at least six games in three straight seasons since Mike Leach did so back in 2007-09, according to Chris Hummer of 247Sports. The loss for Iowa State now means there are three Big 12 teams with one loss in conference play in what will be a very eventful final few weeks.
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