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Iowa State football: Cyclones will play in Fiesta Bowl against Oregon

Matthew Bain
Des Moines Register

The verdict is in: Iowa State will play in its first New Year's Six bowl game.

Matt Campbell's Cyclones will play Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona at 3 p.m. Jan. 2, ESPN announced during its College Football Playoff selection show Sunday.

The game is set to be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and be broadcast by ESPN. 

After Iowa State's loss to Oklahoma all but guaranteed the Sooners a spot in the Cotton Bowl, the Cyclones' dream destination was the Fiesta Bowl. That'd give the program its first-ever January bowl game and prime real estate in a New Year's Six bowl game.

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 19: Xavier Hutchinson #8 of the Iowa State Cyclones runs the ball against Jeremiah Criddell #22 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the second half during the 2020 Big 12 Championship at AT&T Stadium on December 19, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Some other potential scenarios had Iowa State falling to the Alamo Bowl, where it played Washington State in the 2018 season. That would have been a major disappointment for a team that would have joined the CFP conversation had a few plays gone a different way against Oklahoma.

There was also an outside shot that, if the Fiesta Bowl left Iowa State out, perhaps the Atlanta-based Peach Bowl would take the Cyclones and their travel-happy fan base.

More:Live updates: Iowa State to Fiesta Bowl, Iowa awaits 2020 bowl fate

Iowa State partially has Ohio State to thank for helping it land its Fiesta invite. Had the Buckeyes not defeated Northwestern in the Big Ten championship, they would have fallen out of College Football Playoff contention and likely into a New Year's Six slot, while Northwestern would have also been guaranteed a New Year's Six bowl.

The Cyclones finished their regular season 8-3 with a 27-21 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game. Iowa State was looking for its first-ever outright conference title.

With a win in a bowl game, Iowa State would attain its first nine-win season since 2000, when Dan McCarney's Cyclones finished No. 25 in the Associated Press poll and Sage Rosenfels led them to a 37-29 win over Pittsburgh in the Insight Bowl. 

Matthew Bain covers recruiting and pretty much anything else under the sports sun for the Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Network.  Contact him at mbain@dmreg.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewBain_.