Cyclones have worn the underdog label well all season and they get another chance in bowl

Iowa State enters its Pinstripe Bowl preparations as an underdog against Rutgers.

Coach Paul Rhoads noted several advantages the Scarlet Knights have and one is that Yankee Stadium is familiar territory.

“They have already won a game there this season,” Rhoads said in reference to Rutgers’ 27-12 win over Army on Nov. 12.

Yankee Stadium is only 49 miles from the RU campus, a short one-hour ride. For the Cyclones, the distance from Jack Trice Stadium to the bowl venue is 1,138 miles.

At a New York media conference Wednesday, A.D. Jamie Pollard noted the bowl will be a chance for “our 10,000-plus alums, who live on the east coast in the New York area” to see the Cyclones in person. Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti countered that his school has “200,000 living alums in the region.”

The 2011 Cyclones are familiar with the underdog role. They were favored only twice this season.

But, ISU keeps surprising. Four times they proved the experts wrong and they preparing to do it one more time in 2011.

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