CF After Dark Podcast Network

Send us a text Football season has officially started as Iowa State players had their first practices this week. Cole and Marchie talk about approaching camp as a freshman player, in contrast to what going into your final fall camp is like, and how you prepare differently. The guys also dish on what a typical camp day looks like, and exactly what "camp eyes" are.Then, we each gave our three players and one position group that we're most looking forward to hearing about as camp goes on.

Send us a text In this episode, we discuss some of the over-arching factors that have kept Iowa State from being a high-level program in the past. Is it really "difficult" to win in Ames, or have the Cyclones simply lacked the elite coaching required to make that jump? If Nebraska can become one of the winningest programs in history in a place like Lincoln, NE, then what's stopping Iowa State from replicating that success?

Send us a text This week, a bevy of reporters, athletes, and coaches descended on Arlington for Big 12 Media Days. These press conferences are largely just "coach speak" and cliches, but we dug into some of the different storylines we heard, especially Matt Campbell and managing the team's expectations coming into the season.Then, we took a deep dive into the depth chart and some of the position battles at receiver, running back, and safety, and took some guesses as to who would be the week one starters at those positions.

Send us a text This week, we're celebrating the 50th episode of Down the Pipe & Natty Lite! We talk about how the podcast originally came together, some of our favorite episodes and topics, and what we've learned and enjoyed most through the experience. We'd like to thank all of our listeners that have helped grow this podcast, and continue to support us as we work to make it better and better for you. We'd also like to thank Es Tas Bar & Grill for being our loyal sponsors through this journey. Their support has helped us immensely, and we look forward to continuing our partnership in the future. Then, we touched on Iowa State drawing Michigan in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament and what it means for the team as they try to work a lot of new faces into the lineup. To close out the show, we talked about the Cyclones being picked third in the Big 12 preseason poll. How will the team handle those expectations heading into the most anticipated season in the history of Iowa State football?

Send us a text With UConn heading back to the Big East (for everything except football), we took a look at how this specific move could affect Iowa State in the future. Could the Cyclones get their chance at a revenge game for the 2014 NCAA Tournament?Then, we dove into conference realignment as a whole. What might it look like this time around? Could the Big 12's deal with ESPN+ actually be ahead of the curve, and pave the way for strength at the end of the current TV deals?So let's say the Big 12 is going to change. What two schools would we add to the conference to bring it back up to 12? How about if the conference imploded? Where would we want Iowa State to land?

Send us a text This week, the Cyclones landed a commitment from three-star Florida receiver Aidan Bitter, who flew WAY under the radar of recruiting services. As in, he didn't have any sort of rating on either 247 or Rivals. However, since then, Bitter has jumped way up to a mid-three star, with a low four-star rating within reach. Could Bitter be one of the steals of the class?This weekend is also a huge recruiting weekend for football, as a handful of big targets are making their official visits this weekend. We talked about each one, and how they may fit into Iowa State's offensive and defensive schemes and rotations.Then, we discussed money management, and different challenges and solutions we've encountered as millenials roaming the real world. This certainly isn't some four-week financial literacy course that you can use to totally change your life, but just a few pieces of advice that might be able to help to relieve some of the burden in your monthly budget.

Send us a text First, Levi and Marchie talked about Kevin Durant's Achilles injury and its short and long term affects. Could KD's willingness to risk is health in the name of leading the Warriors to a series comeback a possible sign that he wants to stay at Golden State?Then, they touched on David Montgomery and Hakeem Butler, and what their realistic expectations look like for the 2019 season. Neither of them would be surprised if they ended up having good seasons, but what will their workloads look like? David is looking at a potential starting role, but Hakeem may have to work his way up the depth chart to start getting targets.

Send us a text Recently, the NCAA voted to change a few rules in college basketball, most notably moving the three point line back to the international distance of 22'-1 3/4". We talked about how the various rule changes might affect Iowa State and the rest of the Big 12.Then, we talked about Iowa State football's nonconference schedule for the next decade. With home-and-home series scheduled with Ohio, UNLV, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, and Tulane, should Iowa State be scheduling more difficult opponents in nonconference?There are still openings in the schedule starting in 2025, so who should Iowa State go after for a hone-and-home series? What about a neutral site game?

Send us a text This week, we dive into a couple video game franchises that are near and dear to the hearts of millions of gamers in Call of Duty and NCAA Football.The release trailer for the newest entry, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, will probably immediately draw some nostalgia to the 21+ gamer crowd, but don't mistake this as just another cheap nostalgia play. The series appears to be headed back to its roots, as the campaign attempts to touch on some of the deep emotion the first half-doze or so entries captured so well. There's a long ways to go until this game releases in late fall, but, needless to say, we're intrigued.Then, with the NCAA looking into players profiting off their likenesses, the window for NCAA football and basketball games has begun to open. We're still a long way away off from actually having a new game in our hands, but we couldn't help but speculate on what the game might look like, and how they can make sure to get it right.

Send us a text First, Levi talked to grad transfer receiver La'Michael Pettway to hear why he chose to come to Iowa State, what relationships he's already developing, and who he's most looking forward to playing in the fall.Then, Jay Jordan (52 Trap) made a return to his old stomping grounds to do a deep analysis on the 2019 Cyclone Football roster. We broke up the players into different "tiers," starting with the guys that we haven't seen, but have the tools and foundation to be really successful, all the way to the guys that we think are already great players, and have a chance to cement their status as one of the best in school history.

Send us a text Now that the Iowa State football roster appears to be set, we took a look at the 2019 football schedule, and talk about which games are the most important to the Cyclones on their quest to breaking the school record for wins in a season. Next, we talked about some of the most likeable and hateable players in pro sports in light of the some of the NBA's star players seeming to drift towards one or the other. James Harden is a great example as some have grown tired of some of his antics, while others are enthralled with his scoring. Who are your most loveable and hateable players? Finally, Cole has been reading a book called The Five Second Rule, which explains a strategy for helping start doing something you've wanted to make a habit, or break an old one. Cole has been using it to start waking up earlier, and has seen success so far. Levi and Marchie have decided to try it on their own. Levi's going to use it to break his habit of looking at his phone when he's bored, and Marchie is going to use it to try use to kick his sweet drink habit. Are you going to try using the Five Second Rule? Let us know what for!

Send us a text Iowa State picked up two important new players in football and basketball this week in transfer receiver La'Michael Pettway and 2019 freshman guard Caleb Grill, respectively. We took a look each player's skill set, and how well they'll fit in with their respective schemes. If you'd like to hear more about Pettway, we have you covered, because he'll be joining us for next week's episode! Then, we dove into the NBA playoffs and took a look at each conference semifinal series, and made some predictions on who will be heading to their conference finals.

Send us a text For the first time in five years, Iowa State had a player selected in the NFL Draft. We took a look at David Montgomery, Hakeem Butler, and all the undrafted free agents and examined how they fit on their new teams and what their prospects look like on those teams. Spoiler alert: we're really excited about David Montgomery on the Bears.Then, we pivoted to one of Cole's favorite new technologies, drones. Drones have exploded in popularity over the past decade, and have become more and more prevalent in the workplace, especially in construction, where they can offer new information that was previously never available to the industry. However, services like delivery are becoming more and more common. Does a line need to be drawn on how much involvement drones have in our daily lives? Naturally, this led to a discussion on autonomous vehicles and other forms of automation. Should we let automation continue indefinitely while we adjust our skills, or should we set limits on how much of human labor they can replace?

Send us a text As part of a new series of podcasts, we're going to be breaking down some of the best games, teams, seasons, players, and moments in Cyclone sports history. For this first episode, we took a look a the game that really kicked off the Matt Campbell era, the 2017 win at Oklahoma.We took a look at all of the different storylines from the lead up to the game, the game's biggest and most important moments, and the lasting effects of the win.

Send us a text First off, we discussed the Thunder's early exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Blazers, and Russell Westbrook's role in their demise. With his high-volume, low-efficiency playing style, can the Thunder ever get the right mix of players around him to win a championship, or will Russell have to change his game to have a chance at a ring?Next, with Avengers: Endgame releasing this weekend, we explored the future of the MCU. With actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans expected to conclude their roles as Iron Man and Captain America after Endgame, where will Marvel turn to continue their wildly successful franchises? It looks like Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and the Guardians of the Galaxy will be the new primary franchises going forward, but do they have the legs to hold up the behemoth that Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor created?

Send us a text This past weekend, Tiger Woods captured his 5th green jacket at Augusta National, and his 15th major title after over a decade of struggles. Even if you never "forgive" Tiger for his personal transgressions, being able to come back after them and a slew of back and knee injuries and win a major places him near the top of any list of greatest redemption stories. We took some time to reflect on Tiger's Masters win, as well as a few other great comeback and redemption stories.Then, Levi stumbled onto an article recently that asked the question "is the Internet still fun?" The author talked about how the internet used to be a place where you could escape some of the stresses of daily and just waste a couple hours watching some stupid YouTube video like "Charlie the Unicorn" or "End of Ze World" or reading some poorly formatted blog about nothing and getting in comment fights with people you've never met.Now, the Internet is such an integral part of our lives, that most people take breaks from the Internet, which is completely the opposite of what it used to be. We discussed what our everyday Internet experiences are like, and if we still get some enjoyment out of them.What do you think? Is the Internet still fun?

Send us a text This week, the Big 12 struck a new digital media deal with ESPN, which will gives all third tier broadcasting rights (one nonconference football game, a couple basketball games, and everything else) to the new ESPN+ platform. Iowa State won't join for another year in order to let their current deal with Cyclones.tv run out, but all of the sporting events that used to be broadcast on Cyclones.tv will now be on ESPN+. We talked about what the future might look like for Big 12 media, and what some options might be. Could Netflix be the home of Big 12 athletics sometime in the next ten years?Next, Marchie made the case for why Iowa State NEEDS to have a spring football game. From recruiting to fan experience, the spring football game is a great opportunity to show off a program that's surrounded by more excitement than it has been in a long time, maybe ever.Finally, we talked about VEISHEA on the five-year anniversary of its death, what the legacy of the celebration is, and whether or not we should look at bringing it back. What should Iowa State do?

Send us a text In the second episode of our summer format, Levi, Marchie, and Cole start off the show talking about the new Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix after the first trailer was released this week. All three saw a lot of promise in the trailer, but how should we go about watching the movie in comparison to the other Jokers we've seen, like Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, and Jack Nicholson? Next, Cole revealed his new diet that he's trying called the "Daniel Plan," which heard about from Avengers star Chris Pratt (In a YouTube video. We are not friends with Andy Dwyer.) Marchie talked a little bit about what his diet looked like in college and in an NFL training camp, with Levi contrasting with the dieting plights of the average Joe. You may be surprised how similar the challenges in selecting a healthy diet are between the three.Finally, Marchie wanted to pay his respects to Nipsey Hussle, a rapper who was recently killed, specifically his role in helping the people of his LA community. Nipsey owned several businesses in the area that helped former felons get jobs after their release, and sold basic items that the community badly needed. Nipsey was also scheduled to meet with the LAPD and LA County Sheriff to work together and figure how both parties could go about reducing gang violence in Los Angeles.

Send us a text Now that we're officially in the offseason, Down the Pipe is going to transition to a more discussion-based format, where we tackle issues beyond Iowa State athletics, whether it be other sports around the country or world, or issues completely outside of the sports universe (don't worry, politics won't be included).Marchie is out this week as he flies home from Iowa State's pro day, so Levi and Cole held down the fort.First, we talk about the role of social media in sports today, noting the particularly poisonous end of the basketball season, where a small, but vocal minority of the fan base was calling for the firing of Steve Prohm, going so far as to even tag him in their tweets of frustration. Where should the line be drawn on social media interactions between fans, players, coaches, and prospects? Cole also dished on a story regarding one fan's creative way to criticize him.Next, we examined Levi's hot take that March Madness might actually be the worst postseason in sports. Does all of the excitement around upsets and buzzers overshadow the severe flaws in the format of the tournament and its ability to select a champion? Is the inevitable disappointment of a crushing tournament loss to end the season for all but one team really as great as we make it out to be?

Send us a text This week's episode is fairly short and sweet, as Levi and Marchie both took a look at the state of their brackets through the first round. Let's just say they aren't exactly perfect. They talk about what their Sweet Sixteen's look like, as well as some of the matchups they're looking forward to.They also gave some last minute predictions on Iowa State's first round matchup with Ohio State, and what their path forward might look like.

Send us a text This week, Levi, Cole, and Marchie talked about the Big 12 Tournament this week in Kansas City, and what we think Iowa State will need to do to take down Baylor in their first round matchup on the tournament, and what the outcome of the game could mean for potential seeding.We also talked spring football practice, and some of the key position battles we're keeping an eye on. SPOILER ALERT: the position battles Cole and Marchie are keeping an eye on are probably not going to surprise you.Then, we talked about some of the recent news in NFL free agency and trades. The Browns picked up O'Dell Beckham Jr. in probably the biggest move of the offseason so far. How do all of the different trades and signings this week affect where Hakeem Butler and David Montgomery might get drafted?

Send us a text Levi and Cole break down the struggles of the men's basketball team this week, and discuss why they don't believe Steve Prohm should be receiving the majority of the blame for this team's obvious chemistry issues. The coach is certainly responsible for the Xs and Os, as well implementing a system of conduct both on and off the court, but at what point, and to what degree, do chemistry issues begin to fall on the players for not "buying in" to the coach's system, or acting selfishly on and/or off the court?

Send us a text Levi, Cole, and Marchie are back to talk about a busy news week in the Cyclone universe. First, we talked about the wins by both the men's and women's basketball team earlier this week. Both were great wins (and much needed in the case of the men), so we talked about what they mean for the rest of their respective seasons. We also discussed the new $25 million renovations planned for Hilton Coliseum, which will greatly expand the concourses and concession stands, as well as add new exterior lighting to give the building more aesthetic appeal.Next, we touched on the news of Royce White beginning training to fight in MMA, with the hopes of eventually winning the UFC Heavyweight title. We gave our thoughts on what we think Royce's potential as a fighter looks like, and what type of fighter we think he can be.Finally, we talked about David Montgomery and Hakeem Butler's weeks at the NFL Combine, and what strong performances could mean for each of them. Both are consensus Day 2 picks at the moment, but could Hakeem Butler sneak into the first round with a strong combine performance? We also list off a few potential landing spots for each player.

Send us a text Marchie is out for this week, but Levi and Cole sat down and accidentally recording what basically became a double episode.First up, Levi gave a short review of Forza Horizon 4. SPOILER ALERT: It's really, really good. Next, we answered the first of a three-part question from Twitter about Apex Legends, the newest challenger to Fortnite's throne as the king of battle royale. We've both played Apex, so we gave our honest thoughts on the game, and a few reasons why we think it has staying power alongside a juggernaut like Fortnite. Speaking of our favorite building/getting shot in the face by eight-year-olds game, Cole and Levi discussed the current status of Fortnite, and why we've both stopped playing it.The third part of the Twitter question asked if it's fair to have a "greatest video games of all time" discussion without first separating by console or genre. As a follow-up, we ran through our top five favorite games of all time (or sort-of-five plus four honorable mentions in Levi's case), and why each game made the list.In the second part of this jam-packed episode, we take a look at Zion Williamson's injury, and what it means for the "should college athletes be paid?" discussion. On 2/21/19, the NBA submitted a proposal to move the minimum age to declare for the draft from 19 to 18, which could potentially be implemented by the 2022 season. Since it appears that the NBA has decided to try to fix the most pressing issue involved in this situation, we decided to tackle another hot button issue, the case for paying (or not paying) college athletes.In order to have a more interesting discussion, on the topic, we played devil's advocate, with Cole (a former player himself), providing the argument for paying college athletes, and Levi providing a counter argument. We ended up digging into the financial side of things, where the numbers may (or may not) surprise you.You definitely will not want to miss this week's episode.

Send us a text On this week's episode, Levi, Cole, and Marchie sat down to talk a little about the new Alliance of American Football, make some early March Madness predictions, including how deep we think Iowa State can go in the tournament, and finally give some last-minute thoughts on the basketball game at Kansas State.

Send us a text Former Iowa State basketball standout Royce White published his own book in January, Long Past Overdue: Mental Health & the NBA. Levi sat down with Royce to take a deep dive through the book and some of the different themes it discusses, including athletes being proactive in dealing with their mental health, the players' need to help each other, the NBA's attempts at addressing mental illness, and the fans' role in situations like the infamous "Malice at the Palace."Without a doubt, you will not want to miss the special interview, where we provide some insight into one of the defining health topics of the modern world and the foreseeable future.

Send us a text Iowa State picked up a nice Big 12 road win along their journey to claim the Big 12 regular season title, so we talked a little about the game, as well as what Lagerald Vick’s departure from the Kansas basketball team means for the outlook on the rest of the season. This week, Matt Campbell signed Isheem Young, a former four-star safety with an impressive offer list that includes names like Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, and Ohio State, but also a checkered past that includes an armed robbery charge. Levi, Cole, and Marchie give their thoughts on the newest Cyclone, and what the mindset is behind offering a scholarship to a kid with such a checkered past. Is giving him a second chance the right move? Next, we took a look at what the national perception of offense looks like in college basketball and college football, and why they seem to differ so much. Why is an offense like Oklahoma’s belittled with the (easily debunked) “Big 12 doesn’t play defense narrative,” while high-powered college basketball offenses are simply regarded as being extremely talented or having a great scheme? Levi has a theory about where the difference might be coming from. Steph Curry basically changed the modern game of basketball by himself, with his emergence as the league’s greatest-ever shooter coinciding with the advent of advanced analytics, and teams now looking for and taking more threes than ever. Has the NFL ever seen an individual player completely change the game and how it approaches game-planning like Michael Jordan or Steph did? Could it ever? To wrap up the conversation, Marchie gave his thoughts on his Dallas Mavericks and all of their trade deadline moves, one of which included shipping Ames-native Harrison Barnes off to the Kings.

Send us a text This week, Levi, Cole, and Marchie caught up with former Cyclone defensive lineman JD Waggoner. We obviously asked him what he's been up to since Ames, but we also swapped Alamo Bowl stories, talked Iowa vs. Texas Barbecue and the bars in Ames, talked about what the worst halftime tongue-lashing he and Cole got from either Paul Rhoads or Matt Campbell was, and much moreThis is was one of the most fun episodes we've ever recorded, so you'll definitely want to tune in!

Send us a text In this week's episode Levi, Cole, and Marchie are back this week with a more off-topic episode, but we still talked a little Iowa State basketball, and why we're still optimistic about the team going forward despite the disappointing loss to Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse.Then, we dove into a crazy diet experiment Cole did, where he ate nothing but chicken breast for two weeks. No vegetables, no fruit, no bread for a sandwich. Just chicken breast. Cole talks a little bit about what it was like eating the same food for two weeks, and what effects it had on his body.Next, we touched on video games, which has been one of our favorite recurring topics on the show. Ace Combat 7 came out last week, and Levi has been extremely impressed. He talk about what the game is like, and why you should at least give the trial a shot, especially if flying games aren't usually in your rotation.To cap off the show we sat down with Daniel Blake, an executive at Anheuser-Busch, to talk about Natural Light's College Debt Relief Program. The program is in its second year, and students and recent grads can submit a video of themselves talking about what inspired them to go to college. Natural Light then looks through all the submissions, and the winner will receive a portion of the total prize, which could most or possibly all of the student debt. It's a great program, and we're excited to help them promote it.Naturally, we also asked him some of our own questions, as well as some questions submitted from Twitter, about all sorts of topics, including resealable Busch Light cans, more 30-packs in central Iowa, and a possible RETURN OF THE 77 PACK?!?!You won't want to miss that interview.

Send us a text College football is officially over, so, naturally, we're already looking ahead to the 2019 season. We took a deep dive into each position group to look at upperclassman leaders, redshirts, and new freshman to see who has a chance to make a real impact next season. Levi, Cole, and Marchie feel really good about a few position groups, but a few others have major question marks going into next season. The guys also took a good look at the upcoming schedule to see what sorts of opportunities await the Cyclones this fall. Two bye weeks await, and the Cyclones get a few key opponents at home, so we take a guess at what the ceiling for the 2019 team might be.

Send us a text After Iowa State's disappointing loss at Baylor, Levi had a few gripes with the officiating that took place, especially late in the game. Are referees right to "swallow their whistle" at the end of a game to let the players continue to play, or do the rules need to be enforced exactly the same way from start to finish. Without a doubt, Iowa State could have done more during the game to avoid critical late-game situations, but at what point does bad officiating cross the line from being an unfortunate happenstance to changing the outcome of the game? Let us know in the comments.David Montgomery and Hakeem Butler both declared for the NFL Draft this past week. None of us were surprised, but we talked about what their departures mean for each position group moving forward, and why the future at each position remains bright.Speaking of the NFL, Cole had a bone to pick with how Bears kicker Cody Parkey was/has been treated since missing a last second field goal to win their playoff game on Sunday. Parkey was booed off the field by the fans, has been the butt of millions of jokes on Twitter, and has likely received more than a few nasty letters in the mail since then. However, Cole's main complaint was with Rex Ryan's statements on Monday about not feeling sorry for Parkey, and encouraging others to feel similarly. Professional athletes know what they're signing up for when the take the field in front of thousands of fans, but what level of responsibility do fans have to maintain decency in their interactions with players during and after the game?Naturally, this discussion transitioned into the psyche of a kicker, and how all of the vitriol of the past week from Bears fans could affect Parkey going forward. Cole and Marchie both elaborated on how players handle disappointment, and give some excellent advice for everyone to follow when a player on their favorite team doesn't come through in crunch time.

Send us a text After a second consecutive season finishing 8-5, Matt Campbell has the Cyclones on track to possibly contend for a conference title in 2019. However, the 2018 season wasn't without its own trials and tribulations, including a 1-3 start after the first game of the season was cancelled. Cole and Levi talked about that rough start, and what eventually caused the biggest turnaround for the season that cause Iowa State to record yet another undefeated October. Finally, we discussed the Alamo Bowl, and gave our final thoughts on the 2018 football season, and where the program looks to be headed in 2019.

Send us a text With the Alamo Bowl just a week away, Levi, Cole, and Marchie are back to bring you a HUGE preview for the game. Washington State's high flying air raid offense has been torching the Pac-12 all season on the arm of Gardner Minshew, but the stout Cyclone defense is built to stop the air raid offenses of the Big 12. Which will break first, the unstoppable force, or the immovable object?We also recap all of the signees from the early signing period. The theme: SIZE and SPEED. The crown jewels of the class are a Jirehl Brock and Breece Hall, a pair of top-10 running backs in the country that will have an opportunity to contribute next fall, but the class has a ton of athleticism from top to bottom. With this class including three running backs in total, what does that signal in regards to the impending draft decision for David Montgomery? If David returns, that would make SEVEN scholarship running backs on the roster. That's an incredibly loaded group of backs, but how you you distribute carries to make sure everyone is happy? No matter what happens, this a good problem to have.Then, we sat down with Michael Preston from CougCenter, our Washington State counterpart, to get the lowdown on the Cougars, and gives us some predictions for the game.This is a longer episode, but it's absolutely jam-packed with great Iowa State football content.

Send us a text With Cole and Marchie both out for this week, Levi sat down with Rick Hill, Vice President of Marketing and Communications with the Valero Alamo Bowl. We talked about what it's been like interacting with Iowa State fans so far, and what Cyclone fans can expect when we get down to San Antonio, including the various Alamo Bowl activities throughout the week and other things to do around San Antonio that aren't The Alamo, Sea World, or Six Flags. If you're going to be heading down to South Texas, then you won't want to miss what Rick has to say.Oh, and we also talked about Busch Light.

Send us a text After finishing the season with a harder-than-we'd like win against Drake, the Cyclones are headed to the Alamo Bowl to take on Mike Leach's Washington State Cougars. It's the #1 passing offense in the country vs. the best defense in the Big 12. Who's going to break first?We also talked about some of the other bowl games we're going to be watching this season, including OU-Bama and WVU-Syracuse.Finally, we talked about the young Cyclone basketball season, and what to expect in the CyHawk showdown against Iowa.

Send us a text After one of the most exciting editions of Farmageddon yet, Levi, Cole, and Marchie breakdown what we made of the game last Saturday. What were the causes for the defense struggling in the first few quarters? What does the win mean going mean for the program going forward?The Big 12 also released their end of season awards and All-Big 12 teams, of which Iowa State only had one first teamer. We talked about who we think got snubbed, and who didn't get enough credit for their performance this season. Most notably, how did David Montgomery end up on the Second Team All-Big 12?None of us know anything about Drake, so we just talked about what we'd like to see on Saturday, including which freshman we're excited to get a peek at.Finally we wrapped up with the basketball and talked about their solid start to the season, and what the rotation might look like once everyone is healthy. We also talked about why Iowa State matches up extremely well with Iowa in next week's CyHawk basketball game.

Send us a text Cole was out this week, so Levi and Marchie held down the fort for the holiday week.First off, we talked about our favorite Thanksgiving foods. What are some of your favorites?Then, we dove a little into last weekend's disappointing loss to Texas, where the Cyclones were flat-out outplayed, and the offensive line struggled. How does a game like that affect the team going forward?With Kansas State coming to town this Saturday, Iowa State is looking to finally knock off the Wildcats for the first time in a decade. The Cyclones are favored by a couple touchdowns, but what are the main keys to the game? What will the Cyclones need to do to stop the powerful Wildcat running attack? We gave our thoughts and predictions for this weekend.On Twitter this week, we found out that Marchie prefers Chipotle to Pancheros, and avid Pancheros fan Levi needed to confront him and find out why.Finally, we talked about the overall state of food in Ames, and what might be missing. We both agreed that there's great selection, but a couple main staples are missing. What chains or cuisines would you like to see make their way to Ames?

Send us a text Levi, Cole, and Marchie sat down to discuss last weekend's win over Baylor. The defense gave up over 500 yards of offense, but only surrendered 14 points. Did the defense bend too much, or was it just all part of the plan? We also got Marchie's perspective on the fight, as he was on the sideline during the game and saw it up close. Then, we sat down with Gerald Goodridge of Burnt Orange Nation to get his perspective on the game. Will Texas' surging offense be able to put enough points on the board to overcome a banged up Texas secondary?Finally, we made our picks.

Send us a text This week, we caught up with former Cyclone receiver and all-around fast guy Trever Ryen. Trever gave us an update on what he's up to these days, the biggest differences between a Power 5 and a MAC program, and what his thoughts are on Iowa State this season. Cole, Marchie, and Trever also dished on what their least favorite workouts were at Iowa State.Next, we recapped a convincing win at Kansas, which included a dominant performance from the defense, and a solid, albeit conservative performance from the offense. However, Brock Purdy had another good outing, earning himself a third Big 12 Newcomer of the Week Award in the past four weeks.Finally we previewed this weekend's matchup vs. Baylor. The Bears come to Ames with arguably the worst defense in the Big 12, but an offense capable of putting points on the board. So what gives? Will this be a shootout, or defensive showdown? Somewhere in the middle? To close it out, we gave our score predictions and talked about this weekend's new uniforms.

Send us a text With Cole and Marchie out for this week, Levi sat down with Caroline Darney, the College League Manager for SBNation and a graduate of the University of Virginia, to talk about Marial Shayok (a transfer from Virginia) and what his impact might be with Iowa State. However, Caroline might have been even more excited to talk about her other favorite Cyclone, Brock Purdy, with whom she's come to adore over the last few weeks. Finally, we compared and contrasted the UVA-VaTech rivalry to the CyHawk rivalry and noticed some pretty weird differences. Namely, the fact that UVA and Virginia Tech actually brag about getting up for the rivalry game, where as Iowa and Iowa State seem to compete to see who cares about it the least.

Send us a text This week, Levi, Cole, and Marchie are all back to recap the Texas Tech win, preview the Kansas game this weekend, and talk about this week's super cool White-Red-Red uniform combo.Against Texas Tech special teams errors once again struck, with a blocked punt providing a free touchdown to the Red Raiders. Things didn't get much better, as shanked punts and missed field goals plagued the Cyclones throughout the game. However, the offense was able to thrive off big plays to put away Taco Tech along with a a suffocating run defense that also picked off Alan Bowman three times. It wasn't pretty, but the Cyclones got it done.One of the mental mistakes we saw came from Hakeem Butler, as he dropped a few key passes. Marchie discussed what receivers typically due to help them refocus and eliminate the drops.Then we previewed Kansas, and talked about the Jayhawk's ball-hawking defense. Will Brock Purdy commit enough turnovers to sink the Cyclones, or will be able to put up lots of yards against an otherwise porous defense.Before giving our predictions and wrapping the show up, we gushed about this week's uniform combination, the white helmet with red facemask, red jersey, and red pants. It's going to look excellent on TV this weekend.

Send us a text We've officially approached your favorite week of the year....#RIOTWEEK. In this jam-packed episode, Levi, Cole, Marchie, and Matt Kirchner from The Smoking Musket give you all of the analysis from the Oklahoma State win and previews for the West Virginia game that you'll ever need to get ready for the Riot Bowl.Cole and Levi dig into what makes this defense so special, and why we both think the personnel and scheme matchup extremely well with the high-flying Mountaineer offense.Then, Marchie gives us his thoughts on last week's game and what he's expecting to see this weekend. After getting his prediction, we had to see what he thinks about Luka Doncic and his Mavs so far, especially given Doncic's strong start in the NBA preseason.Finally, we talked with Matt Kirchner to get the lowdown on the Mountaineers, and why the West Virginia offense is so lethal. We got his prediction for the game, and why he's terrified of night games in Ames.

Send us a text First, Levi and Cole discussed last week's game against TCU, in which the defense was impressive, but the offense struggled to gain yardage. We detailed what we thought were a few of the issues, as well as what was concerning us going forward. We then previewed the matchup with the Pokes, and both of us are bullish on the Cyclones this weekend, as Oklahoma State is facing a number of key departures and injuries that can open an opportunity to get out of Stillwater with a nice win, and an enormous boost to our chances of returning to a bowl game. Then, Marchie jumped on the podcast to talk about his experience with helping out the receivers at practice, and give his thoughts on the game this weekend.

Send us a text First off, we talked about the tragic death of Cyclone women's golfer Celia Barquin Arozamena. On Saturday at the football game, Arozamena will be honored as the Cyclone Women's Athlete of the Year and with a moment of silence. If you're attending the game, PLEASE WEAR GOLD. Gold was Celia's favorite color, and we'd like to honor her in any way we can. We also discussed last week's contest against Oklahoma. We touched on a few of the things we saw that changed the outcome of the game, who we came away most impressed with, and where the largest improvements showed. Is Zeb the right choice to take snaps even after Kyle Kempt is cleared to return? What might the offense look like going forward, especially in the running game? What was up with those short kickoffs? Even Cole, our resident special teams expert, isn't sure what the plan was behind them. Last weekend, the Browns, Vikings, and Rams all lost chances at wins due to missed field goals. All three kickers have since lost their jobs. Cole talks about the mental and technical components that go along with making those late field goals, including the technical issues that seemed to cause the Viking's Carlon to push consecutive field goals wide right. Without a doubt kickers are the position most commonly attacked on social media after a poor performance. What does online abuse do to the pyschological state of the kicker?

Send us a text Cole is finally back from vacation, so we heard a little bit about his adventures across New Zealand, and about the souvenir he wish he would have gotten. His flight to NZ was 16 hours long! What's the longest flight you've been on? Would you rather have one long flight, or 6 short flights like Levi had coming back from Thailand? Then, we dove into the beginning of the Premier League season, where Levi's (Chelsea) and Cole's favorite clubs are tied at the top of the table, undefeated, with Tottenham and Watford. Does Watford actually have the horses to stay up for an extended period of time, or will the race come down to Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham? Liverpool will certainly be powered by Mohamed Salah, an ex-Chelsea prospect. Chelsea by Eden Hazard. We both think Hazard and Salah are topfive players in the world, but where exactly do they fit in the top five? Next, we previewed Iowa State's game this weekend against South Dakota State. Cole is obviously interested in the kicking battle, and gave his thoughts on who he think will win the competition.

Send us a text With Cole (vacation) and Marchie (Cowboys training camp) out this week, we brought in Ted Flint as reinforcements. Predictably, we started off talking about flippy (flip) cup and beer pong, and how it’s changed since Ted was in college. Spoiler alert: Ted came from the days of actually putting beer in the cups, instead of using water and just having your drink off to the side. One big announcement: We WILL be having a tailgate this season over in lot G7! We’ll have a flag and everything This offseason has been particularly quiet for Iowa State, with only Jacob Bolton’s leave of absence from the team standing as major news from the program. Levi and Ted talked about how refreshing it is to see the team make it through an offseason (knock on wood for training camp) without any catastrophic injuries or suspensions. Might it be that Campbell runs a pretty tight ship up there in Ames? We also talked about the rivalry with Kansas State, and how it seems to have gotten more hostile over the past year. A once friendly rivalry, is Farmageddon becoming a bit more hate-filled? The brought us into the Matt Campbell discussion. Is he a lifer, or should we be worried about a blue-blood poaching him in the near future? We also played a new game that we’ll be including in future episodes of DPNL called “Best and Worst.” Levi will give the guests a topic, and they’ll respond with the best and worst of each category. This Week’s Best/Worst Categories Brand of frozen pizza Cheap beer 90s band Cyclone football game you’ve been to

Send us a text With Cole in New Zealand for the next few weeks, and Marchie preparing to return to Dallas Cowboys training camp on Monday, Levi decided to sit down with former 1st-Team All-Big 12 nose tackle Jake McDonough.to talk all things Cyclone football. First we talked about what Jake's been up to since he left Iowa State, including a stint in the Arena Football League. Jake says playing in the Arena League is actually more difficult than playing on the grass field. Also, Jake's contemplating a return to the NFL, so he walks us through the process of trying to make that comeback, including showing teams his recent 225 lb bench press set of 47 REPS. Then, Jake gave his persepective on Joel Lanning and how incredible his double duty at linebacker and quarterback last season was. After our brief discussion about Joel, we talked about how the impressive 2017 recruiting class is already pushing their way into the gameplan, and what the new redshirt rule means for their development. Even true freshman offensive lineman Trevor Downing has already forced his way into the deep of a position that traditionally redshirts every single offensive lineman for the first season. So how is Matt Campbell building this depth? Jake says one of the main reasons that Iowa State is now competing for recruits with some of the larger schools, is because he can sell one of the most passionate fanbases in the country. We talk more about Matt Campbell's love affair with the Iowa State fanbase, and why he we think he turned down larger schools to not only come to Ames, but to stay after seeing interest from some blue-blood programs. Before we wrapped things, we played Buy or Sell, and Jake suckered Levi into telling his embarassing story about his first time playing "flippy/flip cup."

Send us a text First off, we talked to Kyle (@FranchiseKF) from Devy Fantasy Football about how he first discovered David Montgomery, and what DM's draft stock looks like right now. We also talked about Hakeem Butler, who has emerged as one of Iowa State's best pro prospects. This past week Iowa State was picked to finish 7th in the conference, much to the displeasure of Levi, Cole, and Marchie. We discussed where we think Iowa State should have been picked, and what the rest of our preseason Big 12 rankings look like. However, the biggest news of the week was the unveiling of three new uniforms for this fall, including an all-black one. We talk about our favorites from the set, what we would have liked to see, and what combination we're most looking forward to seeing on the field. We also discussed all the hate and vitriol we saw on social media from Iowa fans who seem to believe that they were the first people to ever use black uniforms. We also discussed what having two top ten running back commits in Breece Hall and Jirehl Brock will mean for the running back room and the program going forward. Lastly, we gave our predictions for Sunday's World Cup Final.

Send us a text Cole and Levi talked about a 2020 quarterback commit, as well as Iowa State's basketball scholarship offer to a 14 year old point guard from Ames. Then, we discussed the NCAA's new redshirt rules for football, allowing players to play in four games without burning their redshirt. How will this affect some of Iowa State's true freshman, and who might benefit most from the new rule? As a seemingly regular topic on the show, the guys also dished about video games, this time discussing the February 2019 release of Anthem as an MMO centered around a central campaign. Can this game buck the trend of solid, but largely unsatisfying console MMOs? Finally, as part of our "100 Things Cyclone Fans Should Forget Before They Die," we interviewed Zane Brugenhemke, the Cy mascot who broke his arm after he "fell" down the bleachers and broke his arm during the 2011 football game at UConn. He gives us his side of the story, and tells a tale of foul play.

Send us a text After failing to qualify for this summer's World Cup, Levi and Cole talked about what that means for U.S. soccer, and what they need to do going forward to ensure that they don't miss out on the World Cup in 2022. Just this week, the U.S. was awarded the hosting of the 2026 World Cup in a joint bid with Canada and Mexico. We talked about where we'd like to see some games played, as well as what a strong showing in 2022 and 2026 could mean for the future of soccer in the United States. Before we wrapped up, we test Cole's knowledge of the world's most popular sport with a little World Cup Trivia.