Friday’s game against Oklahoma State is Iowa State’s 1137th. That much the athletics office and the NCAA agree on. But even before superficially drilling into the numbers there’s a discrepancy.
The NCAA says that through the end of 2010, Iowa State’s record was 494-587-46. Iowa State said it was 493-588-46. It is not one game in question, but three.
November 2, 1907: The Des Moines Register mentioned the controversy with this Nebraska game last year. A drop-kicked field goal bounced twice before going through the uprights. Iowa State said the four-point field goal counted, and Nebraska said it didn’t. College football rules chairman Walter Camp ruled months later that the field goal was good. The NCAA and Nebraska don’t accept that ruling. (The official NCAA record book says Nebraska is 86-17-2 in what was the 20th-most-played rivalry in history, while ISU says Nebraska is 85-18-2.)
October 18, 1980: Kansas won on the field, but later forfeited the game. According to the NCAA, “To record a forfeit, the wins of the penalized team must be changed to losses, and the losses of its opponent must be changed to wins.” In Iowa State’s books, however, this is still a loss in all aspects (season, vs. opponent, coach’s record).
November 8, 1997: Colorado won on the field, but later forfeited. See above. In these three games, Iowa State marks itself as 1-2, and the NCAA marks ISU as 2-1.
Which brings us to those two round numbers in the heading.
At 5-4, ISU’s next victory will be its 500th according to the NCAA, but the victory after next will be the 500th according to ISU.
As for the losses, the current number is either 591 (NCAA) or 592 (ISU). Should Iowa State lose out, both milestones would likely be reached next season.
Because the disputed Nebraska game came so early in the history, it’s kind of fruitless to say which game each round number (100, etc.) was, although pinpointing the year is possible. However, it IS possible to at least list the milestone games overall.
100th game in ISU history, November 24, 1905: Iowa 8, ISU 0
200, November 16, 1918: Iowa 21, ISU 0 (one of three games that season)
300, October 3, 1931: ISU 20, Morningside 6
400, October 31, 1942: Oklahoma 14, ISU 0
500, November 7, 1953: Nebraska 27, ISU 19
600, September 26, 1964: Oklahoma State 29, ISU 14
700, November 3, 1973: Oklahoma 34, ISU 17
800, October 16, 1982: ISU 17, Missouri 17
900, October 26, 1991: ISU 6, Oklahoma State 6
1000, October 28, 2000: ISU 39, Missouri 20
1100, November 8, 2008: Colorado 28, ISU 24
Northwestern, Indiana, Kansas State (2009), Rutgers (2010) and Wake Forest (2010) have already passed the 600-loss mark in Division I-A.
UPDATE: So about that 500th win coming next season? We may end up with a split decision. (Also, added Nebraska context.)