Iowa State declines a bowl invitation

AMES — New Iowa State head football coach Jimmy Rogers flew into Ames late Saturday night in the middle of a snow storm.

  Buy Photo

Then on Sunday morning, the Cyclones’ players met ISU athletics administrators and former coaches and determined after “robust discussion” the team would decline a bowl invitation because of “the lack of healthy players to safely practice and play.”

Details of that discussion appeared in a university news release.

“The administrative staff and coaches respect and support the players decision,” the Cyclones’ athletics director, Jamie Pollard, said in the release. “Our student-athletes have had an incredible season and we are grateful for their leadership as we worked through this process with them today.”

Because of that decision, the Big 12 Conference announced that ISU and Kansas State — which also declined a bowl bid as it transitions into the Collin Klein era — would each be fined $500,000 for “opting out of their participation” in the league’s bowl pool.

“While the Conference acknowledges the difficult timing around coaching changes, the Big 12 is responsible for fulfilling its contractual obligations to its bowl partners,” the league noted in a news release.

Pollard had said on Friday after former head coach Matt Campbell accepted the Penn State job that he fully expected the Cyclones to play in a bowl game, but that situation obviously changed after Sunday morning’s meeting.

Couple that with the fact that there’s certain to be significant roster turnover — as is the case after any coaching change — and it’s clear that Rogers will be very busy in his first week on the job and beyond.

“The players are gonna have to decide what thew want to do,” Pollard said on Friday. “And what I know (is) we’re gonna have 100 and some football players on our football team next year. (Rogers) just went through it (in his one and only season) at Washington State. When he accepted the job, there were 69 players in the transfer portal. He had 70 new players this past year, OK? And they are going to a bowl game.”

The Cougars finished 6-6 under Rogers this season, including three losses to teams ranked in the College Football Playoff by a combined nine points.

Pollard said Friday that “the plan is” for Rogers to meet with ISU’s players on Sunday night. An introductory news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday. It’s closed to the public but will be streamed live on ESPN+.

“Get ready to go,” Pollard said. “Because Jimmy Rogers is a fireball, and we’re gonna be good.”

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com