Well, since you seem to have a boner for Duke, my rebuttal is the fact that Duke has 3 bowl wins in their history. ISU has 2. Duke has 11 bowl appearances, ISU 9. I would say, historically speaking, those 2 programs are pretty close, relatively speaking. Neither team would be viewed by anybody as a historical powerhouse. Yes, Duke has a good team this year, but the fact remains that I have no doubt, ISU would compete in a game with Duke this year and most likely every other single year each has had a program. ISU took Toledo (and ****** the game down their leg) to OT at Toledo. Toledo is ranked 20th, Duke 22nd. So, it's fair to think that even the lowly Cyclones could give Duke a game this year, even though the all mighty Blue Devils are 6-1 this year. So, if ISU could compete with Duke, there is no reason they can't compete with NW. Never said they would win, but it would be a close game. Duke will never get the respect of the FSU's or Miami's historically speaking. ISU will never get the respect of the Texas's and Oklahoma's and Iowa will never get the respect of the Buckeyes, Wolverines or Huskers. Just the way life is.