If you think CMC treats the Cyhawk game as anything more than somewhere between a glorified scrimmage and a pre-season barometer to teach off of and opportunity to grow, then you aren't paying attention.
We're like 8 years into this. It's blatantly obvious that to the extent which CMC cares about actual wins and losses (which is dubious at best) starts somewhere around week 4 and doesn't really include actually beating iowa any more than it would to actually beat Lousiana Layaette or Ohio (which he for a FACT considers both those seasons a success)...In fact, i think you can make a very strong case he resents being judged in any capacity whether he beats iowa or not.
He's killing it in conference record wise, recruiting wise, culture wise, player development wise in the context of Iowa State historically. He loves that s***, and he's really into that stuff specifically. Winning Cyhawk games. Meh, not so much.
Sure there's a segment of the fan base that will never let him live that attitude down, but there's many more who kind of say it is what it is.
We have seen iowa consistently exposed against other opponents of some (or really any) notable legitimate strength like clockwork. We judge iowa just as much on that, if not more so, than head to head outcomes with Campbell's half-hearted tepid attempts to beat Iowa. And Kirk and Brian have been lacking in that department for some time, and to think otherwise is delusional. And they always double down lol. This firing represents an opportunity to see that reliable well-established concrete reality go away.
That is why it is a sad day for Cyclone fans.
There, explained.