As you may know, big moves were made in the off-season between Auburn and Iowa State.  Auburn hired last season’s ISU coach, Gene Chizik, as its head coach.  And then Iowa State hired Auburn’s defensive coordinator of last season, Paul Rhoads, as its head coach.

Just a few weeks ago, Auburn found its way on the front page of many websites and publications, and ranked in the top 25, due to its 5-0 start.  On that same day Auburn improved to 5-0, Iowa State lost by one point on the road to Kansas State.  Since that day, Auburn has lost 3 games in a row, losing by a combined 49 points over that stretch.  Meanwhile, Iowa State has gone 2-1 in that same period with a road win over Nebraska this past weekend and only a 5-point loss at Kansas.

As it turns out, both teams have an identical 5-3 record at the moment.   Of course, the 5 wins that Rhoads has tallied in his first 8 games equals the amount of wins Chizik had in two years at ISU.

Not sure what any of this means - though we’re pretty sure we’ve stated before that we think Iowa State may have gotten the better of this switcheroo.  ISU plays at Texas A&M this weekend, where a win gets them one step closer to a shot at the Big 12 Championship game.  On the other hand, Auburn will host Ole Miss - where a win will get them within 3 games of the SEC West lead but will find them Independence Bowl eligible.