With football ranking, ISU joins elite group

AMES, Iowa (AP) _ Iowa State's first-ever bowl victory propelled the Cyclones into the Top 25 for the first time since 1981 and helped the school become part of an elite group. <br><br>The Cyclones

Friday, January 5th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

AMES, Iowa (AP) _ Iowa State's first-ever bowl victory propelled the Cyclones into the Top 25 for the first time since 1981 and helped the school become part of an elite group.

The Cyclones were 25th Thursday in the final Associated Press poll, released hours after Oklahoma beat Florida State to win the national championship.

With that ranking, Iowa State is one of just five schools to appear in all three of The AP's polls: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The others are Oklahoma, Florida, Texas and Notre Dame.

Iowa State, which edged Tennessee by one point for the final spot in the football poll, is seventh in women's basketball and 23rd in men's basketball.

The football ranking follows Iowa State's 37-29 victory over Pittsburgh in the Insight.com Bowl. Iowa State had last been ranked the week of Oct. 26, 1981, when the Cyclones were 11th.

The last time Iowa State had been ranked in the final poll of the season was Jan. 4, 1977. Iowa State was 19th then after going 8-3 in 1976.

``It's a great feeling,'' football coach Dan McCarney said. ``I've never forgotten where we were picked preseason _ 80th, 90th in the country in most publications. In one of the major ones, Ohio University was the only team below us of the 11 teams we were playing.

``It really adds to the credibility of what we've done with this program. It's another major milestone and a tribute to the perseverance of these coaches and kids.''

McCarney said his team deserves to be ranked and felt it was one of the best 25 in the country. Iowa State finished 9-3, the school's first nine-victory season since 1906.

``No question,'' McCarney said. ``We beat a Big East team in our bowl, two of our three losses were to Top Ten teams. It's a wonderful finish to a great season.''

The Cyclones' losses were to No. 8 Nebraska, No. 9 Kansas State and Texas A&M.

Iowa State also shows up in several other national rankings. The wrestling team is ranked fourth, the women's gymnastics team is 17th, the women's track team is 24th and the men's swimming team is 25th.

``It's really a strong statement about the quality of our overall program at Iowa State,'' McCarney said. ``Without question it helps our national presence around the country. We're just thrilled about it.

``We didn't know if it would happen or not. We haven't been ranked all season. But a number of teams were beaten in bowl games so we felt we had a chance. I think we're very, very deserving.''