A night in which Iowa State made history by winning 10 games for the first time in school history turned even more memorable a few hours later when it learned a return stop in the conference championship game was also in the cards.
A 30-18 victory by BYU over Houston clinched a four-way tie for the Big 12 regular season crown. The Cyclones and Arizona State got the nod in the tiebreaker over the Cougars and Colorado and will head to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, next Saturday.
It's the second trip to the conference title game during head coach Matt Campbell's nine-season tenure in Ames. Iowa State's winningest head coach in school history will now get another opportunity to achieve his ultimate goal of winning a league title, which would ensure his team earns a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff later this month.
Iowa State won the regular season conference crown in 2020 but lost to Oklahoma at AT&T Stadium before winning the Fiesta Bowl later that month over Oregon.
This will be the first matchup between the Cyclones and Sun Devils, who departed the Pac-12 following the 2023 season.