The term "must win" is wildly overused in sports, but there may not be a better way to describe the situation Iowa State found itself in going into Saturday against the Jayhawks. When you consider where the Cyclones were and what now lies ahead, this was a game that quite simply needed to be won — and it needed to be won convincingly.
When time expired Saturday, Iowa State had put on arguably its most well-rounded performance in well over a calendar year, which is something fans and players alike desperately needed. There are signs of life, confidence and discernible progress in Ames, but we can all agree to yank back on the reins a bit until the effort we saw against Kansas is duplicated against, well, a team other than Kansas.