College Football Twitter. The place for endless debates and encounters with fans who cheer for your team or for your greatest rival. It never seems to end despite what the results of the game say. Passion resonates with each fan, no matter the team. The Iowa-Iowa State rivalry is no exception to the passion or the heated debates.

This morning, CBS Sports released an article debating which team from every state is the state's best team. Here's what CBS Sports' Barrett Sallee said about Iowa:

"The battle for Iowa is razor-thin, but we'll side with Iowa," said Sallee. "The Hawkeyes finished with an identical 8-5 record as rival Iowa State, but won the head-to-head meeting in overtime and destroyed Ohio State later in the season. Those two bullet points on the resume give Kirk Ferentz's crew the upper hand for now, but watch out for the Cyclones."



Matt Campbell has completely transformed Iowa State during his two seasons there. There is now optimism that has been added into an already rabid fanbase. They have a redshirt senior starting QB who doesn't turn the ball, the number one running back according to Pro Football Focus in David Montgomery, and a fanbase that is hungry for more after coming off their fourth bowl win in school history.

With that being said, the battle for Iowa is not "razor-thin". One good season from a team that hasn't experienced much success doesn't mean we have to force a discussion whether they are the best team in the State.

You cannot disregard Kirk Ferentz ability over the last 20 years to deliver top-ten finishes, get players drafted, and do things "The Hawkeye Way". Iowa State holds the fifth-worst winning percentage in college football at 44 percent. That's also the same winning percentage that Campbell has as he enters his third season.

Let's take a look at some numbers. Right now there are 12 current players from Iowa State in the NFL. The Hawkeyes have three times that. Not only that, but Iowa players get drafted. Since 2010, Iowa has had the 15th most players drafted (33) among D1 teams. Iowa State has had five players drafted since 2010 and hasn't had one drafted since 2014.

In the five seasons prior to last season, Iowa State went a combined 17-44 in the last five seasons. In that same time span, Iowa went 39-26. If that isn't enough, we'll go back even farther in history. Since 2001, Iowa has won eight or more games ten times. Iowa State only won eight or more games eight times in their school's history.

People may try to make a claim about how Iowa State plays Iowa close, but as my father always says "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades." Iowa has won seven of the past 10 matchups and leads the overall series 43-22.

When you look at the numbers, the data speaks for itself. Iowa will remain "The Hawkeye State" for the time being. It will take a serious fallout from Iowa and a consistent string of success from Iowa State for this argument to be taken seriously.