Fifteen years ago, the college football world was completely different. 

Iowa State fans will immediately know where this is going, but if you are reading this and were born in 2011-2013, you're in the right place. Any of you born in that timeframe is probably a diehard college football fanatic right now, but considering the College Playoff was established in 2014, that's all most kids know at this point. 

The CFP has certainly had its fair share of controversies in its 12-year existence, but what some younger fans may not know is that the system before the CFP, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), also produced some of the most controversial outcomes in the sport's history. 

Any Cyclone household has probably educated their young children on the BCS, because Iowa State played a primary role in dissolving it. That's right. Iowa State's legendary 2011 victory over Oklahoma State is approaching its 15th birthday, so its only fitting to take a look back in time and revisit one of the most epic moments in Cyclone football history on the eve of Saturday's game against the Cowboys inside Jack Trice Stadium. 

Let's just say Iowa State and Oklahoma State were going in opposite directions by their Nov. 18 meeting. The Cyclones entered the game with a respectable 5-4 mark under third-year coach Paul Rhoads, but the best possible outcome for Iowa State's 2011 season was to get to a mid-tier bowl game at best. 

An average bowl game was far from the Cowboys' mind, though. Oklahoma State's air raid offense was sensational in 2011, averaging 51.7 points per game en route to a 10-0 start - the best in school history. The Cowboys were coming off a 66-6 victory on the road at Texas Tech, and though they would come to Ames on a short week, another dominant win was expected (they were favored by 27). 

A tragic plane crash involving the Oklahoma State women's basketball team the night before the game hung a dark cloud over the Cowboys' heads, but OSU still raced out to a 24-7 lead early in the third quarter.

Just when the fans inside Jack Trice Stadium began to think about making an early exit, the unthinkable happened. The Cowboys couldn't hang on to the football (four turnovers), which helped quarterback Jared Barnett and Co. score 17 unanswered points to tie the game (Barnett would finish would 376 passing yards and three touchdowns). 

Oklahoma State looked like it would hang on when Barnett threw a costly interception in his own end of the field, but kicker Quinn Sharp barely missed the subsequent 37-yard attempt (some Cowboy fans argue the field goal was good), and the game went into a stunning overtime period. 

Both teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, but Cowboy quarterback Brandon Weeden was picked off on the first play of the second overtime, allowing Jeff Woody to score the game-winning touchdown a few plays later to give Iowa State a remarkable 37-31 win. 

Jack Trice Stadium's field was flooded with 60,000 fans in seconds, and the goalposts would soon come down. Tearing down the goalposts is a common tradition when storming the field, but it was a perfect image to describe the BCS after this game: torn down. 

Oklahoma State controversially was left out of the BCS National Championship Game in favor of Alabama as a result of this loss, but it did manage to salvage its season with an overtime win over Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl. 

In a cruel twist, this happened to be Iowa State's last win of the 2011 season. The Cyclones lost their final three games of the year, including a 14-point loss to Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl.