CFB Analyst Reveals Key Iowa State Cyclones' Game in 2025

After a successful 2024 college football season, the Iowa State Cyclones are gearing up for another action-packed year. And with the season just around the corner, analysts are now beginning their deep dive into the program's schedule ahead of kickoff.

ESPN recently listed every "swing game" for the top 25 teams in the nation, with staff writer Kyle Bonagura claiming that the Cyclones' matchup against Arizona as their big game in 2025.

"The [Cyclones] have a Big 12 game to open the season against Kansas State, so there is no easing into the season -- and that's before factoring in Iowa coming to town Sept. 6," Bonagura wrote. "So Cyclones fans won't have to wait long before having a decent sense of what to expect this year. Let's go ahead and assume they beat South Dakota and Arkansas State and could be 2-2, 3-1 or 4-0 headed in the fifth game against Arizona. The result of that game against the Wildcats would significantly shape expectations for the rest of the way."

Head coach Matt Campbell and his squad are set to kick off Big 12 Conference play in week zero of the 2025 season against the Kansas State Wildcats in Ireland. However, the Cyclones will have a brief three-game stint of non-conference contests, which includes the program's in-state rivals, the Iowa Hawkeyes.

In his first season as head coach for Arizona, Brent Brennan received the short end of the Big 12 scheduling, as the Wildcats finished the season with a 2-8 record in 2024. But with quarterback Noah Fifta back at the helm for Arizona, Brennan and his squad is looking for a bounce-back season in 2025.

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