Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State Cyclones Suffer Surprising Drop in PFF's Top 25 Rankings Despite Win

How far did the Iowa State Cyclones fall in the PFF Top 25?
Kenneth Teape|
Lily Smith/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Spirits have to be high around the Iowa State Cyclones football team after picking up their fourth victory of the season last week.

The win over the Arkansas State Red Wolves, in their first true road game of the year, pushed their record to 4-0. They are now heading into a much-deserved bye week, able to rest up from what has been a daunting schedule thus far. This was the second time the Cyclones played away from Ames, heading on the road in Week 0 to play the Kansas State Wildcats in Ireland.

That victory has Iowa State heading in the right direction in the polls. They are up to No. 12, which puts them right in the mix of early College Football Playoff predictions. There is still a lot of work to be done to vie for the national title, but the Cyclones have done a great job avoiding any letdowns to this point.

Iowa State Cyclones Drop Multiple Spots in PFF Rankings

Matt Campbel
INPHO via Imagn Images

Despite their success, one outlet wasn’t overly impressed with their performance against Arkansas State. Over at PFF, Max Chadwick released the top 25 rankings heading into Week 4 action. Shockingly, Iowa State dropped in the rankings.

Heading into their matchup with the Red Wolves, the Cyclones were ranked No. 12. After picking up a win, they have fallen to No. 15. Four teams jumped ahead of them in these rankings. Two of the teams were ranked behind Iowa State last week, while making massive jumps after being unranked.

The Texas A&M Aggies, who defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, went from No. 16 to No. 9. The George Tech Yellow Jackets hosted the Clemson Tigers and beat them to jump from No. 25 to No. 13. From the group of unranked teams came the Vanderbilt Commodores and Ole Miss Rebels, claiming the Nos. 11 and 13 spots.

Heading into a bye week, it will be interesting to see how things play out for the Cyclones in Week 4. The rankings will assuredly be shaken up again with some conference schedules getting underway. Matt Campbell and his squad will be paying extra attention to the Big 12 matchups, with two AP Poll-ranked teams scheduled to play.

The No. 17-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders head on the road to face the No. 16-ranked Utah Utes. That will have major implications on the conference as two of the teams are expected to challenge for a conference title this season. The other Big 12 matchups are the West Virginia Mountaineers heading on the road to face the Kansas Jayhawks and the Baylor Bears hosting the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Iowa State will be back in action on Sept. 27. They will be returning to Ames to host the Arizona Wildcats in their second Big 12 matchup of the season. Kick off has been announced for 7 pm ET/6 pm CT. It will be a whiteout at Jack Trice Stadium for the last home game in four weeks.

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Kenneth Teape
KENNETH TEAPE

Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.

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