Iowa State Football Receives Unexpected Big 12 Ranking

The Iowa State Cyclones have a lot of doubts surrounding them heading into the college football season.

Iowa State football team celebrates after winning 38-14 over Kansas in the senior day on Nov. 22, 2025, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa in the senior day on Nov. 22, 2025, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There is absolutely no doubt that the Iowa State Cyclones had a historically poor offseason.

They lost their head coach, Matt Campbell, to the Penn State Nittany Lions, and essentially every player joined him in Happy Valley, PA, after a mass exodus in the transfer portal. Now under Jimmy Rogers, who was poached from the Washington State Cougars, Iowa State hopes to alleviate offseason struggles and take a big first step in its rebuild.

Many people have many different expectations of the Cyclones. Some believe that Iowa State is easily a bowl game-level team, while others expect them to win just two games next season. It’s tough to grasp how the Cyclones will do, but we are pretty confident that they won’t finish last in the conference.

Recently, On3 released its Big 12 Power Rankings going into the 2026 season. And they picked Iowa State to get 16th place, dead last in the conference.

Iowa State is not worst football team in Big 12

Iowa State football head coach Jimmy Rogers talks to media during NFL football pro-day at Bergstrom Football Complex on March 24, 2026, in Ames, Iowa. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

This isn’t a complete shocker, but certainly a bit unexpected. A lot of people are low on the Cyclones, but putting them dead last feels disrespectful to the program that has been built up. Remember, Iowa State was in the conference championship game just two years ago and was 8-4 last season.

The Kansas Jayhawks, Cincinnati Bearcats, and UCF Knights should all be lower than the Cyclones. Kansas has a big quarterback problem and doesn’t have any star power on either side of the ball.

Outside of an offensive line, Cincinnati doesn’t have much to offer either, and hasn’t been elite at the Power Four level just yet. Outside of a good quarterback, UCF lacks quality and consistency at the Power Four level, and the additional geography makes it even tougher for them.

There are a lot of teams that you can make a compelling argument about being worse than the Cyclones, but I'll keep it to three. Iowa State should definitely rank near 13th in the conference rather than all the way down at 16.

Cyclones have under-the-radar talent

Nov 29, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars defensive end Isaac Terrell (88) chases down Oregon State Beavers quarterback Tristan Ti'A (10) in the second half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It’s definitely going to be unlikely that Iowa State performs well next season. They have so many new faces and a team that may be pretty inexperienced overall.

But with the quarterback play of Jaylen Raynor, solid offensive pieces like Cameron Pettaway and Omari Hayes, and a defense that can compete as one of the better units in the conference, the Cyclones are far from the worst team in the Big 12 conference as a whole.