Cy-Hawk Game is a Perfect Litmus Test for Iowa State Football's Future

Over the offseason, the Iowa State Cyclones got rinsed of essentially everything they had. They lost their coach, their stars, and their young pieces. Everything. While recent success has proven that Iowa State is a top tier program in the Big 12 Conference, it certainly doesn’t look like it at this current state.

It’s a huge year for the Cyclones. They have tons of potential with a new head coach and plenty of new players. However, it seems unlikely that they fulfill their potential or even really get close to it. Luckily for Iowa State, they are going to know pretty quickly if they are actually a quality football team or not.

The Cyclones begin the season with what should be their easiest contest of the year: A home game against the SEMO Redhawks. But after that, things are going to get really tough, really fast. That’s because in the second week of the season, Iowa State is going to have to go to Iowa City, IA to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes as a part of the Cy-Hawk rivalry.

Can Iowa State Win?

The Iowa State Cyclones mascot | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Iowa is typically a pretty solid team, and is coming off of a successful season, but haven’t had an ideal offseason. They lost lots of talent, and don’t have the consistency all around to compete every week. Their rushing attack is great, but the overall offense isn’t good enough to compete at a high level. But of course, the defense is elite like always.

The Cy-Hawk game this year is going to be so important. Yes, things aren’t going super well for the Cyclones, but the Hawkeyes don’t have a special team either. They’re obviously expected to lose, but a win could turn the project from a two year rebuild to a successful one by week two of year one.

It’s no shocker when Iowa State wins the in-state rivalry. In fact, they have won it back-to-back seasons, three of the last four years, and haven’t lost in Iowa City since 2018. This year, they hope to do it again.

Vibes around the Cyclones program may not be high right now, in fact could be at an all-time low. People expect this rebuild to likely take a few years, and we could see Iowa State fall into a long rebuild longer than any of us expect. But if Iowa State takes down Iowa in week two of the 2026 season, the program will see a significant increase in hope, confidence, and could be the driving point to get out of a tough situation.

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