Where Does Cyclones' Recruiting Class Ranking Heading Toward Early Signing Day?

Where does the Iowa State Cyclones' recruiting class rank heading into early signing day?

Sep 7, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; An Iowa State Cyclones helmet sits on the sidelines before the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones have seen the regular season come to an end and will be starting to prepare for a busy couple of weeks. 

While the program awaits who they will be playing in their bowl game, the coaching staff will be busy finalizing their recruiting class and trying to navigate the transfer portal. This is a challenging time on the college football calendar, and the team will be focused on trying to manage it all.

With early signing day on Wednesday, the Iowa State Cyclones will be seeking to start locking down their 2026 recruiting class. Fortunately, while there has been some movement late as expected, not too much has changed for the program. 

Overall, while they might not have lived up to their lofty expectations coming into the campaign, an 8-4 regular season record is solid. However, what is really a strong selling point for incoming recruits is the system and the coach that is in place. 

With coaching changes happening frequently this year, having a stable figure in Matt Campbell running the ship is a massive plus for the program. The head coach looks pretty content with Iowa State, and while there were some rumblings about the Penn State Nittany Lions job early, nothing ever seemed to materialize with that. 

Craig Haubert of ESPN recently ranked the Cyclones’ expected 2026 class 63rd in the country, which was unchanged from the last update. 

Iowa State Remains Consistent

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Even though there might be a lack of star power for the class, this is currently a unit that is meeting a lot of the needs for the team and has plenty of depth. While it might not have star power, that is no shock. The Cyclones focus on growing and developing players and don’t have some of the same funding that other schools have to pursue the elite talent. 

However, that hasn’t stopped the program from building something special in recent years. At the same time, the 8-4 record might have felt like a disappointment, not too long ago, that would have felt like a massive success. The program has been built mainly through these deep recruiting classes that the coaching staff has been able to develop. 

With early signing day coming up on Wednesday, a bulk of the 2026 class will start to take shape soon. Hopefully, the class remains strong, and the Cyclones can continue to build a successful program.