EA Sports has Iowa sitting at an 80 overall in College Football 27, and that number lands the Hawkeyes tied for the 12th-highest rating in the game.
That overall puts Iowa in a crowded group at 80 alongside Arkansas, Boise State, Maryland, TCU and Michigan State. It’s a spot that looks a little odd on paper, especially when you stack the Hawkeyes next to that collection of teams, but the number still places them firmly in the upper tier of the game’s rankings.
The offense comes in at 80, which is higher than expected given the uncertainty at quarterback and the lack of proven consistency at wide receiver. A 76 or 77 would have made more sense based on those concerns. Instead, the rating suggests EA Sports is buying into what Iowa does best: a strong offensive line, a productive run game and plenty of work through tight end DJ Vonnahme.
The bigger surprise is on the other side of the ball. Iowa’s defense is rated lower than the offense, which is a hard number to swallow for a unit led by Phil Parker. Even with the changes and new faces on that side, Parker has built a reputation as one of the best defensive game-planners around, and this rating feels light for what he has shown over his career.
The defensive number also reflects the questions surrounding Iowa’s new-look front, which has to replace a lot of production, along with several new pieces in the secondary. Still, the defense feels more like a mid-80s group than what EA Sports handed it.
In the end, the initial Iowa rating may be closer than it first appears, even if the offensive and defensive numbers seem flipped. The Hawkeyes are at 80 overall, and that places them in the mix with a notable list of teams at the top of the game’s early rankings:
Oregon - 91
Ohio State - 90
Indiana - 90
USC - 86
Michigan - 85
Nebraska - 83
Penn State - 83
Washington - 83
UCLA - 82
Minnesota - 81
Iowa - 80
Maryland - 80
Michigan State - 80
Illinois - 79
Northwestern - 79
Wisconsin - 79
Rutgers - 78
Purdue - 77
In Other News...
How Iowa State Went From Big 12 Newcomer To Rare Constant
A decade can make a conference look like a different sport, and Iowa State has had a front-row seat to the change. When Matt Campbell arrived for his first Big 12 Media Days in 2016, he was the rookie face of a league that still felt stable and familiar. By the time Jimmy Rogers took the same stage in 2024, the backdrop had shifted so much that the comparison said as much about the Big 12 as it did about the Cyclones.
None of the head coaches who were there in 2016 are still in the league, a reminder of how quickly college football now turns over even the people in charge. The Big 12 itself has gone from a 10-team round robin to a 16-team league stretched across four time zones, with NIL and the transfer portal helping remake the job description along the way. For Iowa State, the unusual part is no longer being the newcomer. It is being one of the constants. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Freshman Buzz Just Took A Brutal Turn Before Fall Practices
The Big 12 is kicking off its media days with commissioner Brett Yormark set to spend part of the week answering broader league questions, and Iowa State has its own subplot worth watching on the basketball side as fall practices approach. Christian Wiggins arrived with the kind of freshman buzz that can matter on a veteran roster, the sort of young perimeter piece who might have found a way into the rotation sooner rather than later.
Instead, his early momentum has been interrupted before preseason work even gets rolling, leaving the Cyclones to adjust their backcourt plans and wait on a player they were hoping could help stretch the floor and bring some two-way value off the bench. For a program that tends to lean on depth and development, the timing is especially rough, and it adds another layer of uncertainty to a month that was already going to be full of league-wide storylines. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Earns Top 12 Respect Despite Major Roster Turnover
Iowa State is still earning national respect heading into the new season, landing 12th in CBS Sports latest college basketball power rankings even as the roster around it changes. The Cyclones are coming off a strong run and will look different this time around, but coach T.J. Otzelberger has enough returning pieces to keep the program in the mix.
Killyan Toure and Jamarion Batemon give Iowa State some continuity in the backcourt, and that matters for a team trying to reload without sliding backward. Otzelbergers group has already shown it can adapt, and the bigger question now is how quickly the new pieces settle in around the players who already know what it takes to win in Ames. [Read more 🡒]