Iowa State’s Roster Wipeout Highlights a Growing Crisis in College Football
As the college football offseason begins to unfold, the Iowa State Cyclones have become the latest-and perhaps most dramatic-example of just how chaotic the current landscape has become. With a roster reportedly down to just 17 players and only one returning starter projected for 2026, Iowa State isn’t just rebuilding-it’s barely fielding a team. And now, the situation has caught the attention of Capitol Hill.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz took to social media to spotlight Iowa State’s roster woes, calling it an “absolute crisis” and urging Congress to step in. Cruz, who says he’s been working across the aisle to address the broader issues facing college athletics, warned that if lawmakers don’t act soon, “it will be an utter tragedy.”
Now, whether you agree with Cruz or not, one thing is clear: what’s happening in Ames is a symptom of a larger problem that’s been building for years.
The Cyclones' Roster Exodus
The Cyclones’ current predicament stems from a perfect storm of coaching turnover and the ever-widening floodgates of the transfer portal. When longtime head coach Matt Campbell accepted the Penn State job, Iowa State turned to Jimmy Rogers, formerly at Washington State, to take the reins. But in the wake of that transition, the Cyclones have seen a mass exodus-40 players have entered the transfer portal, with several announcing their departures just this week.
This kind of turnover isn’t just unusual-it’s destabilizing. Programs are now forced to rebuild on the fly, year after year, with little continuity and even less predictability. What used to be a multi-year development pipeline has turned into a scramble to fill out a depth chart before spring ball.
To be fair, Iowa State has managed to salvage some momentum, with a few incoming commitments-some of whom had originally pledged to Rogers at Washington State. But those additions, while encouraging, don’t change the fact that the Cyclones are starting from near-zero.
A Sport in Flux
This isn’t just about Iowa State. This is about the shifting foundation of college football as a whole.
The combination of the transfer portal, NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness), and relaxed eligibility rules has turned the sport into a year-to-year proposition. Coaches are essentially fielding new teams every season, and fans are left trying to keep up with rosters that look nothing like the ones they cheered for just months earlier.
Gone are the days when a fan could watch a freshman quarterback grow into a senior leader, or when a defensive back stuck it out for four years to anchor the secondary. Those stories-once the heartbeat of college football-are fading fast.
And while player empowerment is a necessary and overdue evolution in the sport, the current system lacks structure. There’s no unified calendar, no real guardrails, and no long-term strategy.
The result? Chaos.
Programs like Iowa State are left scrambling, while fans are increasingly disconnected from teams that feel more like revolving doors than communities.
The Bigger Picture
The question now is whether college football can govern itself-or whether outside intervention is inevitable. The NCAA has struggled to adapt, often reacting rather than leading. And with conferences and schools chasing TV deals and playoff bids, long-term stability has taken a backseat to short-term gains.
That’s where Cruz’s comments come in. The idea of Congress stepping in to regulate college sports might sound extreme, but in the absence of a functioning governing body, it’s a conversation that’s gaining traction. Whether it's establishing transfer windows, NIL guidelines, or scholarship protections, the sport desperately needs a framework that brings some order to the chaos.
Because if things continue on their current path, the damage might not just be to rosters-it could be to the very soul of college football.
What Comes Next?
For Iowa State, the focus now turns to rebuilding-again. Rogers has a steep hill to climb, not just in terms of talent acquisition, but in establishing a culture that can withstand the volatility of the current era. And for fans in Ames, the hope is that stability, however elusive, is still possible.
But zooming out, Iowa State’s situation is a flashing red light for the rest of the sport. If a Power Five program can be gutted this quickly, it can happen to anyone.
The transfer portal isn’t going anywhere, and NIL is only expanding. Without a clear set of rules and a shared vision for the future, more programs could find themselves in similar straits.
So yes, Iowa State is in crisis. But it’s not alone. This is college football in 2025-and unless something changes, it’s only going to get wilder.