Iowa State’s preseason picture for 2026 is starting to look a lot different after a chaotic offseason, and the latest Big 12 honor roll only drives that point home.
When the conference unveiled its preseason All-Big 12 teams, the Cyclones were nowhere to be found. No Iowa State players made the list for 2026, a telling sign for a program that entered the offseason with much bigger expectations.
That’s a sharp turn from where things once stood. Before the coaching and roster shakeup, Iowa State looked positioned for a major season behind senior quarterback Rocco Becht and a veteran core. But Matt Campbell’s departure set off a wave of portal exits, and the roster was stripped down fast.
Jimmy Rogers stepped in quickly and went to work rebuilding through the transfer portal. He filled the roster back out, but the talent level isn’t the same as it was a year ago. The pieces are there, but the star power is not.
That’s why this feels like a rebuilding year more than anything else. Depth may end up being a strength, but in a power conference, depth alone doesn’t carry the load. Programs still need players who can tilt games, and Iowa State doesn’t have a preseason All-Big 12 name to point to right now.
The Big 12 has plenty of talent and a number of impact players arriving through the portal, so Iowa State’s omission isn’t exactly shocking. Still, the reality is clear: the Cyclones are going to need several players to make major jumps if they want to stay competitive.
Rogers has the kind of coaching reputation that gives Iowa State a chance to squeeze value out of this roster, but the challenge is obvious. The Cyclones look like a team that will be fighting uphill in most matchups, and they appear to be near the bottom of the conference in pure talent.
The final All-Big 12 teams will matter more than the preseason version, but for now the message is hard to miss. Iowa State is short on high-end talent, and if things break the right way, a bowl game may be the ceiling for next season.
In Other News...
Iowa State Just Got Left Out Of The Big 12 Respect Conversation
The Big 12s 2026 preseason football honors landed this week with BYUs L.J. Martin headlining the offensive side and Texas Techs A.J. Holmes earning defensive recognition, but the list also offered an early reminder of where Iowa State stands in the conference conversation. After a coaching change and a major roster reset, the Cyclones were left without a single player on the preseason all-conference team, a notable omission for a program trying to reestablish itself in a league that is already handing out its first round of expectations.
Iowa States absence is easier to understand in the context of the offseason turnover, with more than 60 new players coming in under new head coach Jimmy Rogers after Matt Campbells departure. Even with some returning pieces in place, the Cyclones are starting from a different baseline than many of their Big 12 peers, and the conference will not provide a preseason ranking to soften or sharpen that perception. For now, the respect conversation is being written without them, which only raises the importance of how quickly this group can change it once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
T.J. Otzelberger Finalizes Iowa State Staff As Cyclones Double Down On Continuity
T.J. Otzelberger has locked in his Iowa State basketball staff for the 2026-27 season, and the latest round of moves says as much about continuity as it does about fresh voices. The Cyclones added Chuck Ruffing as an assistant coach after he spent last season at Western Illinois, while Richardson Maitre and Fletcher McGarvey came aboard as graduate assistants, giving the program a familiar blend of experience, development and internal growth.
The bigger picture is in the reshuffling around the edges of the bench, where Thomas Pollard has been elevated to director of recruiting and Diante Garrett has taken over as director of player development. Iowa State also released background on the new staff members and its full coaching roster, a sign that Otzelberger is setting the table early and keeping the programs structure tight as the Cyclones move into the next phase. [Read more 🡒]