Iowa State’s offseason reset has been brutal, but On3’s latest Big 12 projection still took things a step further than most expected.
The Cyclones were slotted 16th in the outlet’s preseason power rankings for the 2026 season, putting them last in the conference. That’s a harsh landing for a program that was in the conference championship game just two years ago and finished 8-4 last season.
There’s no hiding how much changed in Ames. Matt Campbell left for the Penn State Nittany Lions, and a wave of players followed him to Happy Valley through the transfer portal. Iowa State now turns to Jimmy Rogers, who was poached from the Washington State Cougars, and the rebuild starts from a shaky place.
The skepticism around the Cyclones is understandable. Expectations around the league are all over the map, with some people seeing a bowl team and others bracing for a two-win season. Even so, ranking Iowa State dead last feels like a stretch.
Kansas, Cincinnati and UCF all have cases to be below the Cyclones. Kansas has a major quarterback issue and lacks star power on either side of the ball.
Cincinnati leans heavily on its offensive line and still hasn’t proven itself as an elite Power Four team. UCF has a good quarterback, but the Knights still don’t have enough quality or consistency at the Power Four level, and the added geography only makes things harder.
Iowa State is still facing a tough season. The roster is full of new faces, and inexperience could be a real problem.
But with quarterback Jaylen Raynor, offensive weapons like Cameron Pettaway and Omari Hayes, and a defense that can be one of the better units in the conference, the Cyclones don’t look like the Big 12’s worst team. They look more like a group that belongs closer to 13th than 16th.
In Other News...
T.J. Otzelberger Faces A New Iowa State Test Fans Will Feel Fast
Iowa States offseason reset is already feeling bigger than a routine roster shuffle, even after a season that put the program back in a familiar winning place. The Cyclones have moved into 2026-27 with a mix of returning pieces, newcomers and staff turnover, and T.J. Otzelberger has made it clear the next step is about more than talent. For a team that has built its identity on edge and cohesion, the challenge now is stitching together a new group without losing the habits that carried it so far.
The departures were heavy, and the replacements are still getting acquainted with both the program and each other, which is why the early days of summer matter so much around Ames. Iowa State has added experience on the bench and fresh options on the roster, but the real test comes in how quickly the Cyclones can make all of it look like one team. Fans will feel that process fast, because the first signs of whether this group is tracking upward or simply starting over will show up long before league play does. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Just Revealed Two Program Defining Honors
Iowa State spent this week putting a spotlight on two seasons that gave the program plenty to celebrate, naming Joshua Jefferson as the Gary Thompson Male Athlete of the Year and Mercyline Kirwa as the Celia Barquin Arozamena Female Athlete of the Year for 2025-26. Jeffersons recognition fits a basketball year that kept adding milestones, from his multiple triple-doubles to a scoring run that became one of the defining stretches of the season. Kirwa, meanwhile, turned in a freshman campaign that quickly pushed her into the top tier of Cyclone distance runners.
For Iowa State, the appeal of these honors is in how different they are and how equally valuable they felt. Jeffersons impact came on the court, where he paired consistency with rare production, while Kirwa made her mark on the track by winning at the national level and reshaping the school record book before most freshmen have settled in. The only question now is how much more both athletes can still add to their legacies, because the way each season unfolded left the Cyclones with a lot to look forward to. [Read more 🡒]