Wait, did that actually just happen? If you're an Iowa State fan, the last few months have felt like a fever dream, and not necessarily the good kind you have after a win in the Cy-Hawk game. One minute you're checking the iowa state football standings to see if a 5-4 conference record is enough to sneak into a decent bowl, and the next, the greatest coach in program history is packing his bags for Happy Valley.
It's weird. Ames is a place where loyalty usually sticks like humidity in August. But 2025 changed everything.
The final iowa state football standings for the 2025 season show the Cyclones finishing at 8-4 overall. On paper, that looks like a solid, "classic Matt Campbell" year. But the conference view is a bit messier. They went 5-4 in the Big 12, landing them in a tie for 7th or 8th place depending on how you look at the tiebreakers with teams like TCU and Kansas State.
Honestly, the middle of the Big 12 was a total meat grinder this year. You had Texas Tech and BYU sitting at the top with 8-1 conference records, while everyone else basically spent three months punching each other in the mouth.
The Standings Don't Tell the Whole Story
If you just look at the 8-4 record, you miss the chaos. This team started the season like a house on fire. They were 5-0. People were talking playoffs. Seriously. They beat No. 17 Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland, to open the year—a game that will go down in Cyclone lore for the sheer randomness of "Farmageddon" happening across the Atlantic.
Then, the wheels kinda wobbly-ed.
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A four-game losing streak in October and early November—losing to Cincinnati, Colorado, BYU, and Arizona State—effectively ended the dream of a Big 12 title. It was brutal to watch. One week you're ranked No. 12 in the AP Poll, and the next, you're "receiving votes" and wondering if you'll even make it to a bowl game.
They did bounce back, though. They finished strong with wins over TCU, Kansas, and Oklahoma State. But then came the news that nobody saw coming.
Why the 2025 Postseason Was... Non-Existent
Here is the part that most people get wrong or just find confusing. Iowa State qualified for a bowl. They were 8-4. Usually, that means a trip to the Liberty Bowl or maybe something in Florida. Instead, on December 7, 2025, the school announced they were declining a bowl invitation.
Yeah, you read that right.
They sat out. The official reason involved the "transition of the program," which is code for "our coach just left and half the staff is in limbo." Both Iowa State and Kansas State ended up declining bids and taking a $500,000 fine from the Big 12. It was a somber end to a season that started with so much hype.
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The Matt Campbell Bombshell
You can't talk about the iowa state football standings without talking about the guy who built them. For ten years, Matt Campbell was the face of Ames. He turned a "basketball school" into a place where 61,000 people showed up even when it was snowing sideways.
When he accepted the Penn State job in December 2025 to replace James Franklin, it felt like a gut punch. Jamie Pollard, the AD, was literally fighting back tears in the press conference.
Campbell finished his tenure as the winningest coach in school history. He gave the fans:
- An 11-win season in 2024.
- A Pop-Tarts Bowl trophy (which, let's be real, is the peak of modern culture).
- Multiple wins over Top 10 teams.
But now? The standings for 2026 are going to look very different. The program is currently being led by Jimmy Rogers, the former South Dakota State coach who was hired to pick up the pieces. He’s already hitting the transfer portal hard—bringing in guys like Jaylen Raynor from Arkansas State to compete at quarterback.
Breaking Down the 2025 Numbers
If you're a stat nerd, the Big 12 overall statistics tell a story of a team that had a championship-level defense but an offense that would occasionally just... vanish.
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- Scoring Defense: They allowed only 20.2 points per game. That was 5th in the Big 12. Jon Heacock’s 3-high safety look still works, even when the rest of the league tries to copy it.
- Offensive Output: Rocco Becht threw for over 2,500 yards and 16 touchdowns, but the team averaged only 27.4 points per game. In a league where Texas Tech and Utah were hanging 40 on people, that’s just not going to cut it.
The passing game was basically the "Jaylin Noel Show." He was incredible, ending his career with a massive performance in the 2024 bowl and staying consistent through the 2025 slog. But when teams doubled him, the Cyclones struggled to find a second gear.
What's Next for the Cyclones?
So, where does this leave you if you're trying to track the iowa state football standings moving forward?
Essentially, we are in Year Zero. The 2025 season is in the books, and the 2026 roster is being rebuilt on the fly. Matt Campbell took several recruits with him to Penn State, which sucks, but that’s the modern NIL/Transfer Portal era for you.
The Big 12 is only getting weirder. With 16 teams in the mix, there is no "easy" path to the top. Iowa State proved they can compete with anyone, but they also proved how quickly a season can slide if you don't have depth.
Actionable Insights for Fans:
- Watch the Portal: Jimmy Rogers has already brought in over 40 transfers for the 2026 season. The team you see in September won't look anything like the one that finished in 2025.
- Quarterback Battle: Keep an eye on the Raynor vs. Moberly vs. Flores battle. Whoever wins that job determines if Iowa State is a 9-win team or a 4-win team.
- Expect Volatility: Without Campbell's established "culture" as a safety net, expect the standings to be a roller coaster for at least the next two seasons.
The 2025 season was a weird, heartbreaking, yet statistically successful finale to an era. Whether the next chapter in Ames can live up to that is anyone's guess. But hey, at least we'll always have that win in Dublin.
To keep up with the latest roster moves, check the official Cyclones Athletics site or follow the Big 12's official standings page for real-time updates as the 2026 spring ball approaches.