Rob Gray

Cyclones started the season 7-0 but now have lost two in a row and facing an uphill battle to reach Big 12 title game

Long-struggling Kansas secured a 45-36 win on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium that all but nixed Iowa State’s hopes of competing in the Big 12 title game.

The Iowa State defense has yielded an early touchdown in four consecutive games, but always rose up late to help secure victory — until last week’s loss to Texas Tech. The players took that personally.

Iowa State simply can’t afford a loss to Kansas if it wants to remain in contention for the Big 12 title. Here are three keys for the Cyclones against the Jayhawks.

On a night when Bill Fennelly stood at midcourt to be honored for being in his 30th season as Iowa State’s head women’s basketball coach, his team proceeded to shoot 30 percent from the field — and still beat Indiana State by 22 points.

Even though Iowa State suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday, running back Abu Sama looked like himself in the second half, bounding for 82 yards on nine carries.

The past informs the present for Jaylin Noel, who shared a heartfelt message with his Iowa State football teammates after last week’s 23-22 setback to Texas Tech at home.

Tamin Lipsey scored 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the Iowa State men’s basketball team’s 83-44 season-opening rout of Mississippi Valley State on Monday. ISU snared 16 steals from the Delta Devils, who won one game last season and are ranked last in the country by KenPom

Iowa State star Audi Crooks scored within 10 seconds. Her sharp-shooting Cyclone teammates drained their first four 3-point attempts. And so it went in No. 8 ISU’s women’s basketball season opener — a 96-56 drubbing of Chicago State.

Iowa State is a three-point favorite against the Kansas, and its fans could make Saturday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium almost feel like a home game. Expect another tense game, regardless — and here are five Kansas players to know as the countdown to kickoff continues.

Iowa State guard Curtis Jones’ 3-point shots refused to fall early last season after he transferred in from Buffalo. So he simply kept working, knowing he’d shine when it mattered most.

In Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell’s football program, there’s no brooding, grousing, nor gnashing of teeth. The Cyclones grind on — even after absorbing the effects of Saturday’s 23-22 loss to Texas Tech, which knocked them from the ranks off the unbeaten.

Iowa State tempted fate throughout Big 12 play with sluggish starts. That troubling tendency finally caught up with the No. 11 Cyclones on Saturday — as Texas Tech — a two-touchdown underdog — danced out of a sold-out Jack Trice Stadium with a 23-22 win.

The term “competitive endurance” has come to frame each of Matt Campbell’s nine seasons leading the Iowa State football program. Some of his teams have possessed that elusive quality. Some haven’t. But the 2024 Cyclones seem to fully embody it.

Iowa State will try to get to 8-0 for the first time in program history Saturday against Texas Tech. Here are three keys for the Cyclones, plus a score prediction.