Aug 23, 2025; Dublin, IRELAND; Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell during the Aer Lingus Classic between Iowa State and Kansas State at Aviva Stadium. INPHO via Imagn Images

Iowa State Cyclones Should Stop Playing Road Games Against Group of Five Opponents

Originally posted on Iowa State Cyclones on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Sep 17, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Iowa State Cyclones were able to earn their fourth victory of the season against the Arkansas State Red Wolves. However, it was much closer than anticipated and raised some concerns about the program moving forward.

Under head coach Matt Campbell, the Cyclones have been able to become one of the top football programs in the Big 12. With an 11-3 record in 2024, the team is seeking to continue to put together double-digit win seasons.

However, winning 11 games like the team was able to do last year is no easy task. With the landscape of the Big 12 changing drastically with a couple of the perennial powerhouses leaving for other conferences, the opportunity for Iowa State to become the new team to beat is there. So far, they are off to a good start with a 4-0 record after the narrow victory against the Red Wolves. As a ranked team, traveling to play a Group of Five team on the road is a very rare occurrence.

Usually, a school of the caliber that the Cyclones are this year will pay a school like Arkansas State to come to them. However, Iowa State and the Red Wolves had agreed to a home-and-home series, which allowed them to save a considerable amount of money.

Should the Cyclones Continue to Play Road Games Against Group of Five Opponents?

Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Going on the road against the Red Wolves was a risky move by Iowa State, and it almost came back to bite them. In 2023, the Cyclones did a similar thing and lost a game on the road to the Ohio Bobcats. While Iowa State wasn’t the same caliber of team that they are this campaign, it nearly resulted in a similar fate.

While there is a significant financial benefit to doing this to avoid paying schools to come to them, it provides a substantial risk to the program as well. Even though they won in Week 3, the poor performance has knocked the national view of the program down a bit.

Despite wins against the Kansas State Wildcats and the Iowa Hawkeyes, only beating Arkansas State by eight points has hurt the resume a bit as of now. Due to the Big 12 not being respected much right now, it also didn’t help the conference as a whole.

If the Cyclones are going to hope to make the College Football Playoff in the coming years and establish themselves as a force in the Big 12, avoiding road games against Group of Five opponents would be wise. The risk is simply not worth the reward at this stage.