4thand4cast

Search the site.

Try , , or .

Powered by Pagefind

Iowa State

Cyclones · Big 12

Head coach Matt Campbell Year 10 with Iowa State

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
7.1
Expected wins
7-5
Proj record
4 to 10
Win range (90%)
#38 (18–62)
Final rank (90%)
1%
Make playoff
1%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

1%

Baseline projection.

  • at Iowa
    Away · Sep 12
  • at BYU
    Away · Oct 10
  • vs Utah
    Home · Sep 26
  • at Arizona
    Away · Oct 24
  • at Baylor
    Away · Nov 7

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2025

65 PCI
  • Quarterback 67% (4/6 players)
  • Offensive line 56% (14/25 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 78% (25/32 players)
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 59% (20/34 players)
  • Secondary 64% (18/28 players)
  • Special teams 63% (5/8 players)

PCI weights returning production by position group (QB/OL heaviest). 70%+ is healthy continuity; 45-70% is a normal rebuild; below 45% is a meaningful turnover.

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 36.5% 47th — average
  • Red-zone TD rate 15.0% 53th — average
  • 4th-down aggression 45.2% 86th — strong
  • Late & close 5.0 yds/play 48th — average

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    Iowa State: 2025 Week 16 recap

    Iowa State sits at No. 33 overall with an 8–4 record after a 20–13 road win over Oklahoma State in Week 14. The Cyclones' 9.9 rating reflects a team that's found its footing in Big 12 play, grinding out wins in the trenches rather than…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.