The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's and 10 women's teams) in 12 sports.
The "Cyclones" name dates back to 1895. That year, Iowa suffered an unusually high number of devastating cyclones (as tornadoes were called at the time). In September, the football team from what was then Iowa Agricultural College traveled to Northwestern University and defeated that team by a score of 36–0. The next day, the Chicago Tribunes headline read "Struck by a Cyclone: It Comes from Iowa and Devastates Evanston Town." The article began, "Northwestern might as well have tried to play football with an Iowa cyclone as with the Iowa team it met yesterday." The nickname stuck. As it was difficult to depict a cyclone in media or costume, the university chose a cardinal bird as its mascot, referencing its school colors, and the original school mascot. Iowa State was known as the "Cardinals" when it was changed to the Cyclones. During the years Before the Cardinal mascot was chosen Iowa State had several different mascots, including live animals like a goat, a Great Dane dog etc. In the 1950s a local Ames, IA business, Collegiate Manufacturing, then the leading supplier of college souvenirs—pennants, blankets, and stuffed animals—in the nation, wanted to make toys, souvenirs, and clothing depicting the Iowa State Mascot, and decided it was too difficult to produce Cyclone products and mascot costume, so a contest was held to create an official mascot, in which the Cardinal was chosen. The eight foot bird was introduced at Homecoming, October 16, 1954, but was yet nameless. The "Cy the Cardinal" name was chosen when Mrs. Wilma Ohlsen submitted the name before 16 others, in a nationwide "name-the-bird" contest, held to officially name the mascot.
Sports sponsored Men's sports Women's sports Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Football Golf Golf Gymnastics Track and field Soccer Wrestling Softball Swimming and diving Tennis Track and field Volleyball Wrestling (2027–28)
Men's sports
Men's basketball
The Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I athletics. T. J. Otzelberger is the current ISU men's basketball head coach. Prior to the 2017–18 season, Iowa State has a 1339–1293 all-time record, and has been to the NCAA Tournament nineteen times including five Sweet 16 appearances, an Elite 8 appearance, and a Final Four appearance. ISU has also won six regular conference titles and six conference tournament titles. Iowa State men's basketball team plays in Hilton Coliseum, part of the Iowa State Center on the south-east side of Iowa State University, and is known as one of the best venues in all of college basketball.
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |- ! colspan=0 | Yearly Records
Season Overall Conference1908 1–1 1–0 1909 4–10 4–4 1910 9–7 6–2 1911 6–11 6–81912 8–7 4–4 1913 3–13 2–4 1914 4–13 4–10 1915 6–7 5–51916 4–12 2–81917 12–6 6–41918 6–9 1–61919 5–11 3–81920 6–12 2–101921 10–8 6–81922 10–8 8–81923 9–9 8–81924 2–16 2–141925 2–15 1–151926 4–14 3–111927 9–9 5–71928 3–15 3–151929 8–7 4–61930 9–8 5–51931 8–8 4–61932 9–6 4–61933 6–10 2–81934 6–11 2–8 1935 13–3 8–21936 8–8 3–71937 3–15 0–101938 6–9 2–8
Season Overall Conference1939 8–9 5–51940 9–9 2–81941 15–4 7–31942 11–6 5–51943 7–9 2–8 1944 14–4 9–11945 11–5 8–21946 8–8 5–51947 7–14 5–51948 14–9 6–61949 8–14 3–91950 6–17 2–101951 9–12 3–91952 10–11 4–81953 10–11 5–71954 6–15 2–101955 11–10 4–8 1956 18–5 8–41957 16–7 6–61958 15–8 8–41959 9–16 4–101960 15–9 7–71961 14–11 8–61962 13–12 8–61963 14–11 8–61964 10–16 5–91965 9–16 6–81966 11–14 6–81967 13–12 6–81968 12–13 8–61969 14–12 8–6
Season Overall Conference1970 12–14 5–91971 5–21 2–121972 12–14 5–91973 16–10 7–71974 15–11 6–81975 10–16 4–101976 3–24 3–111977 8–19 3–111978 14–13 9–51979 11–16 8–61980 11–16 5–91981 9–18 2–121982 10–17 5–91983 13–15 5–91984 16–13 6–81985 21–13 7–71986 22–11 9–51987 13–15 5–91988 20–12 6–81989 17–12 7–71990 10–18 4–101991 12–19 6–81992 21–13 5–91993 20–11 8–61994 14–13 4–101995 23–11 6–8 1996 24–9 9–51997 22–9 10–61998 12–18 5–111999 15–15 6–10 2000 32–5 14–2
Season Overall Conference 2001 25–6 13–32002 12–19 4–122003 17–14 5–112004 20–13 7–92005 19–12 9–72006 16–14 6–102007 15–16 6–102008 14–18 4–122009 15–17 4–122010 15–17 4–122011 16–16 3–132012 23–11 12–62013 23–12 11–7 2014 28–8 11–7 2015 25–9 12–62016 23–12 10–8 2017 24–11 12–62018 13–18 4–14 2019 23–12 9–92020 12–20 5–132021 2–22 0–182022 22–13 7–112023 19–14 9–92024 29–8 13–52025 25-10 13-7 2026 20-2 7-2
Cross country
The Iowa State men's cross country team competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I athletics. Jeremy Sudbury is the current ISU men's cross country head coach.
They have 28 conference titles since they first formed a men's cross country team in 1909. Their 25 Big Eight Conference championships were the most in the conference's 84-year history. They have competed in the NCAA tournament as a team 22 times as well as winning the tournament in 1989 and 1994 and finishing as runner up in 1990, 1991, and 2021.
The cross country team hosts their home meets at the state-of-the-art cross country course south of Iowa State's campus.
Football
Iowa State plays NCAA Division I FBS football in the Big 12 Conference. Iowa State football team is led by head coach Matt Campbell. ISU started playing football in 1892, however, it did not become an official sport until 1894. The Cyclones have a 512–624–46 all-time record and are 3–7 in post season play.
The Cyclones play home games in Jack Trice Stadium. The stadium is named after Jack Trice, a football player who incurred a fatal injury while playing for the Cyclones against Minnesota in 1923. In 1975, the stadium's playing field was named in honor of Trice, Iowa State's first African American athlete and the school's first athlete to die of injuries sustained during a Cyclone athletic competition. Until 1997, the facility itself was known as Cyclone Stadium. Because of persistent requests by the students, the facility was renamed Jack Trice Stadium, making it the only Division I FBS stadium named for an African American individual.
Renovations to Jack Trice Stadium were completed before the 2015 football season. Among the upgrades was the Sukup End Zone, an addition to the south end zone of the stadium. This added an additional 3,000 seats, increasing the total stadium capacity to 61,500.
Golf
The Iowa State men's golf team competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I athletics. Andrew Tank is the current ISU men's golf head coach.
They have three conference titles since they first formed a men's golf team in 1935. They have competed in the NCAA tournament as a team 22 times, along with making 18 appearances in the NCAA Championship.
The team practices at the Golf Performance Center that opened in 2013.
Track & field
The Iowa State men's track & field team competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I athletics. Martin Smith is in his 4th year as ISU's Director of Men's and Women's Track and Cross Country.
They have 13 conference titles since they first formed a men's track & field team in 1908. They have made 52 appearances at the indoor and outdoor NCAA championships including nine indoor and 13 outdoor individual national titles.
The track & field team hosts their home meets at the Lied Recreation Center for indoor meets and the Cyclone Sports Complex for outdoor meets.
Wrestling
The Iowa State men's wrestling team competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I athletics. Kevin Dresser is the current ISU wrestling head coach.
They have 17 conference titles since they first formed a wrestling team in 1916. They have won the third most NCAA wrestling champions in NCAA history with eight as well as 66 individual national titles. Iowa State has had 15 wrestlers who have participated in the Olympics resulting in six gold and three bronze medals.
The wrestling team hosts their home meets at Hilton Coliseum. The team practices at Lied Recreation Center.
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |- ! colspan=0 | Yearly Wrestling Records |- | valign=top | Season Record 1916 1–1 1917 2–0 1918 1–1 1919 3–0 1920 5–1 1921 7–1 1922 8–0 1923 8–0 1924 9–0 1925 6–0 1926 8–1 1927 8–1 1928 7–2 1929 7–1 1930 6–3 1931 9–1 1932 6–3 1933 6–1 1934 8–2 1935 4–3 | valign=top | Season Record 1936 4–2–21937 6–2–1 1938 8–0 1939 3–3 1940 4–41941 7–3 1942 3–3 1943 1–3 1944 NA 1945 NA 1946 3–11947 4–3 1948 5–5–1 1949 2–6–1 1950 4–6 1951 5–5 1952 6–2 1953 9–1 1954 8–0 1955 7–1 | valign=top | Season Record 1956 8–3 1957 9–3–11958 10–0–2 1959 11–3 1960 12–3 1961 13–1–2 1962 12–1–1 1963 13–1 1964 13–0–11965 14–1 1966 13–2 1967 12–3–1 1968 12–31969 15–1 1970 15–2 1971 17–01972 16–11973 18–1 1974 13–5 1975 16–2–2 | valign=top | Season Record1976 19–21977 18–2–1 1978 19–21979 18–31980 18–4 1981 19–2 1982 17–2 1983 14–4 1984 13–7 1985 20–7 1986 19–11987 14–3 1988 17–4 1989 8–9–1 1990 14–9 1991 13–3 1992 13–3 1993 13–4 1994 7–7 1995 17–4 | valign=top | Season Record 1996 12–6–1 1997 10–7–1 1998 12–8 1999 20–5–1 2000 20–2 2001 19–4 2002 17–5 2003 8–10 2004 16–4 2005 16–2 2006 11–72007 13–32008 16–4 2009 15–3 2010 13–2 2011 9–10 2012 4–14 2013 11–5 2014 9–7 2015 11–2 2016 10–6
Women's sports
Women's Basketball
The Iowa State women's basketball team competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I athletics. Bill Fennelly is in his 22nd season as ISU's head women's basketball coach. Coach Fennelly's record is 465–236 and ISU's all-time record is 677–562.
They have earned one regular season conference title and two conference tournament titles since they first formed a women's basketball team in 1973. They have competed in the NCAA tournament 17 times including five trips to the Sweet Sixteen and two trips to the Elite Eight.
The women's basketball team plays its home games in Hilton Coliseum. The team practices at the Sukup Basketball Complex. Attendance at ISU women's games have ranked in the top ten for eighteen consecutive years.
Yearly Records
Cross country
The Iowa State women's cross country team competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I athletics. Andrea Grove-McDonough is in her 4th ISU's head women's cross country coach.
They have 12 conference team titles and nine individual titles since they first formed a men's cross country team in 1973. Their 8 Big Eight Conference championships were the most in the conference's 20-year history. They have five AIAW national championships as well as finishing the NCAA championship twice as runner-up. They have had one NCAA individual championship, Betsy Saina, who also holds the NCAA 6,000 meter record.
The cross country team hosts their home meets at the state-of-the-art cross country course south of Iowa State's campus.
Golf
The Iowa State women's golf team competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I athletics. Christie Martens is in her 17th season as ISU's head women's golf coach.
They have earned one conference championship as a team and one individual conference championship since they first formed a women's golf team in 1972. They have competed in the NCAA regional tournament 14 times as well as the NCAA Championship four times.
The team practices at the Golf Performance Center that opened in 2013.
Soccer
The Iowa State women's soccer team competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I athletics. Tony Minatta is in his 5th season as ISU's head women's soccer coach. ISU's all-time record is 159–200–30.
They have yet to earn a conference title but have appeared in the conference championship nine times since they first formed a women's soccer team in 1995. They have made one appearance in the NCAA tournament.