Iowa State football is 3-3 at the halfway point of the season. 

Seeing your team at .500 is never a fun sight for a football fan, but the reaction in Ames seems very mixed right now. Some folks are happy the team that many outlets picked to finish dead last in the Big 12 is fighting against some good teams, while others are still finding a way to be disappointed with what they've seen from this new-look Cyclone team so far. 

Those disappointed fans are probably still used to the consistency that Matt Campbell brought, but here's the harsh reality: a smooth transition was never going to happen at Iowa State.

Yes, head coach Jimmy Rogers does have an outstanding championship pedigree to his name, but the rebuilding job in Ames was always going to result in a subpar 2026 season. There's still obviously plenty of time for the Cyclones to surprise everyone and weather through a difficult back half of the schedule and make a bowl game, but that appears to be a long shot. 

Traveling to Tuscon to play Noah Fifita and Arizona won't be easy, as will games against high-powered Oklahoma State and a suddenly revived Baylor squad led by Florida transfer quarterback DJ Lagway. There's a good chance Iowa State will be 3-6 after this stretch, and though Cincinnati, Central Florida, and Kansas State are winnable games, it would be a ridiculously steep mountain for the Cyclones to get to six victories. 

Will it be disappointing for Iowa State fans to potentially not be bowl eligible for the first time in five seasons? Absolutely, but the rest of this season shouldn't come down to wins and losses - it's about how well-equipped this Cyclone team will be for the future. 

We don't know what these next six games will tell us, but if you look back and reflect on what has transpired so far in 2026, I'd say Iowa State fans should be pretty optimistic about the direction Rogers is taking this program. 

No one expected the Cyclones to even have a Big 12 win, but Rogers already checked that box off the list with a 45-42 win over West Virginia. Though Iowa State's other two conference games ended with double-digit losses, the Cyclones easily could've won both. A slow start doomed ISU against Utah, while an ineffective offense couldn't take advantage of a plethora of BYU mistakes in Provo.

The offensive flaws that defined those two defeats and the 16-13 loss to rival Iowa will probably stick with the Cyclones for the rest of the season barring a major change, but remember how Iowa State just never quit an any of its three losses? 

Some rebuilding seasons feature a first-year head coach and his team getting blown out every week (Campbell went a dismal 3-9 in his first year), but this Cyclone squad has battled with grit and heart every weekend.

ISU may not be the most talented team on the field, but you wouldn't know that by the way Rogers has this team competing. He and his staff deserve a ton of credit for that, and it's why Cyclone fans should be very optimistic in this program moving forward. 

The wins will come in due time. Iowa State fans just need to be patient and watch their team continue to compete in 2026. 

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