Iowa State’s fall sports are inching closer, and with that, the Big 12 announced its Media Preseason Polls.

The two big sports Iowa State fans have to look forward to are football and volleyball. The two sports were polar opposites last season, as football struggled to get momentum while volleyball made history.

Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll

The Big 12 announced the football preseason poll Thursday. Texas found itself at the top, while Iowa State fell to 10.

It was not much of a surprise that Iowa State would take a slight dive after finishing 4-8 last season. Although many games were decided by one score, the overall record reflected Iowa State’s struggles to close out games.

The Cyclones started hot in 2022, jumping out to a 3-0 start before conference play. It was during conference play that the cracks in Iowa State’s game started to show.

The Cyclones would lose five straight games before picking up their only conference win of the season over West Virginia. Of the eight losses, only two were decided by more than one score.

With Iowa State sporting the No. 10 spot, the only old Big 12 school that was placed lower was West Virginia. The Mountaineers fell to the last place spot.

Rounding out the bottom half of the preseason standings are all the new schools — UCF (8), BYU (11), Houston (12) and Cincinnati (13) — and Kansas at No. 9.

Texas made a surprise jump to the top of the Big 12 standings in its last year in the conference. With hype building around a potentially historic season and two young star quarterbacks at the helm, Texas has a chance to take home its first Big 12 title since 2009.

The previous Big 12 champs, Kansas State, fell just behind Texas at the No. 2 spot. Rounding out the top five are Oklahoma, Texas Tech and TCU.

TCU fell to No. 5 with just two votes less than Texas Tech at No. 4. TCU is coming off a historic season where the Horned Frogs took on Georgia in the National Championship game after taking down No. 2 Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Big 12 tends to be an eat-or-be-eaten conference where the middle of the pack is anyone’s territory. Anything can happen during the football season, so the preseason poll may end up much different than the final standings.

Big 12 Volleyball Preseason Poll

Iowa State volleyball is coming off another solid season with many highs. Although the Cyclones lost their star player Eleanor Holthaus, the team has many young stars looking to take the reins.

The Big 12 Preseason Poll was announced Monday, and Iowa State found itself at No. 7 with 81 points. The Cyclones are joined in the middle of the pack by a pair of new Big 12 schools with Houston at No. 6 and UCF at No. 9.

To no one’s surprise, Texas topped the preseason standings with 12 first-place votes. This will mark the 13th-straight year that Texas was picked to finish at the top of the Big 12.

Texas is a six-time national champion and took home the 2022 national title. The Longhorns held the top spot in the national rankings throughout the entire season.

Texas finished the 2022 season with a 28-1 record. The only loss came to Iowa State in Hilton Coliseum as the Cyclones pulled off the historic upset 3-2.

BYU took the No. 2 spot in the rankings in its inaugural season after finishing 22-7 in 2022. The Cougars made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Baylor found itself in the No. 3 spot in the preseason poll, marking the seventh-straight year that the Bears made the top three.

Iowa State will face Baylor and BYU twice in the 2023 season. The Cyclones take on Baylor in Ames early in the Big 12 season while they play BYU on the road twice.