The Iowa State football program continues to trend upward, as junior defensive end JaQuan Bailey, junior running back David Montgomery and redshirt senior cornerback Brian Peavy were all named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team on Wednesday.

Bailey was an honorable mention on last year’s All-Big 12 team and led the Cyclones last season with seven sacks, which was fifth in the Big 12 last season and fourth-best in Cyclone history. He led the Cyclones last season in QB hurries and tied for third on the team in tackles for loss, as well as forced fumbles.

Montgomery was an All-Big 12 first teamer last season, when he broke the most tackles of any running back since Pro Football Focus started keeping track of that stat in 2014. Montgomery had 1,146 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns and only one fumble last season on 258 carries.

After being an All-Big 12 honorable mention in his first two seasons, Brian Peavy broke through and was a second-team All-Big 12 player last season. Now for the first time in his career, he is on the All-Big 12 preseason team. He led the Cyclones with 11 passes defended last season. Peavy also led the Cyclones in takeaways and was third on the team in tackles with 88.

The Cyclones are tied for third-most players on the All-Big 12 preseason team with Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. The two teams with the most players on the team are West Virginia, who has four players on the team, and Oklahoma with seven.

The Big 12 will release its preseason poll on Thursday.