Each year, Week 2 of the college football season sees the eyes of the state of Iowa descend on Kinnick Stadium or Jack Trice Stadium for one of the premier rivalries in all of college football, the Cy-Hawk game.
The Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State square off for bragging rights each year to wear the crown as the best team in the state of Iowa. Being such an early-season game, it often serves as a strong indicator of how these teams will fare for the rest of the year.
The past four years have seen the teams alternate victories after the Hawkeyes rattled off six straight wins from 2015 to 2021. The series currently sits at 47-24, with the Hawkeyes owning a commanding lead.
Despite the lead, that may not be who CBS Sports believes is the best team in the state. David Cobb of CBS Sports dug into all 50 states and picked who he believes is the best team within each state, and for Iowa, he sided with the Iowa State Cyclones in 2025.
Iowa — Iowa State: Iowa State again boasts solid continuity on its roster and staff after winning 11 games en route to a Big 12 title game appearance. The Cyclones have beaten Iowa in two of the past three seasons and get the Hawkeyes at home in Week 2. Iowa may finally have a quarterback in South Dakota State transfer Mark Gronowski, but ISU is on firmer footing as the 2025 season dawn – David Cobb, CBS Sports
If we are going off 2024 and what the rosters look like entering 2025, the Cyclones have a case. They won 11 games and were one game away from the College Football Playoff. They return talented and experienced quarterback Rocco Becht, and they now believe they can be a player nationally.
On the other side, the Hawkeyes have reloaded their roster with talent in a number of key spots and need to get things fused quickly to squeeze out every bit of talent that their highly skilled roster has in 2025.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Cy-Hawk Rivalry: Who is the best team in the state of Iowa? CBS picks state’s top program
Reporting by Riley Donald, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
