Iowa State fans have been known to flock to Kansas City for almost anything. In a sense, it’s their home away from home. They go there for the annual Big 12 Conference basketball tournaments – like what’s happening at the downtown T-Mobile Center in March. They go there for sporting events, concerts and other stuff, too, like professional baseball, soccer, football and NASCAR.
I guarantee you they’ll live up to that reputation on Nov. 9 – when what could be a very good Cyclones football team faces what could be a very good Kansas outfit at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium.
What’s been circulating for months finally is happening – Iowa State football is returning to Arrowhead.
That was the highlight of the 2024 Big 12 Conference regular-season schedule revealed Tuesday. Iowa State vs. Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 9.
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The only other revelation on the conference’s schedule reveal are dates of the eight other Big 12 games. The who and the where among the 16-team conference came out in November, but to rehash some highlights:
- The expanded Big 12 adds Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, while Oklahoma and Texas defect to the SEC.
- The Iowa State-Kansas State Farmageddon game that's been played consecutively since 1917 won’t happen in 2027 − unless the teams meet in the Big 12 Championship Game.
- The Big 12 will remain division-less. The top two teams advance to Arlington, Texas, for the conference title game at AT&T Stadium.
- Colorado and coach Deion Sanders come to Ames in 2027, assuming he’s still coaching there. The last time the Buffaloes played at Jack Trice Stadium was a 17-10 Cyclones victory in 2009. That’s when both teams were in the Big 12. Colorado went to the Pac-12 in July 2011.
- Iowa State has seven home games in 2024 – non-conference against North Dakota and Arkansas State, and Big 12 games against Baylor, Kansas State, Texas Tech, UCF and Cincinnati. The Cyclones’ 2024 road schedule includes Iowa in the annual Cy-Hawk game, and then at Utah, Houston, against Kansas in K.C., and at West Virginia.
- First-time Big 12 opponents are UCF, Utah and Houston.
More:Iowa State football's 2024 Big 12 Conference schedule includes five home games, three time zones
An Iowa State Big 12 power rating of the 2024 schedule could go something like this:
- Utah
- Kansas State
- Kansas
- UCF
- West Virginia
- Texas Tech
- Baylor
- Houston
- Cincinnati
That’s obviously just a quick guess. Looking at the conference in its 16-team entirety, you can place Arizona on the same line as Utah. Oklahoma State probably fits between Kansas State and Kansas, and Iowa State goes somewhere in the upper division.
As for the Cyclones’ overall schedule – it gets real interesting after the Oct. 26 bye, when the last five games include three at home – Texas Tech, Cincinnati and Kansas State, and road trips against Kansas and Utah.
While some may figure the Kansas game at Arrowhead could just as well be a home game, due to how well Cyclones fans travel to road games – remember that Kansas is starting to pack in the fans, too, under coach Lance Leipold.
That’s a reason for the Arrowhead game. Memorial Stadium's makeover is part of a $300 million “Gateway Project” that includes improvements at Allen Fieldhouse. The project is expected to be completed in 2025. This will be the fourth time Iowa State has played at the Chiefs' 76,000-seat stadium, where the Cyclones have a 0-3 record − after losses against Florida State in the 2002 Eddie Robinson Classic, and to Kansas State in 2009 and 2010. All three games were one-possession losses, which isn't shocking for a program that lives in those close-game margins.
You’ll notice two bye weeks on the schedule. Well, that’s the norm for all of college football in 2024. It’s just the way the calendar fell. Times and television networks will be announced later, so if you’re planning to make the Kansas City road trip – you now at least know the game’s date.
Iowa State full 2024 football schedule
- Aug 31: vs. North Dakota
- Sept. 7: At Iowa
- Sept. 14: Off
- Sept. 21: vs. Arkansas State
- Sept. 28: at Houston
- Oct. 5: vs. Baylor
- Oct. 12: at West Virginia
- Oct. 19: vs. UCF
- Oct. 26: Bye
- Nov. 2: vs. Texas Tech (homecoming)
- Nov. 9: vs. Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium
- Nov. 16: vs. Cincinnati
- Nov. 23: at Utah
- Nov. 30: vs. Kansas State
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 52nd year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts
