Iowa State vs. Kansas State
Iowa State and Kansas State first met in 1917 and have played 109 times; Iowa State leads the series 55–50–4. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Iowa State 6–4, and Iowa State has won the last 3. Share
- Iowa State wins
- 55
- Kansas State wins
- 50
- Ties
- 4
- First meeting
- 1917
- Longest streak
- 10 Iowa State
- Current streak
- 3 Iowa State
- Last 10 meetings
- Iowa State 6–4
- Most recent
- 2025
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 2–1 | ||||||||||
| 1920s | 6–3–1 | ||||||||||
| 1930s | 3–6–1 | ||||||||||
| 1940s | 8–1–1 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 7–3 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 8–2 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 7–2–1 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 1–9 | ||||||||||
| 2000s | 3–7 | ||||||||||
| 2010s | 1–9 | ||||||||||
| 2020s | 5–1 |
- Both ranked
- 2 meetings: Iowa State 1, Kansas State 1
- Average margin
- 15 points; 45 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Iowa State
- 31–20–3 Iowa State’s record at home
- At Kansas State
- 28–23–1 Kansas State’s record at home
- Neutral sites
- 1–2 Iowa State first
- Shutouts
- 25
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Games that tell the story
- Iowa State’s biggest win1943: Iowa State 48, Kansas State 0by 48 points
- Kansas State’s biggest win2002: Kansas State 58, Iowa State 7by 51 points
- Upset1963: Kansas State 21, Iowa State 10Kansas State had a 14% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset2023: Iowa State 42, Kansas State 35Iowa State had a 26% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset2004: Iowa State 37, Kansas State 23Iowa State had a 26% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Ranked showdown2002: Kansas State 58, Iowa State 7No. 21 Iowa State at No. 12 Kansas State
- Ranked showdown2025: Iowa State 24, Kansas State 21No. 22 Iowa State at No. 17 Kansas State
Coach against coach
| Years | Iowa State | Series | Kansas State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1917–1919 | Charles Mayser | 2–1 | Zora Clevenger |
| 1922–1925 | Sam Willaman | 1–2–1 | Charlie Bachman |
| 1928–1930 | C. Noel Workman | 1–2 | Bo McMillin |
| 1931–1933 | George Veenker | 1–2 | Bo McMillin |
| 1937–1939 | Jim Yeager | 2–0–1 | Wesley Fry |
| 1942–1944 | Mike Michalske | 2–1 | Ward Haylett |
| 1948–1950 | Abe Stuber | 3–0 | Ralph Graham |
| 1951–1953 | Abe Stuber | 2–1 | Bill Meek |
| 1960–1966 | Clay Stapleton | 5–2 | Doug Weaver |
| 1968–1972 | Johnny Majors | 3–2 | Vince Gibson |
| 1975–1977 | Earle Bruce | 3–0 | Ellis Rainsberger |
| 1979–1982 | Donnie Duncan | 2–2 | Jim Dickey |
| 1989–1994 | Jim Walden | 2–4 | Bill Snyder |
| 1995–2005 | Dan McCarney | 2–9 | Bill Snyder |
| 2009–2015 | Paul Rhoads | 0–7 | Bill Snyder |
| 2016–2018 | Matt Campbell | 1–2 | Bill Snyder |
| 2019–2025 | Matt Campbell | 5–2 | Chris Klieman |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Iowa State’s side (Mayser 2–1 against Clevenger). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.
Both programs through the years
Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.
Stars of the series
Biggest days
| Abu Sama III Iowa State | 16 carries, 276 yards, 3 TD | 2023 Rushing | |
| Jordy Nelson Kansas State | 14 catches, 214 yards, 1 TD | 2007 Receiving |
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).
From the newspapers
1931 · The Bismarck tribune. (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, North Dakota, Nov 7, 1931
1933 · Evening star, Nov 12, 1933
1934 · Evening star, Nov 25, 1934
1935 · The times-news. (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, North Carolina, Nov 11, 1935
1937 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Nov 21, 1937
Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.
Every game
Every game is listed as played on the field.