For the second straight year, the Big 12 Conference did not release preseason football rankings for the upcoming season, but that didn’t stop the USA TODAY Sports Network from making its own predicted order of finish for the 2026 season as well as a preseason All-Big 12 team.

Sports writers who cover the Big 12 throughout the network voted on the predicted order of finish for all 16 teams.

Iowa State lost the winningest coach in program history, Matt Campbell, and had a massive roster rebuild after finishing 8-4 last season. With a team loaded with more than 60 newcomers and a coach who is new to the power-conference level in Jimmy Rogers, the Cyclones were tabbed to finish in last place in the USA TODAY Sports’ preseason Big 12 rankings.

More: Iowa State football not represented in 2026 preseason All-Big 12 lists

Texas Tech, which won its first Big 12 title in school history last season and reached the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, is projected to repeat and finish on top. BYU, which lost to the Red Raiders in the Big 12 championship game last season, is predicted to finish in second place. Utah, Houston and Arizona round out the top five of the USA TODAY Sports Network’s preseason Big 12 prediction.

For the USA TODAY Sports Network preseason All-Big 12 team, the Cyclones didn’t have any players selected, but they did have a few honorable mentions.

Running back Aiden Flora, kicker Kyle Konrardy and defensive end Isaac Terrell were chosen as honorable mentions for the USA TODAY Sports Network preseason All-Big 12 team.

Flora and Konrardy are returning All-Big 12 selections. Flora was an all-conference second-team returner last season, and Konrardy was named All-Big 12 honorable mention.

Terrell is one of the Cyclones’ promising newcomers. He was named the Pac-12 Defensive Line Top Performer of the Year and had a team-high seven sacks at Washington State last season.

2026 USA TODAY Sports Network Big 12 football preseason predicted order of finish

DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) — The Julien Dubuque Bridge is closed for the next month for repairs.

More than 18,000 drivers used the U.S. Highway 20 bridge daily, according to Iowa DOT traffic data. The closure forces drivers looking to cross the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois to use the Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge.

Mollie Smith, a Dubuque resident, said she used the bridge several times a week to travel to East Dubuque and Galena to shop, spend time at her family’s lake house and visit with friends.

Smith said she has no plans to visit Illinois in July.

“I’m trying to avoid it at all costs,” she said.

The highway detour is rerouting traffic to the Locust Street Connector, leading to rush hour backups extending to Highway 20.

Smith said the closure is also changing how she drives within Dubuque.

“Just to come here to the river walk, I ended up taking Asbury [Road] and kind of went that route through town rather than taking the highway. I just won’t do it,” Smith said.

While the full closure is expected to end in August, eastbound traffic from Dubuque to Illinois will not reopen until the project is finished in September. Depending on the project’s progress, Iowa DOT may enforce additional closures.

Smith said the wait will be worth it.

“We don’t need it collapsing,” she said.

Iowa DOT is offering a free shuttle between Dubuque and East Dubuque during the closure by reservation.

Pickup and drop-off locations are the Dubuque Intermodal Transportation Center and the East Dubuque Public Library. Reservations can be made by calling 563-589-4196.

DES MOINES, Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch) – The Iowa Democratic and Republican parties both gained voters over the past month, while the number of voters with no party affiliation dropped significantly.

According to data from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office, the Democratic Party gained more than 27,000 registered voters from June to July, bringing the total number of active Democratic voters in Iowa to 527,675. Despite Democratic gains, Republicans still hold a strong statewide advantage in voter registration with 711,587 active voters, gaining more than 17,000 registered voters over the past month.

The largest change in voter registration occurred among voters affiliated with no party, as the number of registered independent voters decreased by more than 32,000. As of July 1, there are 555,309 active independent voters in Iowa.

“I think part of what’s going on is that people changed their registration to reflect a party preference so they could vote in the party primary,” Karen Kedrowski, an Iowa State University political science professor and Carrie Chapman Catt Center director, said. “These are not really new voters. They’re probably independents who lean Democratic or Republican and changed their party registration to be able to vote in the primary.” 

Kedrowski said that in recent years, the number of registered Republican voters have remained constant, the number of independent voters has gone up and the number of registered Democrats has gone down.

Kedrowski said the increase in Democratic registrations appears consistent with national trends, which she said reflect heightened motivation among Democratic and left-leaning voters opposed to President Donald Trump’s policies.

“There’s just a lot more excitement about participating in the election on the part of Democratic voters,” Kedrowski said. “They’re highly mobilized because they’re largely unhappy with what’s happening with the administration.”  

Kedrowski said that it is extremely difficult to predict election results based on monthly data trends, but the excitement among Democrats could lead to the party making gains in Iowa, with the state returning to its “purple” roots, meaning a state that votes for both Republicans and Democrats closely.

“It’s definitely worrisome for Republicans because it shows there’s going to be momentum for the Democrats,” Kedrowski said. “Instead of seeing this as the Democrats becoming ascendant in Iowa, it might be more Iowa returning to being a swing state.” 

Kedrowski cautioned that monthly voter registration alone does not predict election outcomes.

The voter registration figures reflect only “active” voters. According to Iowa Code 48a, voters who do not participate in one or two consecutive general elections will be labeled as “inactive,” but can still participate. If a voter misses three general elections, their voting status will be “canceled,” and the person would have to reregister.