1996 Iowa State Cyclones football team

The 1996 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University as a member of the North Division in the newly-formed Big 12 Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Dan McCarney, the Cyclones compiled an overall record of 2–9 with a mark of 1–7 in conference play, placing last out of six teams in the Big 12's North Division. Iowa State played home games at Cyclone Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	6:00 p.m.	Wyoming*	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	FSN	L 38–41 OT	44,511
September 14	2:30 p.m.	at No. 21 Iowa*	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	ABC	L 13–38	70,397
September 21	1:00 p.m.	Northern Iowa*	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA		W 42–23	40,122
September 28	1:00 p.m.	Missouri	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry)		W 45–31	44,941
October 12	11:30 a.m.	Texas A&M	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	FSN	L 21–24	44,950
October 19	2:00 p.m.	at Oklahoma State	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		L 27–28	40,000
October 26	1:00 p.m.	at Baylor	Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, TX		L 21–49	35,114
November 2	1:00 p.m.	Kansas	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA		L 31–34	37,850
November 9	1:30 p.m.	at No. 7 Colorado	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		L 42–49	49,662
November 16	1:00 p.m.	No. 5 Nebraska	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry)		L 14–49	47,850
November 23	1:10 p.m.	at No. 14 Kansas State	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)		L 20–35	43,174
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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