The Iowa State Cyclones college football team competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and represents the Iowa State University in the Big 12 Conference (Big 12). All-America selections are individual player recognitions made after each season when numerous publications release lists of their ideal team. The NCAA recognizes five All-America lists: the Associated Press (AP), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Sporting News (TSN), and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC).[1] In order for an honoree to earn a "consensus" selection, he must be selected as first team in three of the five lists recognized by the NCAA, and "unanimous" selections must be selected as first team in all five lists.[1]
Since the establishment of the team in 1892, Iowa State has had 16 players honored a total of 24 times as First Team All-America for their performance on the field of play. Included in these selections are 4 consensus selections, 2 of which were unanimous selections.[2] The most significant and recent All-American from Iowa State came after the 2020 season, when Breece Hall was named a unanimous First Team All-America, the first in Iowa State Cyclone history. Hall was also selected along with 2020 teammates Charlie Kolar, Mike Rose, and JaQuan Bailey.[3]
| Consensus selection | ||||||
| Unanimous selection | ||||||
| AAB | All-America Board | AFCA | American Football Coaches of America | AP | Associated Press | The Atlantic | The Atlantic | |
| CT | Chicago Tribune | CO | Collier's Weekly | SI | Sports Illustrated | CP | Central Press Association | |
| CSW | College Sports Writers | DW | Davis J. Walsh | ES | Ed Sullivan | ESPN | ESPN | |
| FN | The Football News | FWAA | Football Writers Association of America | INS | International News Service | KCS | Kansas City Star | |
| LAT | Los Angeles Times | LIB | Liberty Magazine | LK | Look magazine | NANA | North American Newspaper Alliance | |
| NB | Norman E. Brown | NEA | Newspaper Editors Association | NL | Navy Log | NYEP | New York Evening Post | |
| NYS | New York Sun | OF | Oscar Fraley | PD | Parke H. Davis | SH | Scripps-Howard | |
| Time | Time Magazine | TSN | The Sporting News | UP | United Press | UPI | United Press International | |
| USAT | USA Today | WC | Walter Camp | WD | Walter Dobbins |
| Player name | Position | Selector(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | G | CT-1 | ||
| 1920 | C | CT-1; AP-3 | ||
| 1934 | P | AP-1 | ||
| 1935 | G | NEA-2 | ||
| 1938 | QB | NEA-3 | ||
| 1938 | G | AP-1; LIB-1; NEA-1 | ||
| 1944 | G | LK-2 | ||
| 1950 | WR | INS-1; AP-2 | ||
| 1959 | RB | FWAA-1; NEA-2; AP-3; UPI-3 | ||
| 1960 | FB | AFCA-2 | ||
| 1961 | RB | AP-3; UPI-3 | ||
| 1962 | RB | FWAA-1; AP-3 | ||
| 1963 | FB | FWAA-1; AFCA-2 | ||
| 1964 | T | AP-1 | ||
| 1966 | AP-2 | |||
| 1972 | QB | NEA-2 | ||
| 1972 | DE | AP-3 | ||
| 1972 | G | FN-1 | ||
| 1973 | LB | AFCA-1 | ||
| 1974 | S | UPI-2; AP-3 | ||
| 1976 | WR | FWAA-1; AP-3 | ||
| 1977 | NT | FN-2 | ||
| 1978 | DT | AP-2 | ||
| 1980 | RB | UPI-2 | ||
| 1982 | T | NEA-1 | ||
| 1983 | WR | AP-3 | ||
| 1984 | WR | FN-1; AP-2; NEA-2 | ||
| 1989 | TE | UPI-1; AFCA-1; WC-1 | ||
| 1989 | RB | AP-3 | ||
| 1993 | T | AP-3 | ||
| 1995 | RB | AP-1; AFCA-1; WC-1; TSN-1 | ||
| 1996 | RB | AP-1; FWAA-1; WC-1; TSN-1 | ||
| 2000 | C | FN-3 | ||
| 2011 | T | SI-1 | ||
| 2017 | LB | FWAA-1; SI-2 | ||
| 2019 | TE | AP-3; FWAA-2 | ||
| 2020 | RB | AP-1; AFCA-1; Athletic-1; CBS-1; ESPN-1; FWAA-1; TSN-1; USAT-1; WC-1; | ||
| 2020 | LB | AP-2; ESPN-2; USAT-1; Athletic-1; TSN-2 | ||
| 2020 | TE | AP-3; ESPN-3; USAT-2; WC-2 | ||
| 2020 | DE | AP-3; ESPN-3; FWAA-1 |