The 1973 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University in the Big Eight Conference during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. In their first year under head coach Earle Bruce, the Cyclones compiled a 4–7 record (2–5 against conference opponents), tied for sixth place in the conference, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 245 to 236.^[1][2] They played their home games at Clyde Williams Field in Ames, Iowa.

Larry Hunt and Keith Krepfle were the team captains.^[2]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 22	1:30 pm	Idaho*	Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA	W 48–0	30,164
September 29	2:00 pm	at Arkansas*	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	L 19–21	42,078
October 6	1:30 pm	No. 18 Colorado	Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA	L 16–23	34,868
October 13	2:30 pm	at BYU*	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 26–24	25,580	[3]
October 20	1:30 pm	at Kansas State	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	L 19–21	29,062
October 27	1:30 pm	No. 17 Kansas	Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA	L 20–22	32,662–33,440
November 3	1:30 pm	at No. 3 Oklahoma	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 17–34	61,876
November 10	1:30 pm	at No. 11 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	L 7–31	74,474
November 17	1:30 pm	No. 14 Missouri	Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA (rivalry)	W 17–7	33,393
November 24	1:30 pm	No. 18 Oklahoma State	Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA	W 28–12	27,395
December 1	9:30 pm	at San Diego State*	San Diego Stadium San Diego, CA	L 28–41	38,627
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time