
The Iowa State Cyclones have started the first half of the college basketball season firing on all cylinders. The third-ranked team in the nation has an overall record of 17-3 and is 7-2 in conference play, with their only losses coming from top-ranked Auburn and unranked West Virginia and Arizona. The number three ranking is the highest ranking they have ever received, and their 7-2 start in Big 12 conference play is the best that they have ever started in their conference. Last season, the Cyclones finished as the eighth-best team in the country, with an overall record of 29-8 and a conference record of 13-5. The Cyclones lost to sixth-ranked Illinois 72-69 in the Sweet 16 last year.
On Jan. 15, 2025, Iowa State hosted Kansas, the number nine team in the nation, who started the season as the best team in the nation. The Cyclones dominated the Jayhawks 74-57, putting the nation on watch and showing that they are an elite basketball program. Players such as Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert, along with head coach T. J. Otzelberger, are the catalysts to a successful season for the Cyclones. USA Today writer and reporter Jordan Mendoza believes that Iowa State is among the elite programs in college basketball.
“Last season felt like it would be the breakthrough when Iowa State won 29 games and was a No. 2 seed for the first time in more than 20 years,” Mendoza said. “The disappointment didn’t derail Iowa State this season. It’s gotten better and looks like a team that is capable of not just reaching the Elite Eight, but could make a run to San Antonio and the Final Four.”
The success that Iowa State is experiencing on the basketball court came with many trials. Five seasons ago, the Cyclones had their worst season of the 21st century, finishing with a 2-22 overall record and an 0-18 conference record. One coaching change, multiple signings from both the transfer portal and high school recruits later, and they are now the No. 3 in the nation. Antioch Community High School senior and future Cyclone Cameron Speich believes that Iowa State will experience lots of success in March Madness.
“Come March Madness, I think they’re gonna make a deep run,” Speich said. “They’re going to get one of those higher seeds, and I honestly don’t know if there’s a team in the country that can compete with them for 40 minutes.”
Half of a decade ago, the Iowa State Cyclones were irrelevant in the Big 12, as well as in their own state, as the Iowa Hawkeyes were seeing success in basketball and football in the Big 10. However, after a successful football season, going 11-3, and finishing top 25, it seems that that energy carried into their basketball season. The Cyclones still have a lot of basketball left to play, but it would not be crazy to start considering that team up in Ames, Iowa to win the national championship in April.