Iowa State men’s basketball: Cyclones break into AP top 25 rankings
By Brian Spaen
Finally, the Iowa State men’s basketball team has finally made into the Associated Press top 25 rankings.
Nov 17, 2013; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclone fans are excited against the Michigan Wolverines at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State beat Michigan 77-70. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
The Cyclones debut all the way at 21st with a total of 296 points thanks to their big win over then-seventh ranked Michigan Wolverines and a 3-0 start to the season. They didn’t receive any votes last week. Michigan is still ranked at 14th, tying with Wichita State.
Iowa State is ahead of UCLA, Creighton, North Carolina, and Marquette who round out the top 25. The Iowa Hawkeyes are right on the fringe with 122 points, which gives us a potential for a top-25 matchup for the CyHawk rivalry game.
The debut in the top 25 was helped by a couple of teams that dropped out of it, including Notre Dame falling to Indiana State at home earlier that Sunday and Virginia losing to VCU in a close game.
That makes it a total of four Big 12 teams in the AP top 25. Kansas moves all the way second place with seven first-place votes and 1,608 points. Oklahoma State moves up to seventh with 1,198 points and Baylor is right ahead of Iowa State at 20th with 342 points.
The Jayhawks edged out Louisville for second with 12 more points. The Cardinals also received seven first-place votes, while the top team in the nation, Michigan State, had 51 first place votes.