Iowa State men’s basketball: CBS Sports picks Cyclones to finish second in Big 12
By Brian Spaen
The preseason hype continues to grow for Iowa State men’s basketball. A major sports outlet believes the Cyclones will finish second in Big 12 play.
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Chip Patterson of CBS Sports says that Iowa State will have the best chance to take down the Kansas Jayhawks, even though he still has the bluebirds in first. Unlike the majority of national media pundits, Patterson actually acknowledges that other players outside of Georges Niang will contribute to this team next season.
"UNLV transfer Bryce Dejean-Jones has the potential to star in the backcourt with point guard Monte Morris, a sophomore ready to build on an efficient and impressive campaign highlighted by breaking the NCAA assist-to-turnover ratio. See what’s brewing in Ames? Another transfer-infused roster ready to challenge Kansas and Texas in the Big 12. Look for buzz around the Cyclones to pick up in mid-December when Jameel McKay, a 6-9 two-time junior college All-American, joins the frontcourt."
Patterson’s rankings are pretty similar to ours when we fixed the Big 12’s preseason coaches poll. He’s got Kansas State above West Virginia and Baylor over Oklahoma State. He also lists Niang on the All-Big 12 team, Bryce Dejean-Jones as the conference’s newcomer of the year, and gives Fred Hoiberg a coach of the year award.
I note that this is Patterson’s rankings. Even though it represents the CBS Sports’ official Big 12 preview and he wrote it, he was the only CBS Sports analyst that had Iowa State as second. Everybody else had Texas at second except Matt Norlander, who had Oklahoma at number two, followed by the Longhorns then Cyclones.
Notable analysts include unofficial Cyclone cheerleader from last year, Gary Parrish, who has Iowa State third; the bracketologist who apparently learned about Iowa State basketball during the Fred Hoiberg era, Jerry Palm, has them in the same slot. And then there’s everybody’s favorite Oklahoma State Cowboy, Doug Gottlieb, who has the Cyclones under Kansas State at fourth and third, respectively. Everybody else didn’t have the Wildcats above fifth.