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Iowa State basketball: Cyclones will be top 10 program next week

By Brian Spaen

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Thanks to a large amount of upsets over the holidays, Iowa State basketball will rise to the top 10 without even having to step onto the court.

Kansas, Texas, and Wichita State all fell in the last four days. For those keeping track, those teams are the 9th, 10th, and 11th ranked teams in the Associated Press and Coaches Poll. Iowa State is currently at 12th.

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Back on Monday, the Jayhawks turned the ball over a ton and never woke up in a road game at Temple. They were down by double-digits at the half and the Owls eventually pulled away to a shocking 77-52 victory.

On Tuesday night, the Longhorns were in a great battle with Stanford, but ultimately lost 74-71 in overtime. Texas point guard Isaiah Taylor is still off the court with a broken left wrist injury, and who knows what could have happened if he was in there for this game and the meeting with Kentucky earlier this year. Even with the injury, it will still cost the Longhorns some spots in the rankings.

Texas wasn’t the only top 25 team to drop on Tuesday night. Third-ranked Arizona had their luck finally run out when it came to close games by losing to UNLV on the road.

Dec 20, 2014; Des Moines, IA, USA;Iowa State Cyclones forward Daniel Edozie (42) blocks the baseline against Drake Bulldogs guard Jordan Daniels (3) at Wells Fargo Arena. Iowa State beat Drake 83-54. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Then on Christmas night, Wichita State faltered in Hawaii by losing to George Washington 60-54 in the Diamond Head Classic championship game. That came after squeaking by against the hosts in an 80-79 overtime affair two days prior.

That’s a recap of this week’s events for those that have been traveling and not paying attention to the college basketball landscape. Iowa State getting a top-10 ranking would be sweet even if it doesn’t matter that much in late December. They’ll either hit right at 9 or 10 barring any further upsets, and there’s a possibility of eighth if Arizona drops really far after their loss.

The only question is where will the two Pac-12 opponents behind Iowa State land? It’s doubtful that two-loss Utah would jump the Cyclones, but an undefeated Washington team that will play two times this week (Stony Brook on Sunday) may jump them. Iowa State finally resumes play on Wednesday (New Year’s Eve) against Mississippi Valley State.

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