Iowa State basketball: Cyclones nearly crack top 10 after back-to-back home wins
By Brian Spaen
Iowa State basketball jumped four spots to 11th in the latest Associated Press top 25 poll after defeating a struggling Texas Longhorns squad and blowing out TCU in back-to-back home games.
The Cyclones edged North Carolina with 892 points and 861 points, respectively. However, they finished well behind Notre Dame (1,072 points) at 10th.
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Other changes among Big 12 teams are Kansas that bumps from ninth to eighth, West Virginia moved from 17th to 15th, Baylor moved a spot from 20th to 19th, Oklahoma moves up to 21st, and Texas just holds on at 25th.
The Longhorns probably shouldn’t be ranked, but based on preseason hype and name recognition, they’re sticking around. They’ve been involved in the wrong end of multiple blowouts in conference play, and their offense has been abysmal recently with the exception of a great comeback attempt at Iowa State.
Iowa State moved up a bit more than expected, but is in the right position. They’ll easily crack the top 10 with a win over Kansas.
Other top 25 notes
- Kentucky now has all 65 first place votes after Virginia’s loss at home to Duke. Gonzaga is the new team at 2nd place.
- Despite the Blue Devils’ win, the Cavaliers are ahead of them at third place in the polls. Duke is at fourth.
- The top seven round out with Wisconsin at fifth, Arizona at sixth, and Villanova at seventh. Louisville is at ninth.
- UNI climbed up to 14th after destroying Wichita State at home in one of the most highlighted MVC games in years. The Shockers fell four spots from 12th to 16th.
- Utah dropped two spots from 11th to 13th.
- Maryland is the next Big Ten team in line at 17th. The Badgers are creating some serious separation from the rest of the conference.
- Ohio State is the other ranked Big Ten team at 20th, who break into the top 25 with a blowout win over the Terrapins. SMU also cracks in the top 25 at 23rd.