Regarding question that is the headline to the piece that you are currently reading, it is impossible to know. However, a few things have developed since Iowa State’s 108-96 overtime loss to Kansas on Monday night that could work in Iowa State’s favor come Selection Sunday.
The first is that on Tuesday afternoon, the Big 12 essentially admitted that the Cyclones were jobbed in the final minutes of the game. Now that doesn’t mean that Iowa State now gets credit for the win or anything like that. It will however impact the minds of the folks deciding on college basketball’s field of 68.
CLICK HERE to read what my friend Randy Peterson over that the Des Moines Register dug up on Wednesday morning.
To sum Randy’s blog up, he spoke with Ohio State athletic director (formerly of Iowa State), Gene Smith, who has been a tournament committee chairman in the past. Smith said that the committee would take how the game unfolded into account.
So that’s a good thing.
As far as keeping track of what the bracket "experts," think, so far, so good.
ESPN.com’s "Bracketology" man, Joe Lunardi, updated his field on Tuesday. Iowa State is in as a 10-seed facing San Diego State.
USA Today’sPatrick Stevens still has Iowa State in, fairly comfortably at that.
Elsewhere, the Cyclones are currently ranked No. 53 in the RPI with a 19-9 record.
What’s my take?
Two wins from here will get Iowa State in for sure. No doubt. There is no way at all that an 11-7 Big 12 team will get left out. One win (not counting KC of course), 10-8 will be close. A week ago, I thought that 10-8 would be enough, but that was counting on a win over Kansas.
But think about it this way – things aren’t looking good right now for the Baylor Bears. Now the Big 12 isn’t perceived to be as strong as normal this season but it isn’t a bad league either. The Big 12 being a six-bid league might be a bit of a stretch. But there’s no way only four teams from this league are selected. No way. Take Baylor out of the equation and there you have it – Iowa State is in.
The point is, Iowa State is still in a good spot right now. The Cyclones control their own destiny. Needless to say, they are all big ones from here on out, as has been the case for a while now.
