Another top 20 showdown on tap tonight in Morgantown

Tonight’s game in Morgantown, W. Va. will officially be another battle between a pair of top 20 teams from the Big 12 conference. Iowa State is ranked No. 17 in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll released Monday afternoon while West Virginia is ranked No. 14 in the AP and No. 12 in the Coaches.

Iowa State has now been ranked in the AP Poll for 53 weeks in a row, behind just Kansas and Arizona for the longest streak nationally.

Kansas is the Big 12’s highest ranked team again at No. 2 behind the Villanova Wildcats, the nation’s consensus No. 1 team. Oklahoma is tied at No. 3 with Virginia then Xavier rounds out the top five.

Michigan State, North Carolina, Iowa, Arizona and Maryland close out the top 10.

Baylor (No. 19) and Texas (No. 25) are the other two Big 12 teams in the AP. The Bears were the biggest riser in the Coaches Poll this week jumping six spots to No. 16.

Texas A&M is the only other Iowa State opponent in the poll at No. 21 after their win over Kentucky on Saturday.

Kansas remains atop the RPI rankings to start the week followed by Villanova, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia in the top five. Iowa State is at No. 18 and West Virginia is No. 15.

Iowa (No. 13), Baylor (No. 21), Texas Tech (No. 22), Texas A&M (No. 24), Texas (No. 28), Colorado (No. 34), Cincinnati (No. 59), Chattanooga (No. 62) and Kansas State (No. 72) give the Cyclones 11 teams on their schedule in the RPI top 75.

The Cyclones are 9-6 so far in those games.

Jared Stansbury

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Jared a native of Clarinda, Iowa, started as the Cyclone Fanatic intern in August 2013, primarily working as a videographer until starting on the women’s basketball beat prior to the 2014-15 season. Upon earning his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State in May 2016, Jared was hired as the site’s full-time staff writer, taking over as the primary day-to-day reporter on football and men’s basketball. He was elevated to the position of managing editor in January 2020. He is a regular contributor on 1460 KXNO in Des Moines and makes regular guest appearances on radio stations across the Midwest. Jared resides in Ankeny with his four-year-old puggle, Lolo.

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