Feb 25, 2019; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach Steve Prohm watches his team play the Oklahoma Sooners at Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
Iowa State is most likely to slide into the seven or eight lines in the NCAA Tournament, according to the predictions updated on Monday. One bracketologist has even placed the Cyclones as a seven seed playing its first-round game in Des Moines.
USA Today‘s Shelby Mast has the Cyclones taking on 10-seed Washington in the round of 64 at Wells Fargo Arena. They are paired with two-seed Michigan State and 15-seed Omaha in the Midwest Region, which features Duke as the top-seed.
While it is possible the Cyclones could end up in Des Moines as a seven-seed, it is unlikely, according to a report by the Des Moines Register‘s Tommy Birch.
Chatting with a few sources while getting ready for the NCAA Tournament. Sounds like Iowa State fans shouldn't hold out hope that they'll sneak into Des Moines with a 7-seed. Told the committee likely wouldn't want to reward teams like that.
— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) March 11, 2019
Iowa State is also a seven-seed in ESPN‘s Joe Lunardi’s newest bracket projection while he has the Cyclones slated to take on 10-seed Seton Hall in the first round in Columbia, S.C. Lundari has Iowa State in the South Region, which is led by top-seed Kentucky, and paired with two-seed Duke in Columbia. This edition of the bracket also notably includes Iowa (nine-seed) and Kansas State (four-seed) in the South Region.
A similar situation would face Iowa State based on Sports Illustrated’s Michael Beller’s newest bracket which also pits the seven-seed Cyclones against 10-seed Seton Hall. In this iteration, Tennessee is the two-seed with Sam Houston State as the 15.
The Cyclones would be slated for a date with their neighbor to the north if SB Nation‘s Chris Dobbertean’s bracket came to fruition. He has Iowa State as the seven-seed in the East Region squaring off with 10-seed Minnesota in Tulsa. The winner of that game would face the winner of a game between two-seed LSU and 15-seed Bradley.
When it comes to the analytics, Team Rankings gives the Cyclones the highest-percentage chance (28.1 percent) of being an eight-seed in the Big Dance. The second-most likely scenario is a seven-seed, which the site pegs as a 21.6 percent chance.
All in all, the Cyclones could likely play themselves back up to the six-seed line with a strong showing at this week’s Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. Iowa State will start postseason action on Thursday when it takes on Baylor at 11:30 a.m. in the Sprint Center.
