Iowa State Cyclones guard Curtis Jones (5) steals the ball from Baylor Bear guard Robert O. Wright III (1) during the first half in the NCAA men’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
It’s the first Monday of the year, and while the weekend ended gloomy for some, there’s still reason to go on.
Iowa State men’s basketball is a contender.
I’ve said this a couple of times in recent pregame and postgame shows that are available on the CFTV YouTube page – this Iowa State team looks like the strongest championship contender I’ve seen of any in my (short) lifetime.
I know how stout some wrestling squads have been and the tennis run Iowa State was on last year is no exception, but T.J. Otzelberger’s group is right there with the best in the country.
The Cyclones looked like the dominant big program handling a small private school with ease on Saturday, and while that’s technically true, it was at-the-time No. 25 Baylor.
There was no feel at any time past the second media timeout that the tide may turn. That’s a testament to just how good the Cyclones are playing right now.
The team now has the third-longest winning streak in the country after Drake was upset at the Knapp Center Sunday by Steve Prohm and Murray State.
MBB’s longest home winning streaks
30 – Houston
28 – UConn
26 – Iowa State, Dayton, Samford
25 – Purdue
20 – Nebraska
At halftime, Iowa State honored Larry Eustachy and his ’99-’00 and ’00-’01 teams, which were two of the best in program history.
I was just turning two years old when those Cyclones made their run to the Elite Eight, but it was cool to see the ovation they got and what they meant to the fans over the past year or so. I’m not old enough to do it just it, but I’ll leave you to Chris and Blum’s show to take that in.
The Iowa State women have got to find a reset.
“It’s tough to win at this level, when you’re playing with two and a half offensive players,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said after his team’s 75-67 loss to Utah Sunday.
The Cyclones saw Audi Crooks, Emily Ryan and Addy Brown combined for 57 of their team’s points while the rest of the 11-player roster totaled just 10 points on the scoreboard.
Now, Fennelly’s squad that comes with the foundation of a team that nearly made the Sweet 16 a year ago is now 10-6 with a 1-2 record in league play with its best wins being against Kansas and Drake.
“We’ve got to figure that out somehow, some way,” Fennelly said of his team’s lack of production. “(I) don’t know if we can, but we’re going to try. But the efforts there, we just we haven’t seen the results that we need.”
The Cyclones are, on the outside, are reeling.
There will be opportunities to reverse course, and this isn’t to bring some moral victory talk to this piece, but it says a lot of this team that it was still right there to win on Sunday, rather than getting blown out from the start while playing with ‘just three scorers.’
They’ve got a road trip to the Arizona schools for their next two games.
Iowa State hosting BYU safety transfer on visit
Former BYU safety Crew Wakley will be on campus for a visit Monday in Ames.
The to-be senior had 44 tackles in 11 games with two interceptions and a sack during his last season with the Cougars and totaled more (59 tackles) the year before.
Iowa State was the first to offer Wakley when he entered the portal, and he’s since been offered by West Virginia, Memphis, UNLV and Purdue – where he was visiting last week.
Wakley is listed at 6-foot-0, 200 pounds and has one year of eligibility remaining.
Skattebo and the CFP
Cam Skattebo went out and put on a dang show in last week’s CFP game between Texas and Arizona State, rushing for 143 yards with a passing touchdown and plenty of electric moments to go around.
What a fucking run from Cam Skattebo😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/F9m9kmM5iB
— Barstool Big12 (@BarstoolBig12) January 1, 2025
In a time where we’ve seen more blowouts than classic games, that was needed, even if Arizona State fell short against the grandest villain of the sport in Texas.
The playoff is now down to the final four teams, and unlike what national pundits were saying since the start of November, it isn’t solely made up of SEC programs.
In fact, how this postseason played out could be integral to the future of the ‘expanded’ playoff format. With the SEC (and Big 10) lobbying for automatic spots, it’s clear this off-season will have some pivotal conversations.
I probably am more worried about that than I am about the byes that have come up in criticism of the format – I’ve overwhelmingly seen this sport make corrections where they weren’t needed.
It’s probably better for Cyclone fans if they keep the byes for conference champions, too, but enjoy the games on Thursday and Friday this week.
A bonus
A bonus for the wrestling fans – Iowa State will be on FloSports for a doubleheader Saturday against Rider and Bucknell.
If you’re interested in buying it to watch, there’s an option to subscribe for a month at $30.
One subscription gets you all the sports that Flo offers, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t encourage people to tune into the Chili Bowl Nationals next week – over 300 drivers from all sorts of series head to Tulsa and race small dirt cars (called ‘midgets’) on a tight track. Give it a shot if you feel so inclined.
…
I’ll leave you with some footage from the new starting lineup video courtesy of Jake Brend.
Monday Motivation: T.J. Otzelberger and Curt Jones listening to Many Men pic.twitter.com/ufW6i3aBZW
— Jake Brend (@JakeBrendTV) January 6, 2025
