Iowa State enters AP Top-25 at No. 19

Iowa State men’s basketball has returned to the AP Top-25 for the first time since 2019.

The Cyclones checked in at No. 19 in this week’s Associated Press poll released on Monday. That comes after Iowa State rolled through the NIT Tip-Off event last week in Brooklyn with wins over, at the time, No. 25 Xavier and No. 9 Memphis.

Iowa State is the lowest of four Big 12 teams in the poll with Baylor (No. 4), Texas (No. 7) and Kansas (No. 8) all sitting inside the top-10.

The Cyclones’ last appearance in the poll was, ironically, at No. 19 in February 2019, but Iowa State fell out of the rankings for good that year with back-to-back losses to Baylor and TCU.

Iowa State has not found itself in the top-25 in the months of November or December since 2016. That last appearance in early-December 2016 was the last appearance in a school-record streak of 61 consecutive weeks spent in the rankings.

T.J. Otzelberger’s team will be back in action on Wednesday when the Cyclones host Arkansas Pine Bluff at Hilton Colieum. Iowa State will then go on the road to face Creighton, and former Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott, in Omaha on Saturday.

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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