Advertisement

Here are Iowa State men's basketball NCAA Tournament resume and bracketology projections

travis hines, des moines register
·3 min read

Fresh of one of its best wins of the season, the Iowa State men’s basketball team will head south down Interstate 35 this week for the annual Big 12 Tournament, secure in the knowledge that an NCAA Tournament berth is a done deal.

Where the Cyclones ultimately land within the NCAA field, though, remains a mystery.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee told us exactly what they thought of the Cyclones on Feb. 18 when they tabbed them a No. 3 seed in their bracket preview. But Iowa State responded with a free fall that included four straight losses. That had them tumbling down every bracketologist’s board.

Randy Peterson:Let's try to make sense of Iowa State's dominating win at No. 8 Baylor

The win Saturday at No. 8 Baylor certainly helps the cause, but the damage had already been done, with Iowa State expected to land well out of that top-four-seed territory they were pursuing just a few weeks ago.

Let’s take a look at how the Cyclones stack up heading into postseason play.

The resume ahead of March Madness

  • NET ranking: 20

  • KenPom: 22

  • Torvik: 19

  • Quad 1 record: 9-10

  • Quad 2: 2-2

  • Quad 3: 1-0

  • Quad 4: 6-0

More:Iowa State basketball's Caleb Grill no longer on team as Big 12, NCAA tournaments near

Iowa State's NCAA seed projections

  • ESPN: No. 5 seed

  • CBS: No. 7 seed

More:Bigger lineups leading to fewer forced turnovers for Iowa State men's basketball

What Iowa State's NCAA projections mean

Iowa State’s win over the Bears over the weekend seems to have forestalled the momentum the Cyclones were building toward the dreaded 8/9 game with a top-seed lurking in Round 2.

Staying out of that spot became paramount as the Cyclones lost six of seven, and it appears to have been accomplished.

Now it’s about matters of degrees.

If Iowa State can nab a 5, as predicted by ESPN, the Cyclones are looking at a first-round opponent ranked somewhere outside the top-60 of KenPom. Iowa State has not lost to an opponent ranked lower than 55 this season.

If it’s a 7, as projected by CBS, it’s something more like top-50, which Iowa State is a mixed bag against.

The difference between a 5 and a 7 is also the difference between playing a No. 2 or a No. 4 in the second round as well.

Iowa State gets the opportunity in Kansas City to pick up meaningful victories against top-notch competition given the Big 12’s strength, and by the same measurement, a one-and-done showing won’t inflict much pain. A loss to a potential No. 2 seed Baylor on a neutral floor won’t be punished.

There’s a lot of upside for the Cyclones in Kansas City, but they’re going to have to earn it against a monster field.

Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him at @TravisHines21.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State men's basketball NCAA Tournament seed, bracket projections