NCAA Tournament March Madness

#3 Iowa St

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Projected seed: 1 (automatic qualifier)

Iowa State’s resume is anchored by eye-catching wins away from home and on neutral courts that show the program can beat quality opponents in hostile settings, most notably a statement road victory at Purdue plus neutral-site wins over Mississippi State, St. John’s, Creighton and Syracuse. Those signature results, paired with solid home victories such as the one over Iowa, give the Cyclones a body of work that looks both deep and well-rounded rather than build on a handful of weak nonconference blowouts. The slate is not spotless because a tense neutral win over St. John’s and the prospect of tough road trips leave room for downside if they stumble, yet a run that includes visits to Arizona, BYU and Kansas along with games against Kansas State, Baylor and Houston gives them multiple chances to reinforce the résumé. That combination of high-quality road and neutral wins, dependable home form and meaningful remaining opportunities explains why the team occupies its current placement.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3F Dickinson357W88-50
11/6Grambling245W102-62
11/10(N)Mississippi St79W96-80
11/17Stonehill342W96-57
11/24(N)St John's19W83-82
11/25(N)Creighton44W78-60
11/26(N)Syracuse76W95-64
12/3Alcorn St336W132-68
12/6@Purdue4W81-58
12/11Iowa18W66-62
12/14E Illinois321W78-53
12/21Long Beach St257W91-60
12/29Houston Chr278W89-61
1/2West Virginia6595%
1/7@Baylor3070%
1/10Oklahoma St6194%
1/13@Kansas1760%
1/17@Cincinnati6284%
1/20UCF4591%
1/24@Oklahoma St6184%
1/29Colorado8596%
2/1@Kansas St7486%
2/7Baylor3086%
2/10@TCU5482%
2/14Kansas1779%
2/16Houston1275%
2/21@BYU1052%
2/24@Utah12494%
2/28Texas Tech2183%
3/2@Arizona237%
3/7Arizona St7795%