The preseason AP Poll for both men’s and women’s basketball went live this week with the college hoops season getting underway in less than three weeks.
With both polls live, and of course the football poll chugging along as Week 8 draws near, there is one team that is ranked inside the top ten in all three polls: the Iowa State Cyclones.
Iowa State moved up to No. 9 in the football poll after going on the road and taking down West Virginia on Saturday, moving to 6-0 on the year and a perfect 3-0 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones have a favorable remaining schedule, only facing one ranked team in Kansas State and not until November 30th, and could realistically be in the 12-team College Football Playoff at this rate.
T.J. Otzelberger’s program is ranked No. 5 after going 29-8 and 13-5 in conference play last year, earning a two seed and advancing to the Sweet 16 before losing to Illinois. The Cyclones retained most of their core this offseason, including guards Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert and forward Milan Momcilovic, and should compete for a Big 12 title and another deep run in March.
Lastly, the women’s team came in at No. 8 overall, first among Big 12 programs. The Cyclones finished sixth in the Big 12 last year with a 21-12 overall record, earning a No. 7 seed and losing to Cameron Brink and Stanford in the second round.
Few programs can boast about having even two elite programs out of these three, and for fans in Ames a potentially all-time great sports season is already underway.
The football team hosts Central Florida on Saturday at 7:30 PM ET, while the men’s team will open up against Mississippi Valley State on November 4th and the women’s team the same day against Chicago State.