Tag: Iowa State Cyclones

Big 12 did not have a single team in top ten of The Athletic’s rankings

No Big 12 football teams were listed in the top ten of The Athletic’s college football rankings of all 134 FCS teams ahead of the 2024 season.

With the college football season set to kickoff this weekend, Chris Vannini of The Athletic released his 1-134 rankings. The Big 12 conference did not see a single team rank inside the Top 10 to start the season.

The Utah Utes were the top-ranked team from the Big 12. Kyle Whittingham and his Utes checked in at 11th in the rankings. That was just behind the Missouri Tigers at 10 and just ahead of Penn State at 12.

The second-ranked Big 12 team is the Iowa State Cyclones. The Cyclones, who went 7-6 last season, started 2023 at 56. This year, they are 19th, just behind their in-state rival Iowa. Checking in just after Iowa State is Kansas State and Kansas. Both the Wildcats and Jayhawks went 9-4 last season.  Oklahoma State was next, ranked at 22nd.

Arizona rounded out the Top 25 right at 25th in the rankings. When discussing Utah for the 2024 season this is what Vannini had to say about the Utes:

Utah looks like the Big 12 favorite with quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe back, along with most of its really good defense.

He also went on to discuss the other Big 12 teams in the rankings:

I feel like Iowa State is being overlooked and will be a Big 12 contender. The Cyclones bring back almost everything from last season and don’t have a surprise gambling scandal hanging over things like last year. Kansas State and Kansas should have two of the most exciting offenses in the country, but will that be enough to contend for the Big 12? Oklahoma State is constantly slept on but won 10 games again last year and has the best running back in the country in Ollie Gordon II.  New coach Brent Brennan walks into a good situation at Arizona with rising star quarterback Noah Fifita.

The first Big 12 game of the season is August 29th, as Central Florida hosts New Hampshire, one of four conference games that night.

How this U.S. Amateur finalist is honoring slain Iowa State golfer

Ballester has plenty to play for Sunday.

CHASKA, Minn. — One of Josele Ballester’s head covers has the initials CBA on it. It may seem insignificant to most, but it’s a driving force for Ballester every time he tees it up.

The initials stand for Celia Barquin Arozamena, a former Iowa State golfer who was killed Sept. 17, 2018, while playing golf alone at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames, Iowa. The 22-year-old won the Big 12 Championship earlier that year.

This week, Ballester has made a run to the championship match of the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club, and Barquin Arozamena has been with him every step of the way.

“I had a chance to play with her once, and I’m pretty close to the family she had in Spain because we are from the same area,” said Ballester, who turns 21 on Sunday and is a rising senior at Arizona State. “So it’s just in her honor. Those are her initials.”

Collin Richards, the homeless man who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing Barquin Arozamena, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Ballester is far from the only person to honor Barquin Arozamena. Nacho Elvira dedicated his win at the 2021 Cazoo Open on the DP World Tour to her, as well. Numerous college and players held memorials after the killing.

“(I’ve had it) since the moment it happened,” Ballester said. “Five, six years.”

On Sunday, Ballester will try to become the first Spaniard to win the U.S. Amateur, a historic feat.

But he’s also playing in memory of CBA.

Oklahoma Sooners play old foe in CBS Sports preseason bowl projections

The Oklahoma Sooners are going bowling in 2024 but miss out on the College Football Playoff per CBS Sports.

All eyes are on the Oklahoma Sooners entering their first year in the SEC. Unlike the Texas Longhorns, everyone’s preseason pick to make a smooth transition into their new league, the Sooners have much to prove to SEC and national observers in 2024.

Oklahoma was picked to finish eighth in the SEC preseason media poll. While it is the No. 16 team in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25, the Sooners are still eighth among SEC teams in the preseason rankings.

The hesitancy to pick Oklahoma to finish better is largely related to its  schedule, which includes six teams ranked in the top 15 of both major polls.

Over at CBS Sports, Jerry Palm expects the Sooners to go bowling in 2024 despite their difficult schedule.

Palm has the Sooners traveling to Houston to play Iowa State in the Texas Bowl. Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners have won each of the last two matchups against the Cyclones, winning by 14 in 2022 and then by 30 in 2023. It’s a series the Sooners have dominated, 80-7-2. The only team the Oklahoma Sooners have beaten more than Iowa State is Oklahoma State.

In his projections, Palm has Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Texas A&M making the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag]. Ole Miss, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri and Auburn are slated to make bowl appearances.

That’s 11 of the 16 teams in the SEC expected to play in the College Football Playoff or a bowl game.

A bowl game for the Sooners wouldn’t meet expectations. Despite the schedule, this is a program that expects to contend for national titles. Missing the playoff would be a rough start to their tenure in the SEC.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Royce White, who won the Minnesota Republican Senate primary, was never an NBA star

Royce White scored as many points in the NBA as President Joe Biden.

Royce White, who was selected in the first-round of the 2012 NBA Draft, won the Republican primary for a senate seat in Minnesota.

After a very public battle with anxiety highlighted by his fear of flying, it became difficult for White to ever get on the court during his professional career.

Even hearing your name called in the NBA draft is no easy task, and White did have an impressive collegiate career in the Big 12 for Iowa State. He also had success while playing in Canada, but he never reached anywhere near his full potential in the NBA.

White, who was an outspoken advocate for mental health policy and also a general critic of the league, only played nine minutes across three games in the NBA. He never recorded any points, rebounds, assists, steals, or blocks.

In fact, per Stathead, his career Player Efficiency Rating (PER) ranks as the worst of any first-round pick ever selected in the NBA Draft. He also had the lowest Box Plus-Minus (BPM) of any first-round pick since 2004.

Yet despite the lack of success on the court, White was still recently labeled as a “former NBA star” after his primary win.

The nominee, who lost a Republican primary in an attempt to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar for congress in 2022, is considered unlikely to win the general election against incumbent Senator Amy Klobuchar.

He has raised some concerns due to many of his recent comments, such as stating that women are “too mouthy” to former media executive and currently imprisoned felon Steve Bannon.

White has elsewhere created controversy due to comments about Jewish people, the LGBTQ community, and he has leaned into several concerning conspiracy theories.

His campaign finances have also come into question, and independently, he reportedly faces a potential jail sentence due to unpaid child support.

All of this to say, even with politics aside, it was easy for sports fans to wonder about  the use of the word “star” when describing White’s NBA career.

Fans didn’t agree with this characterization

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Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht playing host to free youth football camp

Iowa State QB Rocco Becht is hosting and funding a camp at a school in Perry, Iowa

Many athletes excel at using their NIL money to benefit others.

One of them is Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht, the son of former NFL tight end and current St. Louis Battlehawks coach Anthony Becht.

Rocco will host and fund a camp for fifth through eighth graders on July 13. He will also donate to Perry Community Schools from his NIL funds.

We Will Collective shared the news and admiration via X (formerly Twitter).

“The state of Iowa and our community has given so much love to me and my family, and we wanted to find a way to give back,” Becht said in a release. “Perry has gone through so much in the past year, and this was a small way to show support and provide a fun day for the kids in Perry.”

The hardships Becht alludes to are a heartbreaking yet seemingly common theme these days: a school shooting.

Per the USA TODAY Network’s Des Moines Register, the event will take place just over six months since five students and three staff members were shot on Jan. 4, 2024, at Perry High School. A sixth-grader and principal Dan Marburger died as a result.

Sign-ups are exclusive to fifth through eighth graders from Perry schools. Anyone wishing to sign up can contact events@wewillcollective.com.

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Duke finishes at No. 9 in final AP poll

Four ACC teams, including Duke, crack final AP poll of the 2023-2024 season.

While the season’s outcome was not what many expected when Duke took the floor to start the season, Jon Scheyer’s team was, in essence, just 12 minutes from a Final Four berth.

NC State made more plays down the stretch and ultimately ended Duke’s season before having their season ended by national runner-up Purdue. Connecticut was always the best team from beginning to end, and they proved it by doing what hadn’t been done since Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators teams in 2006–07: winning a second consecutive national title.

It should come as no surprise that the Huskies end the season as the No. 1 team in the final AP poll for the 2023-2024 season. Purdue was second, while Houston, whom Duke beat in the Sweet 16, tied with Alabama for the third-place spot. Tennessee checked in at number five.

Illinois was next at No. 6, followed by North Carolina, Iowa State, and Duke. NC State rounds out the top 10 despite never joining the poll during the regular season. Clemson, one of four ACC schools to make at least the Sweet 16, finished at No. 14.

The ACC had the same number of teams in the final AP poll as the Big 12, with four each.

‘Oh she is a blessing’: Patty Gasso on being able to turn to Riley Ludlam at catcher

One of the unsung heroes for Oklahoma this year has been the play of transfer, Riley Ludlam.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been without one of their captains for some time now. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] hasn’t played a full series since the Sooners played the [autotag]Iowa State Cyclones[/autotag] as she deals with a knee injury.

She’s only played two games since then. It’s been huge for Oklahoma that they can turn to someone with a lot of experience like [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag]. Ludlam has started each of the last six games at catcher. Since replacing Hansen in the lineup in the opener against Texas Tech, she has just one hit, a home run, but she’s also walked 12 times and scored five runs.

“Oh she is a blessing,” Patty Gasso said of Ludlam. “We had a couple of catchers leave us unexpectedly and we went scrambling because a lot of catchers were already pulled in a lot of directions or universities. It was just a blessing for her and me to find each other. When I called her, she didn’t believe it was me. It took me a while to get her to understand that I am the coach at Oklahoma, and she came down for a visit. She was wonderful, her family was wonderful, and I knew I wanted her here.”

Ludlam had already proven to be a fantastic addition, even in a reserve role. But with Hansen out of the lineup, she’s become even more valuable. Her effectiveness at and behind the plate will allow the Sooners to be patient with Hansen’s recovery as the season goes along.

Ludlam is just one of many Sooners who aren’t talked about enough but are playing a big role right now.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Brock Purdy offered encouragement to Audi Crooks and Iowa State after heartbreaking OT loss to Stanford

This was an extremely kind gesture by Brock Purdy.

Brock Purdy is a women’s hoops fan, and on Sunday, he attended Iowa State and Stanford’s bucket-getting matchup to support his alma mater. The Cyclones ultimately fell to Stanford in overtime, but postgame, Purdy was there to offer encouragement and words of wisdom.

The stars have come out to see the 2024 women’s NCAA tournament. During the first week of March Madness, Cheryl Miller, Vanessa Bryant and her daughters, Caleb Williams and Russell Westbrook and his wife, Nina, all took in some terrific games. However, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy may have been treated to the best game of the tournament.

Purdy, and his wife, Jenna, were in attendance to see the Iowa State Cyclones women’s basketball team play Stanford in a March Madness classic. Though the Cyclones weren’t able to secure a win, head coach Bill Fennelly had Purdy speak with Audi Crooks, fellow freshman Jalynn Brooks and the team to share some of his wisdom after his own heartbreaking loss, Super Bowl 58.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C463MGhpOC5/?igsh=bGJ2NGZuNnY3Y3oz

According to Tommy Birch of The Des Moines Register, Purdy shared these words with the team:

“He just told us, ‘You wear Iowa State, keep your heads up. We have people around us, and you can see it,’ Bristow said.”

March Madness: NCAA Tournament East Region odds, picks and predictions

Looking at March Madness futures odds to win the 2024 NCAA Tournament East Region, with expert picks, predictions and best bets.

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March Madness tips off Thursday, and the East Region bracket is absolutely loaded.

Below, we look at FanDuel Sportsbook’s NCAA Tournament East Region futures odds and and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions.

The East includes last year’s champs, the UConn Huskies (31-3); they’re the No. 1 seed. For Connecticut to get through this region, it will have to get past this season’s title teams from the Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC in Iowa State (27-7), Illinois (26-8), and Auburn (27-7), respectively. The Huskies (KenPom No. 1), Tigers (No. 4) and Cyclones (No. 5) represent 3/5ths of the top 5 on KenPom’s rankings.

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East Region futures odds

Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 1:25 p.m. ET.

1 seed: UConn +110 (bet $100 to win $110)

2 seed: Iowa State +440 (bet $100 to win $440)

3 seed: Illinois +800 (bet $100 to win $800)

4 seed: Auburn +500 (bet $100 to win $500)

5 seed: San Diego State +2100 (bet $100 to win $2,100)

6 seed: BYU +1400 (bet $100 to win $1,400)

7 seed: Washington State +3400 (bet $100 to win $3,400)

8 seed: FAU +2900 (bet $100 to win $2,900)

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9 seed: Northwestern +5500 (bet $100 to win $5,500)

10 seed: Drake +4200 (bet $100 to win $4,200)

11 seed: Duquesne +13000 (bet $100 to win $13,000)

12 seed: UAB +13000 (bet $100 to win $13,000)

13 seed: Yale +11000 (bet $100 to win $11,000)

14 seed: Morehead State +25000 (bet $100 to win $25,000)

15 seed: South Dakota State +25000 (bet $100 to win $25,000)

16 seed: Stetson +25000 (bet $100 to win $25,000)

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East Region expert pick and prediction

Iowa State (+440)

Putting all the key betting factors together and weighing in the prices, the Cyclones come out with a lot of value. The champions of this year’s toughest league are elite at the defensive end and usually maintain key edges in turnovers, rebounding and free-throw frequency.

The analysis of the East includes some slight fading of No. 1 UConn, heavier fading of No. 3 Illinois and a bit of extra potential for an upset in No. 4 Auburn’s path.

Top 25: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

East Region contenders

AUBURN (+500)

The Tigers rank in KenPom’s top 10 in both offensive (10th) and defensive (4th) efficiency. The defense (including what AU does along the perimeter) and overall court skills should help Auburn avoid a misstep in what could be an interesting 1st-round game against Yale.

If the bracket plays out with AU playing UConn or Iowa State, consider that coach Bruce Pearl owns an 8-4 record against the spread when lined as an underdog.

San Diego State (+2100)

The Aztecs (24-10) are just 6-4 over their last 10 games, but they have the defense (39% field-goal accuracy allowed over those 10 games) and court skills to make for profit leverage at this price point. San Diego State sports a veteran lineup, and it gets its 1st 2 potential games in its own time zone (games in Spokane).

The futures market had shorter overall futures odds on SDSU a couple weeks ago. The Aztecs’ Jaedon LeDee is a power forward with possible late 1st-round NBA talent, and he’s a likely match-up problem for most teams San Diego State would play.

East Region long shots

Drake (+4200)

The Bulldogs (28-6) come out of the Missouri Valley Conference, a league that has often done damage from underdog slots in recent years’ brackets. Drake won the MVC Tournament and is 10-1 in its last 11 games.

DU hits from distance (36.5% from 3-point range) and takes great care of the ball. The Bulldogs are a top-notch defensive rebounding team. They have a 6-1 record in neutral-site games, and that includes a Dec. 9 rout of West No. 10 seed Nevada.

Morehead State (+25000)

Morehead State is a slow-tempo squad trending the right way at the defensive end, and that’s a dangerous combination. The Eagles often win the 3-point shooting battle, and they should be considered a live wire against 1st-round opponent Illinois and either team they might play in the 2nd round (BYU, Duquesne).

Both Drake and Morehead State are in the bottom half of the East Region bracket. Making the plays in tandem has merit.

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Iowa State, Auburn climb in pre-tournament top 25 coaches poll update

The last coaches poll ahead of the NCAA Tournament sees Iowa State and Auburn climbing.

The Iowa State Cyclones might not have received much love with their No. 2 seed in the East bracket, but they did jump into the top four of the latest coaches poll. Iowa State quickly dispatched the then No. 1-ranked Houston Cougars in the Big 12 championship game, 69-41 to secure the title.

Focus for the Cyclones now will shift to the No. 15 seeded South Dakota State in the first round. Much like Iowa State, the Auburn Tigers saw a rise in the latest polls after winning the SEC Tournament over the Florida Gators on Sunday. The Tigers are currently No. 7 overall and earned the No. 4 seed in the East bracket. The aforementioned Gators jumped six spots into the top 25 to land at No. 23.

No team had a more massive fall than the Nevada Wolfpack going from No. 22 to No. 30 after getting bounced in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament by the Colorado State Rams, 85-78. They will take on Dayton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

A look at the full Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports:

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 UConn 31-3 800 (32) +1
2 Houston 30-4 752 -1
3 Purdue 29-4 740 –
4 Iowa State 27-7 697 +4
5 North Carolina 27-7 672 -1
6 Tennessee 24-8 595 -1
7 Auburn 27-7 573 +5
8 Marquette 25-9 560 +2
9 Arizona 25-8 544 -2
10 Illinois 26-8 508 +4
11 Creighton 23-9 506 -5
12 Kentucky 23-9 415 -3
13 Baylor 23-10 411 –
14 Duke 24-8 400 -3
15 Saint Mary’s 26-7 297 +5
16 Gonzaga 25-7 220 -1
17 South Carolina 26-7 218 -1
18 Alabama 21-11 197 +1
19 Utah State 27-6 193 -1
20 Kansas 22-10 188 -3
21 BYU 23-10 182 –
22 Texas Tech 23-10 134 +1
23 Florida 24-11 130 +6
24 Wisconsin 22-13 110 –
25 San Diego State 24-10 74 +2

Schools Dropped Out

No. 22 Nevada; No. 24 Dayton; No. 25 Washington State

Others Receiving Votes

New Mexico 68; Washington State 63; James Madison 30; Dayton 30; Nevada 29; Drake 29; Nebraska 12; North Carolina State 11; Colorado 4; Indiana State 2; Boise State 2; Pittsburgh 1; Michigan State 1; McNeese State 1; Grand Canyon 1

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