Iowa State Basketball Earned Top 10 Finish in Final AP Poll

The 2025-26 men’s basketball season for the Iowa State Cyclones didn’t end in the way many people were hoping for.

An injury to star forward Joshua Jefferson in the Round of 64 against the Tennessee State Tigers put a damper on their championship aspirations. Iowa State was able to get past them and the Kentucky Wildcats in the Round of 32, but was defeated by the Tennessee Volunteers in the Sweet 16 to end their season.

While the final was disappointing, that doesn’t completely define what an incredible campaign for the Cyclones was. And their success was highlighted by where they finished in the final AP Poll Top 25 rankings of the season.

Iowa State dropped two spots from the previous edition, but closed the campaign as a top 10 team in the country. The Cyclones came in at No. 8, putting them third amongst their Big 12 peers.

Iowa State finishes season ranked No. 8 in AP Poll

The Arizona Wildcats, who were demolished by the eventual champion Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four, came in at No. 3. The Houston Cougars, who were eliminated by the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Sweet 16, are ranked No. 7.

Two more programs from the conference finished with a number next to their names: the Kansas Jayhawks at No. 20 and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at No. 21.

The biggest jump in the final rankings goes to the team that defeated Iowa State in the Sweet 16. Tennessee moved all the way up to No. 12, making an 11-spot jump, which was by far the biggest. The next closest was Illinois, which moved up eight spots.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was the Virginia Cavaliers, who fell eight spots to No. 17. The Gonzaga Bulldogs and Wisconsin Badgers each dropped six spots to Nos. 18 and 25, respectively.

Closing Things Out at #⃣8⃣#Cyclones | #C5C pic.twitter.com/EHGFM1Dfp5
— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) April 7, 2026

Coming in at No. 8, it means the Cyclones went 16 consecutive weeks to finish out the campaign ranked inside the top 10 in the AP Poll. They were ranked in the preseason and every week of the regular season as well, extending their overall streak with a number next to their name to 52.

The last time T.J. Otzelberger’s squad wasn’t ranked was the week of Jan. 8, 2024. 41 of those 52 weeks they have been inside the top 10 as well.

He has done a magnificent job raising the bar of this program to another level, and their streak of consecutive weeks being ranked should continue when the preseason poll comes out in the fall.