Iowa State Cyclones Continue in Right Direction of Men's Basketball Power Rankings

The Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team is heading in the right direction of the power rankings.

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Feast Week was an important one for the Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team. They were participating in the Players Era Festival, an 18-team field featuring some of the best programs in the country.

The Cyclones were set to be tested right from the start, scheduled to play against the St. John’s Red Storm in their first game. They passed that test, barely, winning a tightly contested 83-82 game.

The following afternoon, they were set to play another Big East school. The Creighton Bluejays, whom Iowa State faced in an exhibition a few weeks ago, awaited. After struggling in the exhibition, the Cyclones brought their A-game to Las Vegas.

Iowa State won that game in impressive fashion, 78-60. Despite the 2-0 record, the Cyclones didn’t participate in the championship game or third-place game. Tiebreakers weren’t in their favor; instead, they had to play a consolation game against the Syracuse Orange.

It didn’t look like Iowa State was too interested in the game early on, sleepwalking a bit through the first half and taking a one-point lead into halftime. But they awoke in the second half, destroying Syracuse en route to a 95-64 victory.

Iowa State moving in right direction of power rankings

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That 3-0 showing in the Players Era Festival has aided the Cyclones in moving up the men’s basketball power rankings put together by Gary Parrish of CBS Sports.

Iowa State moved up one spot and is now entrenched at No. 8. The biggest movers this week are the Michigan State Spartans, who are now sitting at No. 9, up eight spots after beating the East Carolina Pirates 89-56 and the North Carolina Tar Heels 74-58.

What made those last two showings so impressive for the Cyclones was that they did it without Tamin Lipsey. The star point guard suffered a groin injury with a few minutes remaining against the Red Storm that knocked him out of the lineup.

Cyclones will have opportunity to make huge jump up rankings

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It will be interesting to see when Iowa State gets him back on the court. They play next on Dec. 3, hosting the Alcorn State Braves at Hilton Coliseum. 

The SWAC representatives have yet to win a game this season, so it would not be surprising if the Cyclones show an abundance of caution and hold Lipsey out for one more game. Especially because of the challenge that awaits after the Braves.

On Dec. 6, Iowa State will have its toughest test of the season. They will be traveling to West Lafayette to play at Mackey Arena against the Purdue Boilermakers, who are currently the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.

A good performance in that game will have the Cyclones moving up the power rankings again.