Iowa State Cyclones Men's Basketball Team Riding Eye-Popping Streak

The Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team has consistently performed as one of the best in the nation.

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The Iowa State Cyclones have gotten off to a strong 3-0 start in the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season.

After dominating the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights and Grambling State Tigers in back-to-back games at Hilton Coliseum, they faced their first real test of the campaign against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

A neutral site game was played against the SEC foes at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and the Cyclones opened some eyes with a dominant 96-80 victory.

Inexplicably, that wasn’t enough to keep Iowa State from dropping in some power rankings heading into the third week of the season. But, they did hold strong in the AP Poll Top 25, coming in at No. 16 again.

Iowa State riding impressive streak of weeks ranked

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That makes it 33 consecutive weeks that the Cyclones have been in the Top 25. That is the seventh-longest streak in the nation, as shared by ESPN. With only one game this week, at Hilton Coliseum against the Stonehill Skyhawks, Iowa State is very likely to extend that streak to 34 weeks.

T.J. Otzelberger has done a wonderful job turning this program into a consistent winner. When he took over the head coaching job, the Cyclones went 2-22 in the final season under Steve Prohm.

Things turned around instantly under their new head man, with Iowa State qualifying for the NCAA Tournament all four seasons under Otzelberger thus far. They have won at least 19 games in each season, which includes a 2024 Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship.

Once again, they look to be contenders not only in their conference but nationally. And, they will have ample opportunities to prove just how good they are.

Cyclones ranked streak will be tested in coming weeks

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If that streak is going to continue, they will have to earn it. After facing Stonehill, the Cyclones will head on the road for big-time matchups at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

They are set to face off against Big East powerhouses, the St. John’s Red Storm and Creighton Bluejays. Their third game of the tournament could come against another top program, with ranked teams such as the Tennessee Volunteers, Kansas Jayhawks, Houston Cougars, Auburn Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Gonzaga Bulldogs or Michigan Wolverines all partaking.

Their non-conference schedule also includes matchups with the Purdue Boilermakers and Iowa Hawkeyes. After that, they will be navigating a Big 12 schedule that will be brutal to navigate.

The conference currently has six teams ranked in the AP Top 25, three of which are in the top 10. Some early NCAA Tournament projections have eight total teams, including Iowa State, representing the conference in the field of 68.