Iowa State Cyclones Receive Impressive Accolade From Legendary Dick Vitale

The Iowa State Cyclones have been acknowledge by Dick Vitale for their recent stellar play.

Nov 4, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Dick Vitale seen after the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Duke Blue Devils during the Dick Vitale’s Invitational game at Spectrum Center. | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

The 2025-26 men’s college basketball season has been historic for the Iowa State Cyclones. Over the weekend, they hosted the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Hilton Coliseum for their third Big 12 game of the campaign.

After a slow start, they picked up an impressive 83-72 victory, moving to 16-0 on the year and 3-0 in conference play. It was another stellar performance by a team that has been full of them this season.

The Cyclones are going to be tested in their next game, heading on the road to Allen Fieldhouse to face off against the Kansas Jayhawks. Bill Self and his team will have some motivation heading into that contest, already lost two Big 12 games.

Falling behind three games this early in the conference schedule is far from ideal, but Iowa State is rolling heading into this matchup. Not only are they undefeated, but they are steamrolling opponents.

Dick Vitale names Iowa State team of the week

Jan 10, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger talks with Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) and Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (5) in their game with the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the first half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

14 out of their 16 victories have been by double-figures to this point. Only the St. John’s Red Storm and Iowa Hawkeyes have stayed within single digits of the Cyclones in their losses.

That is part of the reason why Iowa State has received such an incredible accolade from legendary sportscaster and head coach Dick Vitale. He shared his stars of the week, and the Cyclones were selected as his Team of the Week for making program history, reaching 16 consecutive wins.

Coincidentally, one of the other players who were acknowledge by Vitale is the one Iowa State will be attempting to slow down tonight. If they want to pick up their first victory on the road at Kansas since 2017, they need to slow down freshman phenom Darryn Peterson.

My Dickie V STARS OF TVE WEEK ! @AuburnMBB @KUHoops @GatorsFB & @CycloneMBB they were all #awesomebaby @ESPNPR @KevinNegandhi @jksports pic.twitter.com/pBa3BQxIZM

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) January 12, 2026

He was the Diaper Dandy of the week, scoring 32 points against the TCU Horned Frogs. That is the most points by a Jayhawks freshman in a game since 2014, when Andrew Wiggins scored 41 against the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Also recognized by Vitale were Keyshawn Hall of the Auburn Tigers, who was selected as Player of the Week, and Todd Golden of the Florida Gators, who was selected as Coach of the Week.

While it is certainly awesome for T.J. Otzelbeger and the Cyclones to start getting noticed for their performance, they have bigger goals in mind. They want to continue battling for the Big 12 title, setting them up to become the first team in program history to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.