Iowa State Cyclones Receive Incredibly Beneficial Landing Spot in Recent Bracketology

The Iowa State Cyclones have landed in a favorable spot in the most recent Bracketoloy predictions for the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

So far, so good for the Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team during the 2025-26 season. They are off to a 4-0 start, handling business accordingly in blowout fashion.

Three of their victories have come at Hilton Coliseum for buy games against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, Grambling State Tigers and Stonehill Skyhawks. Their fourth victory was a neutral-site game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs that was shockingly one-sided.

The Cyclones asserted their dominance on the defensive side of the ball, forcing 26 turnovers in a 96-80 blowout. Under head coach T.J. Otzelberger, the team has always been stout defensively, but things have been taken to another level on that end of the court thus far this year.

Still undefeated, it should come as no surprise that Iowa State didn’t experience any changes in its seed line in the latest Bracketology update provided by Joe Lunardi of ESPN for the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Iowa State receives favorable Bracketology prediction

Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What changed for the Cyclones was their region, which is incredibly beneficial for them. They are now projected to be the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region, which will be played in Chicago. Their Round of 64 and 32 pod games are set to be played in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Iowa State would have a huge contingency at those games, especially compared to being stuck as the No. 4 seed in the West Region. 

The previous prediction from Lunardi had them in that spot, which meant playing the opening weekend in San Diego, California. Should the Cyclones be fortunate enough to advance to the Sweet 16 and play in the regional semifinal and final, those games will be held in San Jose, California.

There are certainly scenarios where it would benefit a team to drop a seed line or two if it meant their fan base had a stronger presence at the game. It would create a more difficult path to the national championship, playing against better teams early on, but a supportive crowd could make all the difference.

Iowa State would receive good draw in Midwest Region

Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

In this latest projection, Iowa State would be playing against the McNeese Cowboys, the No. 13 seed and automatic qualifier from the Southland Conference.

Their second matchup of the tournament would be against the winner of the No. 5 seed North Carolina Tar Heels, an at-large team from the ACC, and the South Florida Bulls, the No. 12 seed and automatic qualifier from the American Athletic Conference.

Getting through that pod would put the Cyclones on a collision path with the No. 1 overall seed, the Purdue Boilermakers. It would be a rematch as the two teams are set to face off on Dec. 6 at Mackey Arena in what is one of the most highly anticipated non-conference games of the campaign.

Incredibly early in the season, a lot is going to change between now and March. Iowa State will have ample opportunities to continue improving its seeding, starting with the Players Era Festival next week with set matchups against the St. John’s Red Storm and Creighton Bluejays.