Breaking Down Where Iowa State Cyclones Rank in Recent AP Top 25 Poll

Where are the Iowa State Cyclones ranked in the most recent AP Top 25 poll?

Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger watches from bench against Iowa during the first half in the men’s basketball Cy-Hawk series on Dec. 11, 2025, in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones are coming off a 2-0 week but certainly faced a scare to their perfect record. 

Following a massive win on the road against the Purdue Boilermakers, the Cyclones were riding high and saw their stock rise quite a bit. Iowa State was ranked 10th in the nation heading into that game, and the blowout road win helped move them all the way up to fourth. 

In their first week inside the Top 5, things didn’t go as smoothly. Iowa State played a hard-fought game against their rival on Thursday night, barely squeaking out a win at home. The Hawkeyes gave them a real scare in the first half and hung around in the second half as well. 

Fortunately, the defense of the Cyclones was able to ignite a couple of nice runs to start the second half, and the team regained control. Furthermore, on Sunday, the team looked like they were sleepwalking a bit against the Eastern Illinois Panthers. While the team did come away with a 25-point win, it wasn’t the best effort or performance by the team. 

Cyclones Remain Unchanged

Holding Strong#Cyclones | #C5C pic.twitter.com/CGcCnG2qmQ

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) December 15, 2025

With two wins during the week, it should come as no surprise that Iowa State remained at fourth in the AP Poll. Due to Iowa State not being overly impressive during the two wins, they certainly didn’t deserve to move up. However, it is good to see them staying put. 

Following an impressive win by the Arizona Wildcats against the Alabama Crimson Tide this weekend, they remained at No.1 in the ranking. With the Wildcats being in the Big 12, that matchup during conference play is going to be one to circle on the calendar. Both of these teams have been fantastic, with some really impressive wins on their resume. 

Furthermore, there wasn’t a change ahead of Iowa State in the other two spots, with the Michigan Wolverines and Duke Blue Devils both staying the same as well. A couple of significant victories by the UCONN Huskies might have moved the needle a bit for them in the right direction, but the unbeatens remain in the Top 4. 

While the team might have been a little tired following the game against the Hawkeyes, going into the matchup with the Panthers, they will get a nice rest now. The next game for the program won’t be until next Sunday against the Long Beach State Beach. Following that game will then be their final game of the calendar year against the Houston Christian Huskies.