Iowa State Cyclones Among Top Surprises in College Basketball This Season

The Iowa State Cyclones have been a top surprise this year

Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger calls a play from the bench against Alcorn State Braves during the first half on Dec. 3, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum, in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones have been off to a fantastic start to the 2025-26 season and have firmly established themselves as one of the best teams in the country. 

On Saturday, the Cyclones pulled off one of the best wins that any team is going to have this year when they went on the road and beat the Purdue Boilermakers in blowout fashion. The Boilermakers were the No.1 team in the nation at the time, and it was a massive statement made by Iowa State. 

Following the win, the Cyclones jumped up to fourth in the AP Poll, and this is a program that has emerged as a national title contender. While they were expected to be a strong team this campaign, what they have been able to accomplish so far has been extremely impressive. 

Myron Medcalf of ESPN recently wrote about some of the early season surprises this year and highlighted the Cyclones being much better than expected.

Iowa State Has Surprised Many 

Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

Coming into the season, the Cyclones were predicted to be a solid team in the Big 12, but most had them finishing around fifth in the conference. Due to the strength of the Big 12, that was a fair landing spot, it seemed at the time, but this is a group that has looked extremely impressive. 

With some signature wins along the way, the Cyclones are very deserving of being in the Top 5 of the AP Poll, and they could continue to climb. However, they aren’t the only surprise in college basketball. Both the Michigan Wolverines and the Arizona Wildcats are also in the conversation for the biggest surprise, and the Cyclones and Wildcats will cross paths during conference play. 

One of the main reasons why the team has exceeded expectations is because of their offensive production. This is a team that was figured to be elite defensively, and so far, that has been the case. However, it has been the offense that has arguably been even better for the team this year. 

The production from Joshua Jefferson, Milan Momcilovic, and Tamin Lipsey has been impressive on that end of the court, and the team looks much better than expected on that end. Being able to shoot from three-point range efficiently has been a major plus, and this is a well-balanced program. Overall, the Cyclones still have a lot of big games to play, but they should be ecstatic with their performance thus far.