Iowa State Cyclones Freefall in Men's College Basketball Power Rankings

How far did the Iowa State Cyclones drop in the recent college basketball power rankings?

Feb 10, 2026; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger looks on from the bench against the TCU Horned Frogs during the second half at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

It was not a good start to the week for the Iowa State Cyclones on Tuesday night. On the road against the TCU Horned Frogs, they had their worst offensive performance of the year and suffered their third loss. 

With some marquee games coming up for the Cyclones, the game against TCU was an important one. Even though the Horned Frogs might not have been playing all that well during conference play, they were in need of a signature win, and they got it at the expense of Iowa State. 

In the loss, the Cyclones were terrible on the offensive end of the court. This is a unit that has been really strong on that end of the court this year, but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday night. They didn't shoot the ball well, got beaten on the glass, and turned the ball over a ton. 

Due to the loss, Iowa State understandably is going to see a drop in how they are viewed. While they will have a chance to make up for it, Tuesday’s loss wasn’t encouraging. 

Jeff Borzello of ESPN recently released his power rankings and had the Cyclones taking a major drop from sixth to 11th. 

Significant Drop Warranted 

Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

While a five-spot drop after one loss might seem rough, it is also fair for Iowa State. TCU was under .500 in conference play coming into the matchup, and this is another bad road loss for the Cyclones.

Numerous teams were able to jump Iowa State in the rankings, and one that is a very interesting one is the Kansas Jayhawks. The Cyclones suffered their first loss of the season to the Jayhawks on the road earlier in the season, in what looked like not a great loss at the time. 

Since then, the Jayhawks have been red hot with and without their star player, Darryn Peterson. Iowa State will get their opportunity for revenge in what will be one of the best games of the weekend. 

While the matchup against Kansas will be huge, they will have a quick turnaround when they face the Houston Cougars on Big Monday. This two-game stretch is going to be important and very telling for the program. Following the loss to TCU, it feels like they will need to win at least one of these games against top opponents. If they were to lose both, expect a further drop in the rankings.