Iowa State Cyclones Remain Stagnant in AP Top 25 Poll to Start New Year

Did the Iowa State Cyclones move at all in the AP Top 25 poll?

Jan 2, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger watches his team play the West Virginia Mountaineers during the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones have started off the new year on a positive note, and this is a program that is going to be seeking some big things in 2026. 

To start the new year, the Cyclones were able to kick off conference play in the Big 12 with an impressive win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. While the Mountaineers aren’t the best team in the conference, this was a fantastic win for Iowa State and one that they will be looking to build upon going forward. 

While conference play will start to heat up in the coming weeks, this is a team that has accomplished quite a bit already. Currently, they are 14-0 and have some nice signature wins on their resume. 

Due to the undefeated start to the campaign, expectations have changed dramatically for the program. This is a team that is now considered to be one of the best in the country, and their ranking nationally proves that. Coming into the new year, the Cyclones were ranked third in the country, and in the first AP Poll release of 2026, they have remained in that spot. 

Cyclones Rightfully Stay Put

Holding Strong.#Cyclones | #C5C pic.twitter.com/zUPt2ncJC0

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) January 5, 2026

With just the one win against the Mountaineers this past week and the Michigan Wolverines and Arizona Wildcats both winning, staying ranked third is the right spot for Iowa State. As conference play really starts to get going, it will be interesting to see how long the team can remain undefeated.

This past week, the Wolverines faced a Top 25 USC Trojans team at the time, and they were able to blow them out of the arena. Furthermore, the Wildcats had a nice win against the Utah Utes to kick things off for them in Big 12 play. 

Despite the success of the Cyclones, they didn’t receive any first-place votes, with all of them going to the Wildcats and the Wolverines. While Iowa State has played really well this year, the competition from Arizona and Michigan is going to be challenging. The Cyclones will face the Wildcats at the end of the season, and that will be one of the most highly anticipated games of the year at this point. 

As of now, Iowa State should be pleased with the third ranking, but there is work to be done if they want to move higher. This week, they will be facing the Baylor Bears and the Oklahoma State Cowboys, with the game against the Bears potentially being a tough one on the road.