Iowa State Cyclones Rightfully Drop in College Basketball Power Rankings After Losses

The Iowa State Cyclones have slipped in the college basketball power rankings

Jan 17, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger answers questions from the media after his team’s game against Cincinnati Bearcats at Fifth Third Arena. | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones are coming off an important home win against the UCF Knights that helped them snap a two-game losing streak. However, back-to-back losses did hurt the team. 

Coming into last week, the Cyclones were a perfect 16-0 and the number two-ranked team in the country. Unfortunately, in the two road games that they played against the Kansas Jayhawks and Cincinnati Bearcats, the team got off to slow starts and really struggled. 

Considering neither one of these teams was in the Top 25 at the time, the losses really put a significant blemish on the resume. Fortunately, the team was able to bounce back convincingly against the UCF Knights at home, and it was a game that the team desperately needed. 

Jeff Borzello of ESPN recently wrote about his power rankings in college basketball and had the Cyclones taking a drop from fifth to ninth following a couple of losses last week. 

Iowa State Hanging on in Top 10

Doing What We Do.#Cyclones | #C5C pic.twitter.com/diIGlkATM1

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) January 22, 2026

Despite being ranked second in the AP Poll last week, the Cyclones were a bit lower in the power rankings, coming in at fifth. However, the two sides aligned this week, with Iowa State coming in ninth in both. 

With two straight losses, it was understandable to see that the Cyclones dropped in the rankings. However, with them falling to the same spot that they are ranked in the AP Poll, last week’s ranking of fifth might have been too low. 

While there were multiple reasons for the struggles of Iowa State over their two-game skid, slow starts and defense were two of the main reasons. This is a team that does a great job of turning teams over and getting out in transition. 

That was certainly an area where they were a lot better against the Knights, and it helped them get off to a much better start in the win. Now, the Cyclones will be heading back on the road on Saturday for a matchup with the Oklahoma State Cowboys. 

Due to the struggles in conference play on the road so far, this will be an interesting game to watch for Iowa State. While a convincing win at home against the Knights was encouraging, performing better on the road will be key for the program going forward. 

Even though the Knights and the Cowboys might not be the best opponents in the Big 12, two wins during the week might be able to help Iowa State move back up in the rankings a little bit.