Iowa State Cyclones See Concerning Drop in Recent Bracketology Projections

Where would the Iowa State Cyclones be seeded if the NCAA Tournament started today?

Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger calls a play during the second half against Oklahoma State in the Big-12 men’s basketball on Jan. 10, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Following their worst week of the season, there have been some significant ramifications for the Iowa State Cyclones, who have lost two straight games. 

It was just a week ago that the Cyclones were a perfect 16-0 and feeling great about the direction of the program, with conference play just starting. This was a team that made it all the way up to being the number two-ranked team in the country and a genuine title contender. 

However, with two road games against the Kansas Jayhawks and Cincinnati Bearcats last week, Iowa State slipped up. Losing both of these games and not really being all that close in either of them has resulted in the team going from being ranked as the second-best team in the country all the way down to ninth in the most recent AP Poll. 

This was a significant drop, but one that is understandable with the poor week and how some of the other teams around the country have been performing. Unfortunately, that drop has also impacted where they could be positioned come March. 

Joe Lunardi of ESPN recently updated his projected NCAA bracket following the conclusion of last week, and the Cyclones went from being a number one seed, all the way to a three-seed now. 

Massive Drop is Concerning

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Going from the one-line to the three-line after just one week of games and two losses is a concerning thing to see for Iowa State. Even though they have played very well this campaign, so have other teams, and they aren't alone in terms of championship-caliber teams in the Big 12. 

In the current projections, the Arizona Wildcats are a one seed and the top team overall. Furthermore, the Houston Cougars have started to play really well and have seen themselves jump up to the two-line. 

Even though the Cyclones have dropped significantly in a short time frame, there is still plenty of time to go in conference play to get back on track. Fortunately, some of these struggles have come early enough that the team should be able to fix them and struggles in January aren’t entirely uncommon for teams. 

While there are some road games to play, which are a bit of a concern with the recent struggles, it is certainly a soft spot of the schedule coming up for the Cyclones. They could easily get a winning streak going and move back up before they run into a challenge section of the schedule in the middle of February.