Cyclones a five seed in Lunardi’s first 2016-17 Bracketology

Iowa State showed up on only one of the way-too-early top 25 lists put out by the various national basketball pundits but ESPN‘s Joe Lunardi apparently isn’t quite buying into the ‘Iowa State won’t be as good narrative.’ 

Lunardi has the Cyclones as a No. 5 seed in his first Bracketology update for the 2016-17 season.

He has Iowa State taking on Ivy League champion Princeton in Salt Lake City for the first round. Five other Big 12 teams are in Lunardi’s initial field with Kansas (No. 1), West Virginia (No. 3), Oklahoma (No. 4), Baylor (No. 7) and Texas (No. 8) joining the Cyclones.

The Big 10 and ACC have the most teams in the field with eight a piece. Duke, Kentucky and defending national champion Villanova are the other three No. 1 seeds.

Iowa also makes the field as a No. 7 seed.

Jared Stansbury

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Jared a native of Clarinda, Iowa, started as the Cyclone Fanatic intern in August 2013, primarily working as a videographer until starting on the women’s basketball beat prior to the 2014-15 season. Upon earning his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State in May 2016, Jared was hired as the site’s full-time staff writer, taking over as the primary day-to-day reporter on football and men’s basketball. He was elevated to the position of managing editor in January 2020. He is a regular contributor on 1460 KXNO in Des Moines and makes regular guest appearances on radio stations across the Midwest. Jared resides in Ankeny with his four-year-old puggle, Lolo.

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