"Pick KSU over ISU" is not much the disrespect that CF posters seem to want to play up. It was essentially a slight nod to KSU by a few votes. I am not as huge of a fan as many in the Big 12 are of the KSU guards and would have given a very slight nod to ISU but I get the near dead heat in the "vote".
KSU will probably start five seniors. They didn't play great at the end of 2024 but ended up ranked in the teens. A lot will be riding on whether Lee can hold up. Between her knee and ankle she was literally limping through the season.
Neither school has much history in winning the Big 12. Last was KSU in 2007-08 but that was Deb Patterson. Working against KSU is that Mitte hasn't any history of seriously competing for 1st so that's something. He has an overall losing record in conference play.
It seems picking against the obvious momentum to me assuming both teams have similar core.