Upcoming Schedule

[NENick]

Win 1 of next 4 (@ OU, @ KU, vs UT, @TT) leaves the record at 14-4, 2-4. Followed by 3 very winnable games (vs TCU, @ OSU, vs MIZ), now 17-4, 4-4 leading up to a home game vs Kansas.

I would take that!

 

[baller1]

Would be huge to win @OU Saturday

 

[Jkclone15]

Despite our struggle with TxT yesterday I'm feeling pretty optimistic about the rematch. Their upcoming schedule is brutal. 1/8 vs KU, 1/11 @BU, 1/13 vs OSU, 1/15 @KSU, 1/18 vs ISU. 5 games in 11 days when they already have injury issues.

 

[VegasCy]

3-3 in their first 6 conference games puts 10 or 11 conference wins in play. One thing is for sure, we will find out a lot about this team in the next two weeks.

 

[DeereClone]

As crazy as it sounds, 2-4 after the first 6 puts us in a pretty decent spot.

 

[Raiders70]

I get that its a daunting schedule but if we are even close to a top 10-15 team how can a 2-4 conference record be considered a good thing.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Would love to get the game at OU this weekend, and home against Texas. I think we can get TT again if we play better on the offensive end.

 

[LarryISU]

Hey, I'm just happy to be able to watch Iowa State basketball again!!!
I couldn't even stand to watch last year, they were so incredibly bad.
Wednesday was hard to watch, but totally different when you at least have a chance to win. Upcoming schedule is tough, but I actually think we have a chance in every game.

 

[Urbandale2013]

I get that its a daunting schedule but if we are even close to a top 10-15 team how can a 2-4 conference record be considered a good thing.

Top 10-15 maybe we should be 3-3 but the schedule is absolutely brutal. Top 25 2-4 is really good. That’s 3 road games against Top 25 quality teams. You also have 3 home games against top 25 teams including the clear number one. I don’t think top 25 teams should be expected to really win on the road against top 25 teams. I also don’t think they should be expected to beat the number 1 team in the country.

 

[Halincandenza]

I get that its a daunting schedule but if we are even close to a top 10-15 team how can a 2-4 conference record be considered a good thing.

They aren't a top 10-15 team.

 

[Raiders70]

They aren't a top 10-15 team.

Yeah....probably not.

 

[Halincandenza]

Would love to get the game at OU this weekend, and home against Texas. I think we can get TT again if we play better on the offensive end.

If they can manage to pick off OU on the road, it would be huge!

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Hey, I'm just happy to be able to watch Iowa State basketball again!!!
I couldn't even stand to watch last year, they were so incredibly bad.
Wednesday was hard to watch, but totally different when you at least have a chance to win. Upcoming schedule is tough, but I actually think we have a chance in every game.

Yeah Wednesday was really ugly but our fan base kind f needs to reset how they watch this team. We are 100% all about defense and we are going to have our nights where we struggle on the offensive end. It's just so different than any teams we've had in a long time and our fanbase just isn't used to it.

 

[ClonesFTW]

I thought OU looked very solid at Baylor this week - they definitely played with a tempo and we'll have our hands full defending Groves. We'll be a 2-4 pt underdog and I would be very (pleasantly) surprised if we won.

 

[CycloneErik]

I get that its a daunting schedule but if we are even close to a top 10-15 team how can a 2-4 conference record be considered a good thing.

Road games vs. ranked teams. 2-4 is pretty good for almost everyone in the league in that stretch.
We very well might do better, but this would be fine.

 

[Didley]

They aren't a top 10-15 team.

I would say #18-20 is fair. Our resume so far means we deserve our current ranking, but its just like when Hawkeyes football team was #2 or whatever, “resume rankings” early on dont mean much

 

[LLCoolCY]

They aren't a top 10-15 team.

ISU current record and wins does justify being a top 10-15 team. Now I agree they don't have the "look" of a top 15 team every game but this team resume would be a top 4 seed if the season ended today. Then again other 15 teams of Providence and OSU took 20 pt losses just this week which this team doesn't even flirt with.

While I have my doubts they'll finish the season as a top 15 team I do think they are a solid tourney team. This team has exceeded everyone's predictions on games up to this point so there does come a time when we start believing their record and that the may just be truly a top 15 team. It they go above .500 in this stretch that would go along way for us to accept the current state of the program as reality.

 

[TomTreebow]

Before the Baylor and Tech games, Torvik and KenPom had ISU finishing 8-10 (maybe 7-11 but the point will still stand). They had ISU as underdogs in the first 6 games. Takeaway being, any wins in this stretch - and we already have 1 - have essentially been added wins to an already decent predicted finish of 8-10.

Now...those are just numbers and it would be hard for the team not to lose a significant amount of confidence losing 6 in a row so I'm not so sure they would just bounce right back up to finish the season 8-4 should that have occurred. But knowing that 8-10 conference with a final non-con win against Mizzou puts ISU in the tourney, we're essentially playing with house money. And the back half of our schedule is going to allow the team to gain confidence, if they can keep winning, leading up to the tournament.

I'm rambling, but this 6 game stretch of all Top 25 or receiving vote teams are all essentially just resume builders and ISU didn't necessarily "need" to win any of them to still have a tournament quality record for the season. Let's see what the team does over the next 4 but enjoy that they will be battle tested and likely ready to unleash on a softer finish to the schedule.

 

[inCyteful]

I get that its a daunting schedule but if we are even close to a top 10-15 team how can a 2-4 conference record be considered a good thing.

Conference champion this year could very well have 5 or 6 losses. If we come out of the first 1/3rd of our conf schedule with 4 and it is by far the toughest third of our schedule, we would still be in a position to have a say in the conf title. That is a good thing.

I am not predicting we will with the conf title

Put another way, going 10-8 in the conference 24-8 overall could very well have us rated in the Top 20 at tourney time. Last year OSU and Kansas had 9 losses and finished 11 & 12 in final AP poll.

 

[inCyteful]

They aren't a top 10-15 team.

I would say they are top 15-20 and they can demonstrate they are top 10-15 over next 4 games. Or they could demonstrate they shouldn't be rated. I think the former is more likely.