No. 6 Iowa State Men's Basketball is feeling confident after an upset victory over No. 2 Houston 70-67 on Monday. A major catalyst was the clutch 3-pointer by Nate Heise at the 1:15 minute mark.
It was such a huge victory that it captured the attention of famed alum and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.
As a result, Iowa State is now 23-3 with the regular season wrapping up. On Tuesday, ESPN officially released its latest bracket predictions, per Joe Lundari. It currently has Iowa State as a No.2 seed in the Midwest region, with Michigan at No. 1.
Additionally, Duke, Arizona, and UConn are predicted as the current No. 1 seeds. In the beginning, the Cyclones were ranked No. 16 in the preseason rankings and reached as high as No. 2.
The Cyclones have five games left during the regular season. Their next contest will be on Saturday against No.23 BYU. After that, they will play Utah on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Then, the following Saturday, the Cyclones will square off against No. 13 Texas Tech.
On Monday, March 2, the Cyclones will have a real challenge as they face off against No. 4 Arizona. Finally, they will close out the regular season against Arizona State on March 6.
Altogether, the Cyclones have won six regular-season conference titles and seven tournament titles. Overall, they have a 24-24 record in the NCAA tournament.
The last time Iowa State played in the Final Four was in 1944. It was during the 2024-25 season that the Cyclones last appeared in the NCAA tournament.
Ultimately, they lost to Mississippi in the second by a score of 91-78.
