Bracketology 2022: Duke, Wisconsin, and Arizona among Feast Week winners
By Joey Loose
Iowa State
There are certain expectations as the season begins, with many of them based on how rosters change and how teams did in recent years. For example, when this season began, many expected the Big 12 to be a three-headed race, with Kansas, Baylor, and Texas all seeming like top 10 teams. We aren’t arguing that this isn’t the case, but it’s just an example that expectations don’t always come to pass. Did you expect Iowa State to have already tripled their win total from last year?
With three wins already in their pocket, Iowa State got an easy fourth win at home against Grambling back on Sunday before the real challenge began. While certainly unexpected, the Cyclones did some major work at the NIT Season Tip-off. On Wednesday, they won a double-digit game over #25 Xavier, getting 30 points from Izaiah Brockington. Two days later, they scored an even more impressive win, knocking off #9 Memphis 78-59, with Gabe Kalscheur the one to provide the 30-point outburst this time.
With the way Iowa State’s program has been in recent years, there certainly wasn’t the expectation that new coach T. J. Otzelberger would make this kind of immediate impact. Himself a former Cyclones assistant during some of their glory years, he’s managed to put Iowa State back into the national conversation, perhaps even leading them back into the Top 25. If the Cyclones put together a solid season, this win over Memphis is going to be great currency to the Selection Committee.