8. Iowa State Cyclones – Win at least 8 games in Big 12 play
The biggest surprise of the season so far has to be the Iowa State Cyclones. They’ve gone from a team that went 2-22 overall (0-18 in Big 12 play) a year ago to a 12-0 record and one of five unbeaten left. It includes victories over Memphis, Iowa, Creighton, and Xavier and the Cyclones currently are safely into the NCAA Tournament field. Yet there are some that still aren’t sold and waiting until league play, where this team could be “exposed”.
The start of the schedule for Iowa State is brutal, with upcoming matchups against Baylor, Texas, Kansas, and Texas Tech (2x) in the month of January. Most teams would go 2-4 against that schedule so it wouldn’t be a shame if the Cyclone does too. But now the goal for this team has to be to make the Big Dance and they already have a resume to do so. If they can find around eight wins in league play, that should be enough for them to have fun in March.
7. Kansas Jayhawks – Get Jalen Wilson back into form
The Jayhawks look every bit of the preseason national title contender everyone thought they could be at 9-1. Senior Ochai Agbaji (22.0 ppg) looks like a National Player of the Year contender and guards Remy Martin and Christian Braun have been solid. The concern is more in the frontcourt, as center David McCormack has been up and done and so far, Jalen Wilson has been nowhere to be found after being suspended the first few games of the season due to a DUI violation.
Wilson is averaging a dismal 5.4 ppg and 5.1 rpg off the bench and while Kansas’ small-ball lineup has looked good, the lack of frontcourt production has taken away the balance, which was supposed to be this team’s biggest strength. I’m not sure if this current version of the Jayhawks will be good enough for a title run and Wilson may still be in the “doghouse”. But somehow, Kansas has to get Wilson looking like he did last year, as Big 12 play is near.