Big 12 Basketball: Preseason conference power rankings for 2023-24 season

6. Iowa State Cyclones

Last season: 19-14, 9-9 in the Big 12

The Iowa State Cyclones finished at .500 and in a tie for fifth place in the conference standings this past season. They made another appearance in the NCAA Tournament as the T.J. Otzelberger era is off to a hot start in Ames. Otzelberger nearly led the Cyclones to another 20-win season in 2022-23 and returns five players from last year’s roster.

Iowa State will look to transfer portal additions Keshon Gilbert (UNLV), Jackson Paveletzke (Wofford), Curtis Jones (Buffalo) and freshman big man Omaha Biliew to contribute to their returning cast of Tamin Lipsey, Tre King, Robert Jones, Demarion Watson and Hason Ward.

There’s a ton of room for Lipsey, King and Jones to grow into bigger roles with the departures of a lot of their depth from a season ago. Depth shouldn’t be an issue for them once again in the Big 12.

Lipsey finished with 7.3 ppg, 4.4 apg, 4.0 rpg and 2.2 spg as a sophomore and with Gabe Kaslcheur and Jaren Holmes both gone, it leaves a ton of room for him to grow even more on both ends of the floor. King should grow into a role in the frontcourt after appearing in 23 games and producing 6.1 ppg and 4.1 rpg as a junior. Jones is another senior frontcourt presence who posted 5.7 ppg and 3.8 rpg. With an experienced cast ready to go in 2023-24, the Cyclones could be a Top 5 team in the Big 12 by the time March arrives.