Greetings Cyclones!

What a ride it has been for the Cyclone men’s and women’s basketball teams! Let’s hope the journey continues after this weekend. Iowa State is one of just eight schools in the nation to have both its men's and women's basketball programs as top six seeds in the NCAA tournament. Others are UCLA, Creighton, Indiana, Texas, Duke, UCONN and Tennessee.

To celebrate both teams’ success, the We Will Collective is holding a March Madness Giveaway. Please visit the site here: https://nilgiveaways.com/wewill/ to sign up for a chance to win an autographed basketball by members of either the men’s or the women’s team. The winner will be announced on the Williams and Blum podcast on Sunday, April 2nd.

No donation is required to participate, but please follow all of our social medias and share accordingly with your Cyclone friends and family as this hopefully helps spread the word as to the work We Will is doing to keep Iowa State Basketball thriving. With the great work the coaching staffs are doing and with the portal opening this week, the more Cyclones that know about We Will and how we all can make an impact, the better.

Sign up for that giveaway today! Appreciate all the loyal support and help in spreading the word! Because together We Will!
-Brent

anyone got their tickets yet

PJ's story is incredible. The DMR gets a lot of crap from Cyclone fans but Goodwin knocked this out of the park!

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...ler-ncaa-wrestling-championships/69997367007/

PS- Goodwin's story about how Spencer Lee came to Iowa is also really good, for the wrong reasons, of course.

Flo followed Iowa State behind the scene's yesterday as they prep for day 1. I really like, as Dresser put's it, our "mojo" heading into the tourney.
https://www.flowrestling.org/events...-watch-party/videos?playing=10749840&limit=60

The play-in games are done. Time for the Madness to begin!


CBS, TruTV, TNT, TBS


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Here are a few early guys to keep an eye on that could be potential targets. If you know of any others post them.

Jude Gibson 6’ PG. Ballard

Thought to be potentially the best prospect in the state for 2026. Averaged 15.2 PPG 4.3 Assists and 4.7 Rebounds.

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Sam Mbingazo 6’10 C. Iowa City High.


Moved to Iowa City from the Congo this year to live with his uncle. Hawkeyes are all over him I’m sure. If he stays in Iowa he will be one of the highest recruited players in Iowa for awhile. Averaged 7.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.2 BPG

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Evan Jacobson 6’7 F Waukee

Yes Michael’s brother so the bloodline is there. Limited varsity minutes as he was behind two very good seniors but he will take a big leap forward next year. Already has great size for a freshmen. Skilled big man. Will be interesting to see if he keeps growing and can compare to his brother.

Is there a Cyclone game watch in the Des Moines area for Friday? Or where is suggested for the best wings?

Dm me if you’re interested in a $5 March madness pool. Payable via Venmo or cashapp. 200+ entries usually.

Spent a long time working on this. Tre's story is incredible. Iowa State is lucky to have him. Enjoy.

Any insight on how his health is going into nationals? I know Dresser stated it was more psychological and hopefully that was addressed, but wondering how healthy he is.

Quick. Don't look at brackets or your ESPN app. And don't scroll through the thread.

What states do you think have the most teams in the Women's NCAA BB tournament? How many? Including play-in games.

There are some surprises this year, both in terms of states with 3 or more teams and states with less than 3.

And note that this thread is about the Women's tournament. There is another thread for the men's tournament.

Quick. Don't look at brackets or your ESPN app. And don't scroll through the thread.

What states do you think have the most teams in the Men's NCAA BB tournament? How many? Including play-in games.

There are some surprises this year, both in terms of states with 3 or more teams and states with less than 3.

And note that this thread is about the men's tournament. There is another thread for the women's tournament.

(2) Session 1 | Section 210
(2) Session 2 | Section 112
DM me with your interest and best offer

My latest story for CycloneFanatic focuses on the pair of X-factors punching above their preseason expectations:

Looking to get rid of two tickets to 1776 tonight at the civic center. 7:30 PM. Row P. PM if interested. Looking for $50 a ticket.

Would you rather stand pat in the current league or have a new conference?
the Big West with the following teams...
Iowa State, Kansas, K State, Ok State, TCU, T Tech, Baylor + Colorado, Utah, Cal, Arizona, ASU, Oregon St, Wash St and BYU

None of this SMU, Houston, WVU, Nati, UCF.
I think the Big West sounds really good. The Big 12 without Mizzou, Nebby, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma isn't the same. Just a thought

Really interesting but gutting read and I didn't really follow wrestling back then. It's The Athletic so $$$

How Penn State hired Cael Sanderson: Inside the origins of an NCAA wrestling dynasty

If the NCAA Tournament became a UFC tournament instead we're considered the favorites!

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This seems like a smart move to try, should get a lot of exposure and be a decent add to the conference schools' recruiting pitch.

"Big 12 partnering with NFL for unique conference-wide pro day ahead of 2024 NFL Draft​

It is believed the event will be the first of its kind for a major-college conference"​

https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...ference-wide-pro-day-ahead-of-2024-nfl-draft/

Seeing some spirited debate on this topic on whether 16 seed conference tournament champions should have to go to the play-in games.

My personal opinion is that if a team wins an automatic bid through the conference tournament (or reg season per conference decision) they should NOT have to go to Dayton. I believe the "last 4 in" type bubble teams should be the teams playing there. Thoughts?

3 years. 18 million.

Any “game watch” groups or noted Cyclone sports bars in any location for the men’s and women’s tournament games would be appreciated. In my case, the Palm Beach Fl area. * could also include Drake but not Iowa, enjoying vacation so avoiding Hawkeyes at every opportunity

Some nuggets:

• BartTorvik had them winning by 2. They won by 1
• BartTorvik has them as #85
• NET is 67
• 4 Q1 wins
• 1 Q1 loss
• 1 Q4 loss
• KenPom is 77
• AdjO is 24
• AdjD is 142
• Notable loses:
  • WVU by 25
  • Michigan by 31
• Notable wins:
  • Northwestern by 29
  • North Carolina by 1
  • Miami by 3
• They have SIX WINS in the VERY average ACC by 3 points or less.
• Using BartTorvik...a loss to Pitt would be our worst loss by a LOT. Texas Tech is our worst loss and they are #54. Pitt is #85.