Iowa State basketball: Cyclones third in USA TODAY Sports Network Big 12 preseason poll

With six men’s basketball teams ranked in the USA TODAY Sports preseason coaches’ poll, the Big 12 Conference will be ultra-competitive once again.

According to a panel of writers who cover the Big 12 for the USA TODAY Sports Network, Iowa State was projected to finish in third place within the conference.

The Cyclones were also picked third in the conference according to the Big 12 Conference preseason men’s basketball coaches’ poll.

Last season, the Cyclones finished 29-8 overall and 13-5 in conference play. They won their first Big 12 tournament title since 2019 and went on to reach the Sweet 16. Iowa State’s 29 wins last season were the second-most in program history.

Here is the predicted order of finish for the coming season by the USA TODAY Sports Network’s panel of eight Big 12 writers:

1. Kansas

2. Houston

3. Iowa State

4. Baylor

5. Arizona

6. Cincinnati

7. Texas Tech

8. Kansas State

9. BYU

10. TCU

11. UCF

12. West Virginia

13. Arizona State

14. Colorado

15. Oklahoma State

16. Utah

Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball: Cyclones preseason USA TODAY Big 12 poll rank