BERKELEY, Calif. – On paper, Monday night’s game between No. 4 Iowa State and No. 2 Stanford may not seem like a sure bet for a close match-up.

Armed with a starting line-up that has a combined 9 inches on the Cyclones’ Five, and an offense averaging 76.4 points per game, the Cardinal are a team playing like a squad that was snubbed out of a No. 1 seed.

After an astounding stretch run, however, that was topped with a comeback Elite Eight win against Michigan State, Iowa State has put its self on the same level as the seven other teams remaining in the tournament.

“Despite what many people think, we are going to show up tomorrow,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said half jokingly at the pre-game press conference on Sunday. “There have been a lot of things written about how maybe it’s a waste of time. But the NCAA tells us we need to show up and play, and we’re going to play tomorrow.”

With their early-season 38-point loss to Stanford on Nov. 29th feeling like distant history, the Cyclones are playing like completely different team than the one that showed up against the Cardinal in November.

All five starters for the Cyclones are averaging double figures during their tournament run, including guard Alison Lacey’s 20 ppg.

Keep in mind, Stanford has improved as well, entering its game against Iowa State on a 19-game win streak.

But as Fennelly said, it only takes one game.

“It would be an upset of monumental proportions if we won the game, but that’s why this tournament is great,” he said. “We only have to beat them once. If this was a 9-10 game playoff series, it probably wouldn’t be much fun. But we’re excited about the opportunity to continue”