According to the Big 12 Coaches Preseason Poll, the ISU women’s basketball team (18-10, 7-8 Big 12) should have finished in sixth place in the conference this season.

Pending the results of the team’s final game Wednesday at Nebraska (19-10, 8-7 Big 12) they may very well finish in that exact spot. So coach Bill Fennelly receiving any mention for Big 12 Coach of the Year would be absurd, right?

Wrong.

Fennelly has taken an injury-riddled season in which his team could have fallen to the depths of the conference – and has his team on the verge of an NCAA tournament bid.

And if that wasn’t enough, his previous achievements in the Big 12 speak volumes.

Fennelly hasn’t won the Coach of the Year since the Big 12 formed in 1996. This is surprising when you consider the Cyclones have the third-best record in Big 12 history and the second best record in conference tournament history. In 2000, the Cyclones finished tied for first in the conference. On the national level, Fennelly has the 18th-best winning percentage of all time in women’s basketball.

It’s not as though his performance at Iowa State has gone unnoticed. He is a three-time finalist for the Naismith College Coach of the Year Award (in 2001, 2002, 2005), and in 1998 he was the runner-up to Tennessee’s Pat Summitt in The Associated Press’ Women’s Coach of the Year voting.

But the resurrection of this particular season has been nothing short of spectacular, according to his players.

“He’s been able to keep us consistently motivated this season,” said junior Amanda Nisleit. “He’s done it throughout the ups and the downs, and he knows his X’s and O’s so well – it’s amazing. He has us so prepared for every game.”

Sophomore Alison Lacey says it’s the dedication and the unique knowledge of the game that has her coach at the highest level.

“The hours he puts in and the things he thinks about make him great,” said Lacey. “His scouting reports are amazing. He looks through all the numbers, who’s shooting, who’s not – he always knows what every player is going to do.”

Lacey says that Fennelly’s intelligence may be he biggest asset.

“He’s by far the smartest coach I’ve been around,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve found another coach as passionate as he is.”

However, Fennelly feels he didn’t use his knowledge the right way while earning his bacehlor’s degree from William Penn University in the late 1970s. The Cyclones are slightly on the bubble for the NCAA tournament going into their final game, and Fennelly jokingly claims a different route in college may have given him more answers now.

“Everyone loves to talk about teams on the bubble,” Fennelly said. “It’s a sport all its own. I wish I could’ve majored in bracketology in college rather than economics. It’d have been a lot more fun.”

The Cyclones will probably make it into the tournament. But a win in Lincoln, Neb., would go a long way toward securing a berth.

The Cyclones are 10-19 all-time in Lincoln and have already been handed one loss by the Huskers in Ames earlier this season. According to Fennelly, Lincoln is never a fun place to visit.

“We’ve always had a tough time there. Always,” Fennelly said.

Maybe a win could solidify an NCAA berth and a first-ever Coach of the Year award for Fennelly.

“I might be a little biased, but I think he should get the award,” Lacey said. “With what we’ve had to overcome, and where he’s got us – I think he deserves it more than anyone in the league right now.”