Ten teams in the Big 12 Conference received votes for the Associated Press Women’s Top 25 this week – more than any other conference in the country.

It should come as no surprise that the Cyclones will face their third straight top-25 opponent when they battle the No. 24 Texas Longhorns tonight in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns are sure to be more fired up than usual – they will come into the game with a 0-2 conference start after having losses to Nebraska and Kansas State.

“Obviously, I’m sure right now that they’re in a really good mood after starting off 0-2,” head coach Bill Fennelly said jokingly.

With such a tough conference this year, Fennelly said the magic number for conference wins is eight if the Cyclones want to make the NCAA Tournament. With a win at Texas, they would be a quarter of the way there.

“Right now I’d be ecstatic [to be 2-1] because we can’t be 3-0, so I’d take 2-1,” Fennelly said. “I think that every team in this league right now is looking at it saying, ‘How do you get to eight wins?’ That’s the magic number, in a BCS league, is at least get to .500.”

Junior guard Denae Stuckey claims the Cyclones will be prepared for the Longhorns and that the team will expect an extremely aggressive and athletic Texas team.

“Going against Texas, I believe we can win,” Stuckey said. “We have a really good team, and I know we can have success even though they have a lot of aggression and athletic ability.

“We will be prepared to go out there and win,” Stuckey said.

Nicky Wieben, junior center, said preparation is a key factor in the success of teams, especially in a league as talented from top to bottom as the Big 12 is this season.

“On any given night, really, it’s whatever team comes more prepared to play is the team that’s going to win,” Wieben said.

The Cyclones haven’t beaten the Longhorns in Austin since the 1999-2000 season, when they won 79-66 – their only victory ever in Austin. In their last two visits they have lost by an average of 26 points.

Even with all this stacked up against them, Fennelly said his team has to go in with a confident mentality if they want positive results.

“Let’s go to Texas and win, let’s get 2-1, let’s get two road wins, let’s come home with that kind of mentality, that’s what we got to work towards,” Fennelly said.

The game will tip off from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin at 7 p.m.