I hope everyone recovered from their Halloween adventures. In case you were wondering, I dressed up as David Stern in a throwback jersey, medallions and sunglasses.

Needless to say, 98 percent of those dressed up as nurses or cowgirls were extremely confused by my attire.

But, with Halloween behind us, it means November is here and Hilton Coliseum becomes a place of congregation again.

As much as Dan McCarney and his soon to be five-bowl-games-in-six-years-Cyclones are changing things, Iowa State is still a basketball school. And this year’s men’s team has as much excitement around it as any Cyclone team in a long while.

The first coaches’ poll of the season placed Wayne Morgan’s club at No. 23 in the nation. It is Iowa State’s highest preseason ranking since 1996, when Dedric Willoughby and Kelvin Cato were roaming Central Campus. (If you don’t recognize those two names, you are legally barred from entering Hilton).

Surprisingly enough, it is only the fourth time Iowa State has been ranked in the preseason. The Cyclones open up the exhibition season on Saturday against EA Sports, prompting this universal thought: “Do John Madden’s eyebrows start at power forward?” We can only hope.

But, despite the lofty ranking, this group still has some questions to answer before it can be declared NCAA Tournament-bound. Front and center is … the guys up front and at center (that was a terrible transition).

Gone are Jared Homan, Damion Staple and Aaron “Big Ags” Agnew. Those three guys weighed a combined 880 pounds. The four guys that are filling their shoes weigh a combined 860. That’s a difference of one and a half Olsen twins.

Shawn Taggart, Jessan Gray, Jiri Hubalek and Mike Evanovich are highly skilled and tremendous athletes, but the Big 12 is no prep school. Even the best newcomers take a while to adapt.

It took Staple and Jackson Vroman until February of their first year to finally look comfortable. If these guys can combine to average 30 points and 20 rebounds, Iowa State will challenge for the Big 12 title. Those are the magic numbers.

The guard play will be fantastic, if Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock can stay healthy. Knock on wood. I mean it, knock. Thanks.

The surprises of the first weeks of practice have been guard Tasheed Carr and small forward Anthony Davis. If these two, along with John “the forgotten one” Neal, can give the Cyclones a legitimate outside threat, it will open up the offense for Stinson, Blalock and Rahshon Clark to showcase their East Coast flavor. The Cyclones made nearly 100 fewer three-pointers than opponents last year. They can’t afford to do that again.

Post defense is also a concern. It’s often not appreciated, but Homan and Staple were solid defenders and didn’t back down to the likes of Kevin Bookout, Taj Gray and Brad Buckman. So, look for teams to attack the Cyclone interior like drunken White Sox fans attack first base coaches. Not literally, of course.

Regardless of the questions, this will be the most electric and athletic team Iowa State has had since the Ron Bayless and Justus Thigpen era. There is no doubt the Cyclones will make SportsCenter’s top 10 plays several times. But will they finish in the more important top 65? Let’s jump it up.

– Brent Blum is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.