All things considered, Iowa State enters this week with two likely wins staring back at it.

The Cyclones (15-5, 4-3 Big 12) play both Wednesday’s game against West Virginia and Saturday’s game against Texas at home. Those two teams are a combined 4-10 in Big 12 games, including 1-6 on the road.

That makes this week the most important of the Big 12 season for Iowa State, which could take a commanding position in the league standings with two wins.

“It’s big for us,” said freshman guard Tyrese Haliburton. “You’ve gotta take care of home court in conference play.”

Iowa State is currently one game back of leaders Kansas and Kansas State (5-2). The good news for the Cyclones, of course, is that they’ve already played both games with Kansas, winning one and losing one. Iowa State also has its road game with Texas Tech — the nation’s 16th-ranked team — out of the way.

With two wins this week, the Cyclones would move to 6-3 in league play at the halfway point. That’s a 12-6 pace, which would have been good for second place last season. Coach Steve Prohm talks about going 1-0 each day — focusing on the next game rather than getting lost in the big picture — but it’s easy to look ahead, given the Cyclones’ schedule after this week.

There’s no doubt a loss would derail Iowa State’s hopes. You can’t drop a home game to a below .500 team in the Big 12 and still have a realistic shot to knock off Kansas.

The Big 12 isn’t won by beating Kansas straight-up. It’s won by winning the games you should win and defending home court.

“It’s big,” said freshman guard Talen Horton-Tucker about winning at home. “We lost against Kansas State [at home]. We always wanna protect our home court so it’s gonna be an important one for us.”

Here’s how I see it: Iowa State and Kansas are the two teams who can reasonably win the Big 12.

Kansas State has been operating with a razor-thin margin, owning the nation’s 204th-rated offense per KenPom, and a ranking of No. 42 by KenPom.

The Wildcats are 5-2 in league play, but they haven’t played Kansas yet and two of their wins are by a combined three points (over West Virginia and Iowa State). There’s a reason KenPom has Kansas State finishing 10-8 in the Big 12 with three teams ahead.

Now, onto Kansas.

The Jayhawks have won at least a share of the Big 12 every season since 2004-05. Their coaches and players know nothing but dominance within the conference.

Iowa State’s advantage? The Cyclones have played three of their hardest games this season — both games with Kansas and the road game against Texas Tech.

Five of Iowa State’s remaining 11 games are against teams with .500 records or better in Big 12 play. Kansas and Kansas State both play six, including each other twice. There’s going to be blood at the top of the league, but Iowa State can avoid that by winning at home.

KenPom, for example, gives Iowa State a 47 percent chance or better in every remaining game, and a 50 percent chance or better in nine of the remaining 11. There’s no reason Iowa State shouldn’t finish with eight or nine wins in its final 11, but that starts with this week.

If Iowa State takes care of business against West Virginia and Texas, the Big 12 title dream stays alive another week.