Do you remember 2004?

Iowa State had a new head coach, Wayne Morgan, who had been hired in the wake of Larry Eustachy’s wild, scandalous departure. The Cyclones had a bright future with freshmen guards Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock.

The Cyclones opened the Big 12 season with games against Missouri, Nebraska and Colorado, none of which are in the Big 12 today. After playing Baylor in Big 12 game No. 4, the Cyclones took on conference foe Texas A&M (also no longer in the league).

But that was three Iowa State coaches ago. A lot has happened since that 2003-04 season, which happened to be the last time a team not named Kansas has won the Big 12 outright.

Kansas is annoyingly good. Bill Self got bored of the regular season so he changed the sliders so he could skip to the postseason and not have to worry.

However, for the first time in several years, there’s a team in Ames capable of dethroning the Jayhawks.

Putting it in perspective

It’s like that scene in “Field of Dreams” where James Earl Jones eloquently teaches Kevin Costner about baseball’s role in America over time. How did that go again?

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. Baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good — and it could be again.”

Replace “Baseball” with “Kansas,” and “America” with “Big 12” and you essentially have the last 15 years of basketball in the midwest. Kansas basketball has always been there.

What do Lamarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan have in common? They’ve all been named All-NBA players and they’ve all played in the Big 12, only to watch Kansas win the league over their team.

Iowa State’s case

I don’t know if they’ll get it done, but I do know this Iowa State team could win the Big 12 outright.

Coach Steve Prohm’s squad checks all the boxes.

The Cyclones have top-end talent. Redshirt senior guard Marial Shayok is currently the league’s leading scorer at 19.4 points per game. The Cyclones also have the league’s leader in steals per game (freshman Tyrese Haliburton with 2.0 per game) and two of the top three Big 12 players in assists (Haliburton and redshirt senior Nick Weiler-Babb, 4.2 and 4.0 per game, respectively).

Iowa State also has depth, thanks to backup big men George Conditt IV and Cameron Lard and sophomore guard Lindell Wigginton, who averaged over 16 points per game last year and is now coming off the bench.

Most importantly, Iowa State is responsible for two big losses in the Big 12. Kansas and Texas Tech are tied for the league’s lead at 4-1 each. Both of their losses are to Iowa State.

It’s still incredibly early in the Big 12 season. We’re not yet one-third of the way through, but Iowa State controls its own destiny in a very important way. The worst case scenario for Iowa State would be ties with Texas Tech and Kansas if the Cyclones lose the rematches to both teams.

KenPom currently has Iowa State projected to finish 11-7 in the Big 12, while Kansas (13-5) and Texas Tech (12-6) finish ahead of the Cyclones.

When other teams have tied Kansas in the past, such as Kansas State in 2012-13 or Texas in 2007-08, the common denominator has been their balance. The Texas team in 07-08 had D.J. Augustin, Damion James, A.J. Abrams and Dexter Pittman taking significant roles. Kansas State earlier this decade had Rodney McGruder, Angel Rodriguez, Thomas Gipson and a strong cast of role players. Neither that Texas team nor the Kansas State team had just one star player, just as Iowa State doesn’t have one this season.

The grind of the Big 12 is such that one player having a bad night will throw teams off. Iowa State has the balance to eke out wins when Shayok or redshirt junior Michael Jacobson have an off night. Along that same line, the Cyclones currently rank 19th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency (per KenPom) and 21st in adjusted defensive efficiency. They’re one of the most balanced teams in the nation, able to play at slow paces against great defenses like Texas Tech while also keeping pace at full throttle against the Kansas’ of the league.

If Iowa State can protect its home court, the path is there. Big wins over Texas Tech and Kansas have propelled Iowa State into the conversation already. Now, the Cyclones have the chance to do what the Big 12 has failed to do since 2004.