What a basketball team!

I love these Iowa State Cyclones! It’s so great to watch the best basketball team our school has ever had. After all these years of cheering for the Cyclones, it feels good to reap the rewards. Never before has the ISU basketball team been ranked so high. Currently, they are ranked sixth in the Associated Press NCAA basketball poll. I love it.

It seems odd to look at the ratings and see Iowa State up there with perennial powerhouses like Kentucky, Villanova, Michigan, North Carolina, Indiana and Duke. Kansas doesn’t count in my view since ISU kicks its butt twice a year.

I also loved watching the Cyclones beat up on a wimpy Hawkeye team. ISU controlled the entire game, which included a 16-4 run midway through the first half. At one point the Cyclones led by 19 big ones.

This was ISU’s first real challenge this year, and they passed with flying colors. Can you say man-handled?

So do they deserve their No. 6 ranking? Hell, yeah!

OK, that’s the fan in me talking, but do they really deserve their No. 6 ranking? OK, maybe not. Maybe they are just a little overrated right now, but they definitely deserve to be in the top 15.

They will prove they deserve their Top 10 rating during conference play. Having Kenny Pratt return to the lineup will definitely be a major boost. I predict that by the time they beat Texas Tech on Jan. 25 at Hilton Coliseum, they will have a top-five spot.

Coach Tim Floyd should let Dedric Willoughby sit out during the upcoming ISU Holiday Classic (Dec. 21-22) so his ankle, wrist and hamstring can heal.

It gives me the willies when I see Dedric limping across the court. Big 12 competition will be tough and Floyd will need a rested Willoughby.

This team is good, of course, and should be able to hold a top-10 ranking through the conference games. They should be able to walk all over the Holiday Classic opponents East Tennessee State and the winner of the UTEP/Nevada-Reno game. Then the team will whip Texas-Pan American on Jan. 30.

The next major challenge will come on Jan. 4 in Missouri. This will test the team’s road game abilities, but I have a feeling, after seeing the team do pretty well on the road last year (except against Colorado), that they can pull it off. Missouri isn’t even on the “others receiving votes” part of the AP poll. Iowa at least got 14 votes.

The team should go undefeated at home this year (I believe in Hilton Magic) so after home games against Marquette and Oklahoma, ISU will travel to Lawrence, Kan., to face the Jayhawks.

I hate to say it, but I think the mighty Cyclones will lose that game, causing ISU to drop slightly in the polls, but voters will see their 12-1 record and keep them in the top 10.

The Cyclones should be able to win in Boulder, Colo., this year, I hope. Barring a freak loss to the Buffalo freaks, ISU will able to walk into Hilton on Jan. 22 and beat Kansas State.

By Jan. 25, Texas Tech will have climbed the AP poll from 18 to 13. ISU will be, oh, um, seventh. The game will be tough.

Tech is good, especially when Hamm is on, but Bankhead and ISU’s defense will prevail. As long as ISU out-rebounds the Red Raiders, the Cyclones will be champs, and the victory, I hope, will prove ISU’s high rating. The win will pole vault Iowa State to No. 5 in the nation right in the the thick of the season.

As for the rest of the season, look for the Cyclones, aided by the smallest big man in the country Kenny Pratt, to march all over the Big 12 competition and lose only three games during the regular season.

I’ll save any Big 12 and NCAA tournament predictions for a later date.

Teams often shift mentalities going into March Madness. I only hope the Cyclones will kick it into super high gear come tourney time.

Which games are losses? Being a Cyclone fan, I hope none of them will be, and I feel guilty for thinking they could possibly lose because when it comes to ISU basketball, I am an optimist.

Besides the Jan. 13 game at Kansas, I think the Cyclones might drop two in a row on the road in February against Kansas State and Texas.

I love this team! Go Cyclones!