Pavle Markovic, Sports Reporter
Iowa State 81, No. 5 Texas 76
After what was a dominating 85-68 win against No. 19 Oklahoma the day before, Iowa State takes a trip to the Big 12 Tournament championship in back-to-back seasons.
Ironically, it will also be back-to-back years that the Cyclones will take on the Texas Longhorns as well. This time around, No. 5 Texas will be looking to enact revenge upon Iowa State on Tuesday night, as this is the last matchup these two programs will have against each other as members of the Big 12.
During the regular season, these two teams only faced off once, as the Longhorns manhandled the Cyclones 81-60 in Austin, Texas. But the same was said going into Iowa State’s game against No. 19 Oklahoma, where the Cyclones had previously been beaten by a decent margin in the regular season, but the Cyclones ended up having the last laugh in the Big 12 Tournament.
Now I am not saying that matchup is going to exactly mirror this matchup. It would make a statement for No. 5 Texas to leave the Big 12 Conference with a conference title, and it will especially be enticing to beat the team it fell to the previous year.
In the end, I have the Longhorns leaving the conference in a less than ideal way, and have Iowa State repeat as Big 12 Tournament champions once again, to cap off a phenomenal conference season.
Brett Twelmeyer, Sports Reporter
Iowa State 76, No. 5 Texas 72
Yes, I am going all in. Iowa State will repeat as Big 12 champions.
I would like to go back and look at some interesting trends I found that led me to my decision to pick Iowa State.
The Cyclones are hot right now, with six wins in a row leading up to the title game. The last loss for the Cyclones was on the road against No. 5 Texas.
Last season, Iowa State went through Baylor, Oklahoma and then Texas to take the crown. This season, it is the exact same path.
Against teams the Cyclones have played twice this season, Iowa State has either swept that team or split them in the two-game series. This will be the second game against Texas this season and Texas already beat Iowa State, so that would mean Iowa State would split the series with the Longhorns by winning the Big 12 championship.
This team has gone through so much this season. The questions about the freshmen, Emily Ryan missing the first part of the season, the losing streak in the middle of Big 12 play and more. All of that adversity has strengthened the Cyclones and they find themselves in the championship when they were not expected to make it this far.
The final piece of the puzzle is the fans. I have been so impressed with the crowds Iowa State fans have brought to Kansas City.
I will admit, I was skeptical about the fans making the trip for the women’s tournament since it is now on a different week than the men’s tournament. Nevertheless, the fans showed up.
Call me crazy, insane even, but this team is not going to let this championship slip away. Iowa State will send both Oklahoma and Texas packing on the way out the door to claim a second-straight Big 12 championship.
