The Cyclones will battle 9-seed Syracuse in the first round.
If they secure the win, they will await the winner of No. 1 UConn and No. 16 Texas, San Antonio
Updates regarding Iowa State and the March Madness bracket are published in Bracketology: Women’s March Madness
Henry Annen, Assistant Sports Editor
Iowa State started as one of the strongest teams in women’s college basketball, but it has failed to return to the level of excellence it achieved earlier in the year. Junior forward Addy Brown being back helps this team, but they do not survive the opening weekend. Iowa State defeats Syracuse in a nail-biter, 62-59 and gets bounced 75-54 by No. 1 seed UConn in the second.
Noah LaBlanc, Sports Reporter
The Cyclones are certainly not in the state that they were earlier in the season. They enter the tournament after an early exit in the Big 12 Tournament at the hands of Arizona State. Iowa State will make it by Syracuse in the first round, only to get bounced from the tournament in a dominant performance by UConn.
Marshall Woods, Sports Reporter
Iowa State will open the tournament with a dominant win over the Syracuse Orange, but will have to play against one of the best programs in recent college basketball history, the Connecticut Huskies. Iowa State will fight early on, but eventually fall to the Huskies 58-74 in the second round of March Madness.
UConn will take that momentum from their game versus the Cyclones, making their way to the Final Four and beating the UCLA Bruins 66-60 to win back-to-back national championships.
Noah Sever, Sports Reporter
Everyone seems to be counting out the Cyclones after a rough stretch to end the season and a first-round exit in the Big 12 Tournament. This is the very reason why Iowa State is gearing up to shock the women’s college basketball world.
In their first round matchup against the Syracuse Orange, Audi Crooks will dominate the paint, scoring 35 points and leading the team to a 71-59 victory. In the next round, this is why it’s called March Madness.
Iowa State will likely face the No. 1 overall seed, the UConn Huskies. UConn forward Sarah Strong and Iowa State forward Addy Brown will go back and forth with each other all game long, and Brown will sink a last-second jumper to defeat the Huskies 73-72.
The Cyclones’ run will end in the sweet sixteen, losing to No. 4 seed, the North Carolina Tar Heels, 76-69.
Dom Tornabane, Sports Reporter
The Iowa State Cyclones have been on a skid lately, losing early in the Big 12 tournament to an Arizona State team they should have beaten and because of this loss, it would be easy to lose a lot of faith in their chances at even making it past the first round.
However, this break of over two weeks has given the team time to sharpen up their plays, shooting and defense while strategizing for Syracuse. Because of the lengthy recovery time, the Cyclones’ front court of Addy Brown and Audi Crooks will be too much for the Orange, with the Cyclones winning in the round of 64, 83-67.
After this win, Iowa State will take on UConn, a powerhouse program that has steamrolled the competition all year. With a record of 34-0 and loaded with talent like Azzi Fudd, who is a projected top-three pick in the WNBA draft for 2026 and a front court to match the Cyclones, Iowa State will have too much to handle, losing 90-54 and exiting in the round of 32.
Lucas Vollmer, Sports Reporter
Iowa State will play its round of 64 game, where it will take care of Syracuse in a double-digit win. Syracuse allows their opponents to shoot a lot of twos and the Cyclones are sixth in the nation in field-goal percentage inside the three-point arc. Iowa State’s size and physical presence will be too much for Syracuse. 84-64 will be the final score.
After a big win, the Cyclones have the tall task of defeating the undefeated UConn Huskies. This was a rough draw for Iowa State and Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong will be too much for the Cyclones. Iowa State will lose 91-63 in the round of 32, not making it to the second weekend.
Zachary Petzold, Sports Reporter.
After their most recent skids that ended their Big 12 conference run early, it would be an even more difficult task to make a deep run in this NCAA bracket, as they have the unfortunate luck of being in undefeated UConn’s path as their round of 32 opponent. The almost two-week break since their last game will give Iowa State enough time to reset and take down their first-round opponent, Syracuse. But their second-round matchup with defending champions UConn will be close, ending with UConn advancing, winning 84-80.
Ian Morey, Sports Reporter
The Cyclones had some tough breaks this season, and unfortunately, their tournament run will follow the trend and end in the round of 32 after losing to undefeated No. 1 UConn. ISU is better than its record shows, which included a midseason slump and some tough injuries.
Their Big 12 tournament run to prove their strength was cut short after losing to Arizona State University, a team they easily handled towards the end of their regular season. If they had won, they could have made a case to improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament, but tough luck continued to follow, and they drew the dreaded 8-seed, which must play a region 1-seed. They got the worst draw of all, and barring a March miracle, will see their season come to an end. While ISU fans will remember more than the record this season, sometimes fate doesn’t go your way, and the Cyclones will look to bounce back next season, knowing they tried their best but just got unlucky.
Stephen Schwartz, Sports Reporter
Iowa State has had some ups and downs this season, from a promising 15-0 start to losing five games straight to pulling off an upset win at then No. 21 Texas Tech. The Cyclones did get bounced in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament by Arizona State. Syracuse is another challenge as they have also had an up-and-down season, but are trending towards inconsistency. I do see the Cyclones pulling off the victory over the Orange, but in the second round, the Huskies will take care of business and expose the inconsistencies and trounce them 76-54.
