Road wins can be some of the biggest wins for teams. The tough test of competing against a crowd and a team is an added challenge in itself, along with the fact that teams are almost always better on their home floor.
The Cyclones will take on a competitive schedule of tough Big 12 teams on the road. Below are my projected rankings for the least to toughest teams Iowa State will play.
6 – Arizona
The Wildcats are coming off an embarrassing season that had only three home wins in conference play. However, Arizona had a respectable home record of 12-8 during the regular season. It will be a tough task for the Wildcats to defend home court against the Cyclones.
Arizona will lean on the returning guard, Sumayah Sugapong, who led the team in 3-pointers made and averaged 11.1 points per game last season.
Arizona also added four players from the transfer portal: One guard and three forwards. Point guard Aliyahna “Puff” Morris looks to add a scoring and passing boost alongside Sugapong. The top forward Arizona picked up is Breanna Williams from Maryland, who is looking for an increased role and production for this Wildcats team.
5 – UCF
UCF ended its season with a mediocre 11-19 overall record and did not defend its homecourt as well as desired this last season. UCF has lost nine players to the portal and has gathered a new team.
The Knight’s key returner will be Mahogany Chandler-Roberts, who was a key rebounder for the team, averaging 5.5 rebounds per game and averaging 7.7 points per game as well.
The standout transfers for the Knights are Mikayla Johnson and Keyera “Key” Roseby. Johnson put up respectable stats of 13 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a wing, and Roseby averaged 13.1 points per game and 6.6 points per game.
These two additions at forward hope to breathe some winning life into a UCF team that had a subpar year last season.
4 – Cincinnati
The Bearcats are hoping for a better season ahead and will face a tough matchup against Iowa State. They finished last season with an overall record of 11-20 and a home record of 7-9.
Cincinnati does have a lot of returners coming back to suit up, including their second-leading scorer, point guard Caliyah Devillasee. Devillasee will look to upgrade her scoring numbers even more after the departure of Mya Perry from last season, as well as continue to run the show as the team’s point guard and ball handler.
Cincinnati also added a couple of transfer portal additions to its team. Amber Bullard from Mount St. Mary’s is a great rebounder and rim protector that the Bearcats could gladly put into the rotation. Sahnya Jah is a wing from SMU who can help carry some of the scoring load for the Bearcats and rebound well for them.
3 – Arizona State
Arizona State had a great overall record last year of 24-11, but had its ups and downs when it came time to play in conference. They went 9-9 with one loss to Iowa State in conference play on the road, but knocked the Cyclones out of the Big 12 tournament.
The Sun Devils can return their two key starters, Heloisa Carrera and McKinna Brackens, to the 2026-27 team, which is great news for Arizona State’s frontcourt. Brackens and Carrera will be great matchups for the Cyclones frontcourt, as they combined for 33 points against Iowa State last year in the Big 12 tournament win against Iowa State.
ASU will look to continue to maintain a solid record with the addition of forward Ayanna-Sarai Darrington, Rashunda Jones, and Madi Morson.
Morson and Jones will be great backcourt additions for scoring purposes, especially Morson, who was the fastest player to reach 1,000 points in Central Michigan history.
Darrington will be a great wing option for Arizona State. Darrington also came from Central Michigan and was a great scoring option to pair with Morson, averaging nearly 15 points per game, and an elite rebounder, averaging 7.2 boards per game.
2 – Baylor
The Bears did not finish as well as they hoped last season, but they put together a very good season. They were upset in the Big 12 tournament, and they lost in the round of 32 to Duke.
Baylor hopes to bounce back this season, and they have the roster to compete with anyone in the Big 12.
Baylor returns their leading scorer, Taliah Scott, at the guard position, averaging 19.7 points per game last season. While the Bears lost the rebounding of Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, they are looking to replace that with Utah transfer Reese Ross. Ross averaged 8.2 rebounds per game last season.
The Bears have also added a well-rounded guard, Trinity Turner, who could potentially play alongside Scott. Turner was a two-way guard who averaged 10.9 points, five rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game at Georgia. These pairings will look to propel the Bears to one of the toughest challenges for Iowa State, especially considering they only lost two games last season.
1 – West Virginia
The Mountaineers rolled last season and are the reigning Big 12 conference champions. They look to be a great challenge for Iowa State for the upcoming season, as one of the best teams in the country.
The key to West Virginia’s success was its balanced scoring. Three of the four players who averaged double figures graduated for the Mountaineers, but top scorer Gia Cooke will be returning for her fourth year.
West Virginia hit the transfer portal hard, bringing in nine transfers. The main add-ons are Alexis Bordas, Skylar Forbes, Khyala Ngodu, Zahirah Walton and Kennedy Harris.
Bordas and Harris will be great additions to Cooke in the backcourt, providing high-level scoring while also bringing defense. Bordas averaged 1.5 steals per game and Harris averaged 3.2. This backcourt will look to shoot passing lanes and provide great on-ball pressure against opposing Big 12 guards.
Forbes, Ngodu and Walton will all be impact forwards for West Virginia in the upcoming season. All three averaged above 4.8 rebounds per game last season for their respective teams, and all have the capability of scoring the ball.
