It wasn’t even one minute after Iowa State discovered it was the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening when the team already had bulletin board material. 

CBS college basketball analyst Seth Davis picked Nevada — the 12-seed and Iowa State’s opponent in the first round in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — to pull out an upset victory on the NCAA Tournament bracket reveal broadcast. 

It was the same story last year. Davis picked Iona to upset the Cyclones in the first round of 2016 tournament. The Cyclones won. 

Usually I am the upset guy. This year couldn’t find many. Biggest is Iona over Iowa State in the first round.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 14, 2016

“I know Seth well. Seth’s been doubting us,” coach Steve Prohm said. “Doubted us last year. Doubts us this year… But we’ll prepare the right way and our guys will be ready to go. Maybe one day Seth will pick us.”

After Iowa State won the Big 12 Championship on Saturday — capping off a stretch where the Cyclones won 10 of 12 games — senior guard Naz Mitrou-Long  told the team in the post-game huddle that college basketball wouldn’t doubt the Cyclones anymore. 

It looks like it still is. 

“I don’t know remember the last time that we went into a game and were projected to win,” Mitrou-Long said. “I literally don’t remember the last time. This is no different. If we win this game, we’ll be projected to lose.”

But that underdog mentality has served the Cyclones well this season. In the preseason, the team harped on the fact that it was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12. They finished second. 

And in the middle of the season, there were NCAA Tournament doubts surrounding the Cyclones. Now they’re a No. 5 seed, which superseded a few national bracketologists’ projections on the final day. 

They’ve taken that chip-on-the-shoulder mentality and turned it into success. 

“I liked that it was going to be an upset because we’ve been proving people wrong the whole year,” senior Deonte Burton said. 

They’ll try to do it another time, but this time it’s in a location that’s just a six-hour drive away. The Iowa State fanbase is known for traveling well, and this time should be no exception. 

“It’s close,” Prohm said. “Cyclone Nation will travel well and hopefully it can be another home game for us.” 

But what looms just two games away may be even more enticing for Iowa State fans. Iowa State sits in the Midwest region, along with Kansas, which is the No. 1 seed.

If the Cyclones and Jayhawks win two games, they will play in the Sweet Sixteen. The location? The Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, where Iowa State just clinched the Big 12 Tournament title. 

“It’s good, but the same time, we don’t want to jump too early to that,” point guard Monte Morris said. “We’ve just got to stay focused and take it one game at a time.”