College basketball rankings: No. 3 Iowa State continues to roll as Cyclones take down rival Iowa

I don’t think there’s a lottery pick on Iowa State’s roster. There might not be a first-round pick. I wouldn’t bet my 401K that there’s a second-round pick.

Perhaps that’s why folks remain skeptical.

(I don’t know.)

But when a program has been as consistently great as Iowa State’s program has been over multiple seasons with a lot of the same important players, it’s probably wise to just believe what you’re seeing.

So what are we seeing?

Undeniably, what we’re seeing for the second straight season is that TJ Otzelberger has a legitimate national championship contender. The Cyclones went 29-8 last season, finished second in the best conference, got a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, made the Sweet 16 and brought back the top four scorers from that team.

So this team should be good.

And it is!

Iowa State went on the road Thursday night, played their in-state rival (Iowa), fell behind by 13 but ultimately won 89-80 to improve to 8-1 on the season with the loss coming on a neutral court to Auburn, 83-81. Bruce Pearl’s Tigers are No. 2 in Friday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.

Iowa State is No. 3.

If you’re into computers, you might be interested to know that Iowa State is projected as a favorite in each of its next 17 games, according to KenPom.com. The next time the Cyclones should be an underdog is at Houston on Feb. 22.