Plenty Left on the Table for Iowa State

Iowa State season is at a bit of a crossroads. They find themselves searching for who they are truly going to be and how they are going to be defined once this season is said and done. This close to March? It appears that’s where we find ourselves.

This Cyclone team has had it's fair share of great moments, with what seems like an equal amount of painfully frustrating ones. Just in the last week, we’ve seen two bad losses at home to TCU and Baylor, and one huge win on the road at Kansas State. Which leaves most fans frustrated and confused.

The Big 12 regular season title is really far off in the distance, and barring some major help, it’s probably time to move on from that goal and readjust the sights. While it sucks for the fans, it still leads to one unchanging truth: there is still plenty left on the table for Iowa State.

See, the beauty of college basketball is that there are many ways to have an outstanding season. You can win your conference title outright, win your conference tournament and make an NCAA Tournament run, or go win the whole damn thing. The sky has not fallen, and Iowa State can do two of those things yet this season.

The Cyclones are extremely talented, and have shown they can play in hostile environments on the road. While they’re vulnerable to playing down to inferior teams at times, they’re equally capable of hanging with the best of the best. All of these things can help set up for a deep run into March, but the Cyclones will need to be more consistent if they hope to turn their enormous potential into tangible postseason wins. They can easily lay a dud and find a quick exit out of the NCAA Tournament, which we all know that pain too well.

Thankfully, the season did not end over the course of last week, and they will indeed have another game this Saturday at TCU. That game will be step one in determining which course they want to take, and I can’t wait for it.

While we may be frustrated at what the Cyclones have left on the table up to this point, there is still a healthy plate of opportunity sitting right in front of this Iowa State team. It’s just up to them to eat it.