In full disclosure, I originally began to pen down some thoughts on January 11th about Iowa State’s chances to play NCAA Tournament games in Des Moines, one day before Iowa State’s crushing loss to the Kansas State Wildcats. Coming off two straight losses, it didn’t feel like this outcome was likely.
Since then, Iowa State has won 3 out of 4 with two wins against ranked teams on the road and a four point loss to Kansas. More importantly, they have shown flashes of being a legitimate Top 15 team in college basketball. So, after Iowa State’s curb stomping of the Ole Miss Rebels, fans immediately began to think of a Wells Fargo Arena full of cardinal and gold on March 21st.