Cyclones get a huge win

Make no mistake: Saturday's win in Boulder was huge.

The fact it came over struggling Colorado does not lessen the importance. ISU had so much riding on this game, fans could have expected another Cyclone flame-out they have grown accustomed to over the decades.

The win did all of the following things:

It cemented an NCAA bid in most observers eyes. The most important factor for potential at-large teams is their record over the last 10 games played. ISU is now 8-2, and will probably be 7-3 when the seeding are made.

It boosted ISU's RPI to #62. Not great, but it will be discounted due to ISU's play over the last 6 weeks.

It locked ISU into the #5 seed in the BXII tourney, where they draw Baylor. Lose, and they draw a team they lost to as some point in the schedule.

Most of all, it proved to critics- and the Cyclones themselves- that ISU can win a road game that matters, one that they needed to win.

They came from behind to do it, on the road, in a place that has given ISU fits over the years.

In a strange coincidence, ISU split with all 5 teams in the BXII North, and was able to beat the 3 teams on the road that won in Hilton. The CSJ staff will have to dig deep into the archives to find another occurance of that happening.

ISU had to win in Boulder, and they did. A loss would have been devestating to seeding, selection and pyche.

As an aside: Why would any team NOT play ISU the way the Buffaloes did today? Sag back into a zone, limit penetration, double and triple Homan when he gets the ball, and force ISU to make some 3's. Today, ISU did, which forced CU into a man-to-man, which is strangely in ISU's favor.

When you can handicap a team by forcing them to play their preferred style of defense, you have something interesting going on.

The rest of the weekend will be easier to handle knowing ISU has punched it's ticket to the NCAA's.

Peterclone