Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger is glad the Big-12 focused on regional rivalries in next season’s schedule. Of the five teams the Cyclones play twice next season in the league race two of them are Kansas State and Kansas.

Otzelberger says they tried to balance the schedule from a competitive standpoint as much as possible.

Otzelberger says the new 20-game conference schedule will be demanding.

Last season the Cyclones did not play at Kansas and senior guard Curtis Jones is looking forward to playing in Phog Allen Field House.

Jones says the Big-12 schedule will be even more demanding next season with the addition of Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado.