The fifth ranked Iowa State men take lofty expectations into Monday night’s season opener at home against Mississippi Valley State. The Cyclones have their top four scorers back from last year’s team that played in the Sweet Sixteen.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger who says there is a lot to learn in an opener.

Senior guard Curtis Jones says The Cyclones are ready for the opener.

Jones says the Cyclones have high hopes for the season.

Six-11 Charlotte transfer Dishon Jackson is ready for his Hilton Coliseum debut.

The Iowa Hawkeye men open the new basketball season Monday night by hosting Texas A@M Commerce. After averaging nearly nine points per game last season junior guard Josh Dix is expected to have an even bigger impact this season.

Dix says Hawkeye coach Fran McCaffery has encouraged him to be more aggressive on offense.

It will be a short week for the Iowa football team as the Hawkeyes get ready for Friday night’s game at UCLA. In his first start at quarterback Brendan Sullivan led the Hawkeyes to a 42-10 win over Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes had 329 yards of rushing and in just over six quarters of action Sullivan had directed the offense to 10 touchdowns.

That’s Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. Sullivan passed for only 93 yards but had a scoring pass. He also rushed for 58 yards and touchdown and Ferentz says his mobility is a plus.

Iowa is 6-3 overall.

Iowa State falls six spots to 17th in the latest AP College Football Poll. Texas Tech scored a touchdown in the waning seconds to stun ISU 23-22 and spoiling their bid for the first 8-0 start in program history.

That’s ISU coach Matt Campbell who is confident his team will respond after the loss.

Eight penalties and two turnovers hurt Iowa State’s cause.

The Cyclones play Kansas in Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday.

The Audubon Wheelers had a sharp 42-18 win against the Woodbine Tigers on Friday night thanks to an overwhelming rushing attack and physical defense. The Wheelers did not waste much time scoring first with a 31-yard dashing score by Aaron Olsen to put Audubon up 6-0, barely two and a half minutes into the ball game. Woodbine’s response was to look to their pass game and quarterback Brody Pryor to lead them down the field. After a few meticulous throws by Pryor, he handed the ball off to Micah Moores from nine yards out to tie it up at 6-6. A few plays later, Audubon quarterback found Olsen down the sideline on a 29-yard touchdown throw giving Audubon a 12-6 lead that they would never relinquish for the rest of the night.

In the following series the Wheelers defense held firm forcing a punt that was botched near the goal line and scooped up by Audubon’s Ely Jorgensen for a defensive touchdown making the lead now 20-6. The defense for Audubon continued to control the line of scrimmage against the Tigers and that produced two more Audubon touchdowns, one a 15-yard catch and throw to Brody Weber, and the other a 58-yard touchdown sprint by Wessel. The game suddenly turned into a mismatch with the Wheelers now leading 34-6 midway through the second quarter. The second quarter did see a 62-yard touchdown pass from Pryor to Landon Blum, but that was diminished by the Woodbine’s two interceptions and turnover on downs near the endzone. At the half the Wheelers led 34-12.

The third quarter saw more miscues for Woodbine with a mishandled punt being leaked out from the tigers return man and recovered by the Wheelers inside the Tigers 20. Audubon would throw an interception of their own on the following drive to give Woodbine decent field position. But the Tigers ensuing drive would end in bitter fashion with an interception thrown into the endzone on a first and goal.

The Wheelers final score of the game was in the fourth quarter, on a third and goal from the Woodbine one yard line Wessel churned his way through multiple defenders to give his team one more touchdown. It was then a 42-12 ball game. The Tigers did have one more score left in them when Pryor connected with Dillon Reed from 27 yards away in the endzone to make a final 42-18 score.

On a night where a quarterfinal trip was on the line, the Audubon defense came through big time forcing four interceptions and key scoring opportunities on special teams. Olsen had another standout night for his team having two takeaways of his own. Wheelers head coach Sean Birks has been constantly impressed by the effort he has shown all year.

Coach Birks also gave praise to the way his defense held their composure throughout Friday’s battle.

The Audubon offense had 267 yards of rushing with Wessel accounting for 176 yards of it. The Wheelers also ran for three touchdowns. Friday’s win was not only special for coach Birks because of the advancement in the playoffs, but also because the victory marked 100 career wins for Birks.

Woodbine was ked in offense by Pryor passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Moores was the leading rusher with 13 carries, 35 yards, and one touchdown. Friday’s win propels Audubon to the quarterfinals against Remsen St. Marys next Thursday night. The Tiger’s loss ends their season with a final record of 8-2.

AMES, Iowa – Sophomore Audi Crooks added to her preseason accolades on Friday as she was named to the Lisa Leslie Award Watchlist. One of the nation’s top centers, Crooks averaged 19.2 points while shooting nearly 58 percent from the floor as a freshman in 2023-24.

The Algona, Iowa native enters her sophomore season following one of the most accomplished freshman seasons in Iowa State women’s basketball history. She became the first Cyclone freshman to earn AP All-America Honorable Mention honors, a unanimous All-Big 12 First-Team selection and a spot on the Big 12 All-Tournament team. Crooks set Iowa State freshman season records for points (635), made free throws (114) and made field goals (258) while posting the third-highest season rebound total (259) behind classmate Addy Brown. Her season made field goals also set the program record regardless of class while points (6th) and scoring average (8th) were also top 10 all-time marks.

Making steady progress throughout her rookie season, Crooks captured national attention in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Suffering a 20-point third-quarter deficit against No. 10-seed Maryland, Iowa State rallied to a 93-86 victory over to advance to the second round for the 13th time in program history. Crooks led the comeback, finishing with 40 points on 18-of-20 field goals. It was just the second time in men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament history that a player scored 40 or more points on 90 percent shooting from the floor. She also pulled down 12 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.

Iowa State will officially open the regular season Monday morning against Chicago State. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. in Hilton Coliseum.

WACO, Texas – The Iowa State women’s cross country team finished seventh at the 2024 Big 12 Cross Country Championships on Friday morning. Maelle Porcher led the Cyclones with a ninth-place individual finish to earn All-Big 12 honors for the second time in her ISU career.

“Today was a great day to get one last mega effort for our teams before moving to the NCAA Regional meet,” said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeremy Sudbury.

Porcher finished among a pack of runners, edging BYU’s Carmen Alder for ninth place by over a half-second with her time of 19:58.18.

Bella Heikes (20:51.17) and Riley Beach (20:51.65) were the next scorers for Iowa State, finishing 40th and 41st, respectively. They were followed closely by freshman Ruby Hughes, who crossed the finish line in 21:06.42 for a 47th place finish.

Sheridan Wheeler (50th), Taylor Briggs (52nd) and Kiki Connell (61st) rounded out Cyclone scorers at the conference meet, helping Iowa State hold a comfortable advantage over Kansas, 171-230.

“The women put together their best race of the year and are trending the right way,” stated Sudbury. “Coach (Cale) Wallace has the group improving each week.”

Up Next
Iowa State travels to Peoria, Illinois for the 2024 NCAA Midwest Regional Championship. The Cyclones finished second in Stillwater last season to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. This year’s Midwest Regional is set to start at 11:00 a.m. on November 15.

Team Results
1. No. 1 BYU, 41; 2. No. 4 West Virginia, 60; 3. No. 6 Utah, 86; 4. No. 18 Oklahoma State, 103; 5. Texas Tech, 155; 6. Colorado, 165; 7. Iowa State, 171; 8. Kansas, 230; 9. Arizona State, 316; 10. Kansas State, 319; 11. Cincinnati, 320; 12. UCF, 350; 13. Baylor, 363; 14. TCU, 371; 15. Houston, 391; 16. Arizona, 463

Individual Results
1. Ceili McCabe, West Virginia, 19:02.60; 9. Maelle Porcher, Iowa State, 19:58.18; 40. Bella Heikes, Iowa State, 20:51.17; 41. Riley Beach, Iowa State, 20:51.65; 47. Ruby Hughes, Iowa State, 21:06.42; 50. Sheridan Wheeler, Iowa State, 21:09.91; 52. Taylor Briggs, Iowa State, 21:10.89; 61. Kiki Connell, Iowa State, 21:27.00; 62. Aspen Fulbright, Iowa State, 21:27.32; 65. Becca Heitzig, Iowa State, 21:33.36; 68. Ashlyn Keeney, Iowa State, 21:41.10

With a month remaining Iowa State controls its own destiny in the Big 12 race as well as the college football playoff. The 11th ranked Cyclones look to go 8-0 for the first time with a homecoming win over Texas Tech. The Red Raiders have fallen off the pace after back-to-back losses to Baylor and TCU and starting quarterback Behern Morton is questionable after being knocked out of last week’s game with an injury to his non throwing shoulder. Cyclone coach Matt Campbell says the Tech offense has been dangerous no matter who is under center.

Campbell says the Red Raiders have had success with a number of different quarterbacks the past few years.

Campbell says the bye week allowed the Cyclones to get healthy are prepared for the final month.

Brendan Sullivan gets his first start at quarterback for Iowa when the Hawkeyes host Wisconsin. The Northwestern transfer ignited the Hawkeyes to a 40-14 win over his former team and his ability to run gives them an added weapon. With Cade McNamara unavailable due to injury coach Kirk Ferentz would like to see Sullivan use his head when relying on his legs.

Both teams are 5-3 and Ferentz expects another tough and physical battle.

Ferentz remembers hist first game as Iowa coach against Wisconsin as a learning experience for the program. It was a 41-3 Badger victory in 1999.

 Class 8-Player State Second Round 

Pod A

Lenox – 41 vs Ar-We-Va – 6

Montezuma 32 Bedford 28

Pod D

Audubon – 42 vs Woodbine – 12

Remsen St. Mary’s – 42 vs CAM – 6

 Class A State Second Round 

Pod B

Tri-Center – 58 vs Riverside – 13

ACGC – 41 vs Mount Ayr 14

Class 1A State Second Round 

Pod C

Underwood – 21 vs Treynor – 20

Hinton – 21 vs OABCIG – 14

Pod D

Regina Catholic – 35 vs Woodward-Granger – 14

Class 2A State Second Round 

Pod A

Kuemper Catholic – 24 vs Central Lyon/George-Little Rock – 14

West Lyon – 42 vs Western Christian – 7

Pod D

Van Meter – 47 vs West Marshall – 0

Anamosa – 48 vs West Burlington – 20

Class 3A State First Round 

Pod D

Algona – 49 vs Harlan – 6

Mount Vernon – 42 vs Carroll – 6

Pod B

Nevada – 21 vs Bishop Heelan Catholic – 14

Pod B: Sergeant Bluff-Luton – 35 vs MOC-Floyd Valley – 17

Class 4A State First Round 

Pod D

Lewis Central – 28 vs Ballard – 10

ADM – 43 vs Spencer – 13