PETE: Was Iowa State an NCAA Tournament selection committee darling? Here’s a vote for hell-ya, when comparing Cyclones and Wisconsin

Let’s put it this way. The NCAA Tournament selection committee liked Iowa State more than it liked Wisconsin. Heck, the committee liked T.J. Otzelberger’s team more than a lot of comparable considerations.

Here’s another observation about the committee making the 24-9 Cyclones a third-seed in the upcoming Tournament:

Committee concern about star guard Keshon Gilbert missing the tournament due to a strained groin, and star Tamin Lipsey’s groin soreness? Only mildly, if that, apparently.

And so much for the notion Iowa State would fall to a fourth seed, after losing four of its last seven games. So much for dropping a seed line, where a No. 1 awaits in the Sweet 16.

Yeah, the committee liked Iowa State. I mean:

Destination: Milwaukee, where not only was Otzelberger born and raised, but also the site he led his first Cyclones team to victories against LSU and (ahem) Wisconsin, en route to the Sweet 16. “When we played there in our first year, I was able to have coaches that coached me through the years and mentors -- folks that mean a lot to me -- were able to be in attendance. So that was selfishly for me. That was a cool experience. And, you know, I played high school basketball a couple blocks away from Fiserv Arena, state championship game my sophomore year, and played a lot of ball around there. So, Milwaukee is a special place, certainly for me.”

Seed: While the committee placed three-seed Iowa State in Milwaukee, three-seed Wisconsin opens the Tournament in Denver.

Opening weekend draw: Lipscomb is 25-9 is ranked 83rd by Ken Pom. Beat the Bisons on Friday, then face either Ole Miss or the winner of a play-game. Wisconsin you wonder? Montana, and then either VCU or very dangerous BYU.

Considering all the circumstances, and there have been many, Iowa State got a favorable draw for Otzelberger’s fourth NCAA Tournament in the four seasons since he made Cyclones basketball relevant again.

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Let’s be careful before jumping to a wrong conclusion about Gilbert. Injuries, especially muscle strains like a groin, don’t exactly heal quickly. Sometimes they never heal.

They’re as unpredictable as seeds and placements in the NCAA Tournament.

With that said, Otzelberger’s Sunday announcement that Gilbert (a senior) would not again play for Iowa State, leaves some questions.

He’s missed four of the past seven games with a groin strain, so there’s that, and effectively, his college career is over.

“With Keshon, we decided that he needs to focus on his rehab and getting his body back right,” Otzelberger said Sunday. “He won't be available as we move forward.”

Was the groin injured so severely, that it wouldn’t heal before Friday? Again, muscle injuries are unpredictable. And if Gilbert didn’t feel comfortable at least testing the injury this week, then that’s OK. You don’t want a player worrying as much about an injury, as his defensive assignment.

You want a player’s focus on the game, and nothing else, and it’s better to find that out on Sunday, than during pre-game warmups Friday. Now, there’s time to work further work on the rotations Iowa State utilized when Gilbert didn’t play.

Bottom line: You can’t expect everyone to have Lipsey’s threshold of pain.

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Don’t get so caught up second-guessing Iowa State’s seed, that you forget just how good Otzelberger’s team can be – even without Gilbert.

Getting to play in Milwaukee, and the thousands of Cyclones fans that will travel to the game, can off-set a lot of adversity – as long as Iowa State’s reserves continue to play significantly.

Iowa State, remember, lost against overall top-ranked Auburn on a walk-off tip-in back in November. This team won 15 of the first 16 games, including in overtime at tough-to-win Lubbock, Texas. This team has one of the top perimeter mismatches in the entire country, the best off-the-bench player, and multiple defenders that can guard the heck out of opponents.

And, by the way, that mismatch is slick-shooting 6-foot-7 Milan Momcilovic, who was raised 15 or so miles from the site of Friday’s game, and here’s one more on which to gnaw:

I saw this CBS statistic that flashed on the TV screen during the Iowa State-Kansas State game. It didn’t mean much to me at the time, but while watching the Cyclones-Cincinnati Big 12 tournament game, it popped into my mind.

The graphic was about each NCAA Tournament champion since 2002 having four of these five statistics:

Top 40 in adjusted offense.

Top 40 in adjusted defense.

Opponent 2-point field goal defense 50% or less.
Three players averaging 10 points or more.

Coach with Sweet 16 experience.

You know where Iowa State ranked after two games in downtown KC?

Offense:20th

Defense: 9th

2-point defense: 47.4%

3 players averaging 10 or more:Curtis Jones 17.1, Joshua Jefferson 13.0, Momcilovic 11.4, and Tamin Lipsey 10.8. Gilbert’s 13.4-point average will have to be made up by a committee of reserves.

Sweet 16 coaching experience:T.J. Otzelberger 2.

Carrying out that graphic nationally, the pool of 2025 NCAA Tournament title contenders has been narrowed to eight – Auburn, Duke, Houston, Iowa State, Arizona, St. John’s, Tennessee, and Illinois.

What’s this mean for the Cyclones?

It means they’ve got the analytical pedigree to at least reach the Final Four.

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Iowa State didn’t get as much love from the women’s selection committee. The Cyclones were a first-four selection, against Princeton in Birmingham.

That’s about where bracketologists pegged Bill Fennelly’s team, so there’s that. There’s also a chance for a predominately young team to play in another NCAA Tournament. That’s significant.

(Award-winning columnist Randy Peterson can be, and has been, reached at randypete4846@gmail.com or at any Okoboji-area beverage/food establishment between the hours of open and close.)