ISU coach, Fred Hoiberg.

ISU coach, Fred Hoiberg.

The Iowa State men are ranked 14th in the Associated Press preseason top-25 basektball poll. That’s the Cyclones’ highest preseason ranking since the 1996-97 season, when ISU was ranked 9th entering the season.

It is just the fourth time in school history that the Cyclones have been ranked in the preseason top-25. Iowa State returns three starters from last season’s Sweet 16 and faces Viterbo in an exhibition game in one week, before opening the season against Oakland on November 14th.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are just out of the top 25, getting votes that put them at 27.

Here’s the top 25:
1. Kentucky (52)
2. Arizona (5)
3. Wisconsin (8)
4. Duke
5. Kansas
6. North Carolina
7. Florida
8. Louisville
9. Virginia
10. Texas
11. Wichita State
12. Villanova
13. Gonzaga
14. Iowa State
15. VCU
16. San Diego State
17. UCONN
18. Michigan State
19. Oklahoma
20. Ohio State
21. Nebraska
22. SMU
23. Syracuse
24. Michigan
25. Harvard