The 2025-26 college women’s basketball season is still months away. But it’s not too soon to start thinking about how good it could be for Iowa State.
The Cyclones are listed in ESPN.com’s Women’s NCAA basketball Way-Too-Early Top 25. ESPN women’s basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme compiled the list.
Advertisement
Creme thinks highly of the Cyclones, putting them at No. 13 in the nation. It comes after Iowa State finished the 2024-25 season with a 23-12 mark and a loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Expectations were high for the Cyclones at the start of that season as well. Iowa State began the year ranked in the Top 10 of the Associated Press and USA TODAY Sports Network Coaches’ polls.
More: Iowa State women’s basketball: How the Cyclones kept stars Addy Brown and Audi Crooks
But Iowa State fell short of expectations despite bringing back most of its roster from a successful 2023-24 season. The Cyclones fell out of the rankings and barely got into the NCAA Tournament.
Advertisement
The Cyclones played in one of the First Four games of March Madness, picking up a victory over Princeton. Iowa State then lost to Michigan in the first round.
Still, Creme likes what he sees from the Cyclones moving forward. Iowa State brings back its top two scorers in Audi Crooks and Addy Brown. Iowa State also added Arizona guard Jada Williams from the transfer portal.
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at [email protected] or 515-284-8468
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State women’s basketball ranked in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25
