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USA Today bracketologist Shelby Mast joined the podcast to discuss where Iowa State stands after the big win over Kansas and a tough loss to the Texas Longhorns. Some have argued that the Kansas win was almost worth two wins. Is this a fair assessment?

We looked into our crystal ball and tried to predict what type of finish the Cyclones would have to have in order to make the NCAA tournament. Remember, Shelby makes his predictions based on current resumes, not projected resumes. We did ask him to make a projection though.

Just how many teams can the Big 12 expect to get in the NCAA tournament? Will teams like TCU and Texas Tech sneak in or come up short? Shelby thinks the conference will get between 5 and 7 teams in the dance.

The committee is scheduled to release their top 16 teams at this point in the season on Saturday evening. It is pretty obvious that this “bracket release” will mean very little in the grand scheme of things, but what does it mean for bracketologists like Shelby?

Finally, Iowa State fans have been a little salty with Shelby on Twitter. Imagine that right? Shelby used this platform to explain some of the bracketing principles in play and why having Iowa State as a 10 seed doesn’t necessarily mean that is where he has them on the S-curve.

As always, we thank Shelby Mast for being our guest bracketologist and providing a look into what the selection committee sees with Iowa State’s resume.

You can follow Shelby Mast on Twitter: @BracketWag

Shelby’s bracket (updated daily) can be seen here or in the daily USA Today.