The Memphis Tigers and the Iowa State Cyclones will face off on Monday night in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to kick off the 2026-27 season. Memphis has loaded up their non-conference slate to challenge themselves early on in the season before moving into American Conference play, which will not provide many Quad-1 opportunities. The Tigers will begin their season with Iowa State before playing numerous other power conference games against Vanderbilt, Louisville, Penn State, Baylor and Texas. Iowa State may be the best opponent of the bunch, and I expect the Cyclones to prove that on Monday night.
Iowa State was expected to be a good team in the Big 12 once again this season, but they moved into the top tier of the conference and the country with the court decision allowing four year starting guard Tamin Lipsey to play a fifth season. Lipsey raises the ceiling of Iowa State significantly, as he is expected to be one of the best guards in the country. According to Evan Miya, Lipsey is the second-best player in the Big 12 and the ninth-best player in the nation.
Lipsey makes this Iowa State team a legit national championship contender, so I expect them to take care of business on opening night against a down Memphis team. Memphis had some great years under head coach Penny Hardaway, but they have been trending downward over the last few seasons. The Tigers finished just 13-19 last year and are not projected to make the NCAA Tournament this season.
Memphis will have a majority new team again this season, and it could take them longer to mesh and build chemistry compared to a team like Iowa State. Iowa State is the better team and should be able to come out ready to play early on in the year. Iowa State consistently has one of the best defenses in the country under TJ Otzelberger and that should bother a Memphis team that was not good offensively last year. The Tigers offense ranked #207 at KenPom last season; that's not good enough against ISU. I'm expecting the 'Clones to make a statement on opening night. Iowa State big.
Memphis vs Iowa State best bet: Iowa State Cyclones -13.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to -15.
