Iowa State - Worthy Of #5 Ranking?

Q: in the newest ap and coaches polls, both have ISU at #5. does ISU deserve this rating? i think the only reason they are #5 is because of their roster. they have nearly everyone back from the phenomenal 95-96 team. granted, they are 6-0 this year, but not against tough opponents. Nonconf schedule: Alcorn State (86-57); MD-E Shore (82-62); TN-Martin (??-??); Siena (64-54); Drake (74-50); Iowa (81-74); E Tenn St; UTEP/NV-Reno; Tx-Pan Am; Marquette... i believe the Cyclones will only deserve this ranking after the conference season begins, like mid-january or so. what does everyone else think?

A: -If we are still there in mid-January then we deserve to be there both then and now. I will be surprised if we are ranked this highly after the first four Big 12 games. We are the only Big 12 Team that has 3 of the first four conference games on the road. They

are: Jan. 4 -- at Missouri (Creative Sports) -- 12:45 p.m. Jan. 7 -- MARQUETTE -- 7 p.m. Jan. 11 -- OKLAHOMA (Creative Sports) -- 12:45 p.m. Jan. 13 -- at Kansas (ESPN) -- 8:30 p.m. Jan. 18 -- at Colorado (Creative Sports) -- 12:45 p.m. -What I keep hearing is that ISU hasn't done anything to deserve this high a ranking. What I never hear is that ISU also hasn't done anything NOT to deserve this ranking. ISU _is_ undefeated after all... the reason we've consistently moved up the polls is that teams that were ahead of us lost. We'll see whether this ranking is realistic or not when conference play starts, but for now there's no reason for us _not_ to be there.