PETERSON: Iowa State men and women (and fans) are beyond ready for some Big 12 basketball

Can we please start the Big 12 Conference basketball schedule? U-N-C-L-E. We’ve seen enough. We’re antsy to see if Cyclones’ men’s and women’s teams are as good as we think.

With the men 11-0 and the women 12-0, we figure they are, but we won’t know until what seems like a forever non-conference schedule of both good and bad teams is behind us.

T.J. Otzelberger’s fourth-ranked team still has 2-9 Long Beach State on Dec. 21, and 5-6 Houston Christian eight days later, before opening the real season Jan. 2 against West Virginia at Hilton Coliseum.

At least Bill Fennelly’s 10th-ranked women’s team, thankfully, is finished with the non-conference schedule. They start the Big 12 Dec. 21 against Kansas in the noon game of the second basketball doubleheader at Hilton this season.

Already, both teams have shown us exactly what we thought they would – they’re entertaining teams with superstar players who like to push tempo and make three-pointers in transition.

They’ve beaten non-power-four opposition by an average of 46.5 points a game – the men by 45.3 and women by 47.3. We haven’t seen a Cyclones combination like them since the 2013-14 season, when the men and women combined for a 28-0 record to start a season.

But it’s time to move on. We’re ready to start the conference grind, and I’ll bet if you ask the players – they’ll agree.

Even for fans who fill Hilton each time the lights are on, yeah, it’s been a long football off-season – yet it’s been just three weeks or so since the Cyclones polished off once-mighty Oklahoma State.

** Matt Cambell to Penn State . . .

Jimmy Rogers to Iowa State.

** Former Cyclones recruits to the portal . . .

As anticipated.

** Non-throwing shoulder surgery for Rocco Becht, and . . .

He should be all right for summer workouts.

** A new staff at Penn State that includes Taylor Mouser, Ryan Clanton, Deon Broomfield, Derek Hoodjer and Reid Kagy. So far . . .

A relatively new staff at Iowa State that’s still a hiring work in progress. As anticipated.  

** Bad feelings for Campbell not hanging for a second decade on his unmatched Iowa State football coaching resume . . .

An informed understanding about why would he not be interested one of the few college jobs that everyone knew (or at least should have known) could eventually have Matt Campbell’s name on it. (Ohio State, Michigan State and Notre Dame were the others.)

** Jamie Pollard rightfully acting swiftly, very swiftly, to hire Rogers . . .

And thank goodness for Iowa State and the fans that he did, considering the Michigan vacancy possibly creating a few more spins of the ol’ coaching carousel.

** Criticism over declining a bowl invitation . . .

 A decision that may have taken a while before everyone realized it was in Iowa State’s immediate best interests. . .

Despite the Big 12’s steep $500,000 fine.

Yeah, it’s time for real, conference-standings meaningful basketball games . . .

Past time, some might say.

(Columnist Randy Peterson, a past Iowa Sportswriter of the Year winner, can be reached at randypete4846@gmail.com or at any Okoboji-area beverage/food establishment between the hours of open and close.)