Cyclone Slant

Cyclone Slant is Iowa State sports analysis with a local pulse. Travis Hines anchors the show from the Ames Tribune sports desk, bringing a sports editor’s memory and a fan-facing sense of proportion to football and men’s basketball. The show’s core mode is talk-through analysis. It rarely hammers a point flat, preferring to set up the emotional read, add the roster context, mention the schedule complication, and then land somewhere practical. That style works especially well around Iowa State football. Episodes look at hype season, kickoff times, Big 12 title stakes, quarterback depth, offensive-line questions, and the burden of expectations around familiar names like Brock Purdy, Breece Hall, Mike Rose, and Greg Eisworth. The mood is not breathless. Even when the case for excitement is strong, the show keeps room for uncertainty, disappointment, and the strange timing of real life around sports. One episode opens the 2020 football season by acknowledging pandemic deaths, job losses, and disrupted society before turning back to the field. That seriousness sits alongside lighter detours. A late kickoff becomes a conversation about naps and takeout, while a fan question can somehow lead to Fast movie logic. Basketball coverage has the same conversational spine. Travis Hines brings on Evan Flood from Prep Hoops Wisconsin to scout Tyrese Hunter, then folds the recruiting talk into Iowa State’s recent results and Steve Prohm questions. In another format, Randy Peterson and Tommy Birch join for an all-time Iowa State men’s basketball draft, where roster-building, old stars, NBA careers, and friendly argument carry the episode. The show’s looseness is part of its identity. It can sound like a column before publication, with the reasoning still visible. That makes Cyclone Slant especially suited to listeners who already care about Iowa State but still want the bigger picture explained in ordinary language. It is practical, modestly funny, and deeply tied to how Cyclone fans actually experience a season.