Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate cycling across antennas for channel quality information (CQI) computation and data transmission in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication environment. Pilots can be obtained by a wireless terminal. Further, virtual antennas that can be supported by a channel can be identified based upon an analysis of the pilots. Moreover, CQI computations can be effectuated for each of the supported virtual antennas; thereafter, the CQI data can be sent to a base station for data transmission scheduling. Additionally, the base station can schedule transmission based upon the CQI data and/or fairness considerations. When scheduled, data transmission can occur by cycling across the supported virtual antennas.