A superscalar microprocessor is provided employing a way prediction unit which predicts the next fetch address as well as the way of the instruction cache that the current fetch address hits in while the instructions associated with the current fetch are being read from the instruction cache. The microprocessor may achieve high frequency operation while using an associative instruction cache. An instruction fetch can be made every clock cycle using the predicted fetch address from the way prediction unit until an incorrect next fetch address or an incorrect way is predicted. The instructions from the predicted way are provided to the instruction processing pipelines of the superscalar microprocessor each clock cycle.