Drake is Number One!

Bulldogs Lead Four Valley Teams

(St. Louis, MO) – Drake is number one in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. The Bulldogs are one of five undefeated college basketball teams. Four Missouri Valley Conference teams are ranked in the poll’s top 25 and a fifth team ranks twenty-seventh.

Drake (9-0) has a slight edge over second ranked Gonzaga. Former number one UC Irvine (No. 3) lost for the first time Saturday at Oregon State.

Drake plays Kansas State tonight in Kansas City.

Ironically, tonight’s game between Drake and Kansas State, is a Quadrant 3 game for the Bulldogs and a Q1 game for the Wildcats. Drake is forty-sixth in the NET and K-State currently sits at 105.

Bradley, who lost at number twenty-three Santa Clara on Saturday is ranked seventh. Belmont is thirteenth and Murray State is twenty-fourth. Belmont hosts UC Irvine on Thursday. Northern Iowa is second (or twenty-seventh) among other teams that are ‘receiving votes’. Murray State dropped an overtime decision to Number 20 Western Kentucky last weekend.

Sixth ranked San Francisco visits Bradley on Wednesday.

Missouri Valley teams have a record of 4-6 against current mid-major, top-25 teams. UNI defeated Milwaukee (No. 22). Missouri State defeated No. 14 High Point. Illinois State and Southern Illinois both defeated twenty-fifth ranked North Dakota State.

In addition to those recent Bradley and Murray State losses. Belmont dropped a decision to No. 8 Furman. Valparaiso lost to No. 5 Liberty. No. 9 Arkansas State defeated Indiana State and sixteenth ranked Charleston knocked off SIU.

High Point pays a visit to the Salukis on Saturday. Twenty-ninth UC Santa Barbara visits Missouri State this coming Sunday.

Drake is number one and other Valley teams are climbing. Northern Iowa won big over Montana on Monday.

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