24. Drake Bulldogs (10-2)
The preseason expectations for the Missouri Valley Conference were that Loyola-Chicago, Illinois State, and even Southern Illinois were the top teams. But to this point, all three have disappointed in one way or another.
One team did manage to crack the list from the league, a surprisingly good Drake team. Losing an All-Conference player in Reed Timmer and a couple other key contributors from a team that just finished .500 a year ago, the Bulldogs were expected to take a step backwards in the MVC. Instead it a large one forwards, thanks to the play of grad transfer Nick Norton.
The former UAB guard was a solid three-year starter for the Blazers but no one expected his scoring output to basically double to 15.5 ppg, while being very close to the elusive 50-40-90 shooting percentage splits. His 6.5 apg currently ranks tops in the MVC as well. With him and senior forward Nick McGlynn (16.1 ppg and 7.4 rpg) leading the way, the Bulldogs have pulled off impressive wins over New Mexico State, San Diego, Boise State in the non-conference.
We’ll see how much of a conference contender Drake really is, with home games against both Loyola-Chicago and Southern Illinois coming up. But as long as Norton continues to look like the MVC Player of the Year, the Bulldogs should be just fine.