Missouri Valley Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

By Tim Edmonds | Nov 15, 2020

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Members of the Bradley Braves celebrate after beating the Northern Iowa Panthers in the final game of MVC Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 10, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bradley Braves beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 57-54 to win the MVC Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

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Missouri Valley Basketball Garrett Sturtz (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

6. Drake Bulldogs

Drake was absolutely blindsided this offseason by the transfer of center Liam Robbins, who quickly departed for the University of Minnesota after an unbelievable second season in Des Moines.

Left to pick up the pieces, head coach Darian DeVries will have his hands full to reach the heights they expected with Robbins in the fold. Looking at their roster, this is only possible if the backcourt outplays its expectations – something that isn’t out of the question.

Led by redshirt junior Roman Penn (12 PPG, 5.6 APG, 4.3 RPG) and junior D.J. Wilkins (8.9 PPG, 2.9 RPG) as well as returning forward Tremell Murphy, the Bulldogs certainly have the talent to win at least eight games in the conference this year. Despite this though, the hole left by Robbins still looms large.

With no clear replacement on the roster and most forwards being sophomores or younger, this issue may be one too great to overcome for DeVries and his staff this year.

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