Something special might be brewing in the Missouri Valley Conference again this college basketball season.
The Drake Bulldogs (6-0) defeated a third consecutive power conference opponent on Sunday, downing Vanderbilt, 81-70, at the Charleston Classic to continue its undefeated start.
The team also beat Miami (80-69 on Nov. 21) and Florida Atlantic (75-63 on Nov. 22) in the last week, adding a Quad 1 and another Quad 3 win to its resume early.
Quad victories are determined by parameters set by where an opponent sits in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
Vanderbilt (No. 202) qualifies as a healthy Quad 3 victory for now. Depending on how an opponent finishes its season, its Quad classification can shift up or down.
The Bulldogs (No. 47) are averaging 76.3 points-per-game which isn’t anything special but it’s defense ranked 10th in the nation ahead of Sunday’s game (57.0 PPG).
Drake’s remaining non-conference schedule isn’t a gauntlet by any means but one matchup stands out among the rest.
If it can top Kansas State (No. 70) in Manhattan (Dec. 17), it would add yet another Quad 1 win to its resume. If it was still undefeated after that, it would send a huge message across the sport and probably warrant national ranking.
It would be very difficult to ignore Drake as a team to consider penciling in a round or two deep on March Madness brackets.
Drake automatically qualified for the 2024 NCAA tournament as a 10-seed by winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament but ultimately fell 66-61 to No. 7 seed Washington State in the first round.
The Bulldogs will definitely be a team to watch as the young season progresses.
