Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!

The problem is that you haven't beaten anyone good, but pretty much smoked everyone else... A lot of wins, lots of momentum, but legit? I'm not so sure.

Tell me why I should jump on the bandwagon!!!

I'd classify Iowa, Iowa State, Duquense and Creighton on the road as quality wins.  If they can pull it out against Illinois State and SIU on the road, that should be considered quality as well.  They just got paired up at Butler for the Bracket Buster.

The last run of games here will be a huge determination as to how good this team is.  None the less, to have the record that they do after sucking for so many years and for a school with enrollment of 5,000 to be in the top 15 is pretty impressive.

Young and Cox are the neculeous and will be back next year, so this team has nowhere to go but up.

Drake wins 20th in a row.  The Dogs are on a roll.

They will go a long way in the tourney.  Any of them can hang 20 on you.  You really can't focus on just one person and you better be able to guard the 3 point line or they will light you up before you know what hit you.

Great story with a bunch of great STUDENT/athletes.  I think they announced the team GPA last year was over 3.1 at the game against Creighton.  This at one of the top academic programs available.

Drake doesn't have the talent or the athletes to compete with many of the teams that they have played this season.  They're not supposed to win, nobody expects them to win, but they play within their system.  They play within their system and they don't make mistakes.  They shoot 3 point shots from behind NBA range (and make them) like no other college basketball team that I have seen. And they play a pretty good zone defense.  I think that you will see a lot of Dr. Tom/Bruce Pearl/Gary Williams/Bo Ryan philsophy with how this team plays. 

You don't have to be impressed with them, but you should respect what they have done.  On any level winning 20 straight is impressive.  When they get to the tourney, many teams will think, oh, were playing Drake (they suck).  Then with 5 minutes left they won't know what hit them.  In a nutshell, that's what this years team has done.

Drake's players have even said that there are no expectations for each game.  The experts picked this team to finish 9th in the Valley. 

The Valley may be having a "down" year, but this Drake team is very good.  They know how to finish games and they will suprise many people come this March.

It's not often that you see a team run off 20 wins in a row...and it doesn't matter what conference they are in or who they played. That is a TOUGH thing to do in the NCAA today. I am not a fan of questioning "who they have played". They are playing the schedule given to them, and beating everyone on it, except one.

My wife and I are going to the Knapp Center for the game against Evansville on Saturday and we can't wait. We attended Drake the first two years the Knapp Center was open and we haven't been to a game since. I know....band wagon jumpers....but we are having a ball following them this season, and its not easy to follow them living in Minnesota...where even though they are a top 25 team, they get no press.

I listened to the game on internet radio 1350 KRNT last night and found myself sweating out the final few minutes of the game.

jamasta

They are #5 in the RPI, that means someone thinks they have played a pretty good schedule. Strength of schedule is a big part of the RPI! They beat Iowa, Creighton(twice), Illinois State, and Iowa State (by like 30+ points). The Valley is a dangerous conference, and they just keep winning!

First let me say that I am sure they dont need you to jump on their badwagon as they have enough people on it already and wether you believe they are good or not really doesn't matter. These guys play in the MVC so if you know anything about college hoops then you know that that conference usually has a few darn tough team in the tourney every year. That conference may not as strong as it has been in the recent past but they still can beat a lot of team out their that are ranked. So stay with your team and ride your bike because they have no more room on this bandwagon for you or anyone else.....Good luck to your Badgers....  ]

++++

After watching a lot of bad basketball as a Drake alum, it is unbelievably refreshing to watch such a balanced well disciplined team.  On the surface it is easy to understand why some people have not jumped on the bandwagon.  A less than dominating schedule, and few blowout wins.   JAMASTA-this is why you join the bandwagon.  9-1 on the road, including tough wins at Creighton, Illinois State (Cincinnati lost there and they won at West Virginia, and Louisville), and Iowa (Michigan State, and Ohio State fell in Iowa City) have to be considered impressive.  They also beat Iowa State by 35, which is no small feat, since Texas got a serious run for their money against them yesterday.  They shoot the ball pretty well and if they get the right matchup could very well advance to the sweet sixteen.  There is plenty of room.  You are invited to join the ride.

Bacon -- this is a small private school of 5,500 students in the middle of Iowa, not some 20,000 public school with heavy basketball tradition located in North Carolina.

Drake has traditionally been a weak team and have come on like blockbuster this year.  Hopefully this will give them a little street cred and can start getting paired up against some tougher out of conference competition.

Drake did play at Boston College last year (I think it was last year) on the road and played them very tough.  They also beat Iowa (Big 10) Iowa State (Big 12) and Duquense (A-10).  Drake still also has SIU and Butler (#10) left on the schedule.

Drake also expects thier athletes to perform at a certian acedemic level -- I'm guessing the same can't be said about the Big East or ACC.  Tyler Hansborough is a great b-ball player, but the guy looks like he'd hurt himself trying to formulate a sentence.

Hopefully other teams will take notice of what Drake has done this year out of conference which will allow for some stiffer competition.  I'd love to take on a DePaul, Marquette or Dayton and see how things play out.

The term "student athlete" is not found much in the so called power conferences.  In a Mid Major like the MVC you have a different type of player and at Drake you really have a student athlete.

Drake isn't winning because they are superior physically they are winning because they are smart....they don't loose their heads and they know their abilities.  They don't have a power game inside their biggest man is 6'8".  They can hit the outside jumper and they have fearless guards who know how to drive.

Hopefully the media will get behind them soon instead of saying they haven't played anyone.  The media that keeps beating that drum hasn't watched the MVC much.  CU, SIU, UNI, ISU and MSU are tough places to play.