Drake at Wichita State

Drake is out of the gate fast as usual, which puts some value in this one. Last year Drake broke out of the gate at 9-2. Here they sit at 9-1, and they look like the surprise of the MVC. Not quite. Last year when they raced off to an 8-2 start, but were quickly humbled when MVC play began, as they started 0-6 on the road, losing the first five by double-digits in each game. This team has won just 10 times on the MVC road over the last five years, and has dropped 35. The Shockers are not an easy draw on the road. They handed a solid UAB team a 9 point loss here, and preceeded that one with a 20 point thrashing of LSU. Drake has broken through here just once over the last 10 years. The nine Shocker wins have come by an average of 13.6 ppg. We don't see anything different here, except lots of line value, as the Drake 9-1 record gets attention from the odds-makers, as did last year's team opening MVC play on an eight game winning streak. They were instilled as a meager 3 point dog to Evansville, and lost by 21. A fluke? They then went on to Indiana State, again a 3 point dog, and lost by 11. They didn't cover any of their first six games in the MVC. Don't be folled by the 9-1 record, we aren't.