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World-Herald staff writer Steven Pivovar ranks the Missouri Valley men's basketball teams (with rankings from RealTimeRPI.com). Published Thursday, Feb. 14.

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1. Wichita State (23-4, 14-2, 17th)

This week: at Davidson. Shocker fans should have a championship season to remember Gregg Marshall by. He figures to be on the short list for a lot of athletic directors seeking a new coach.

2. Creighton (22-5, 12-4, 27th)

This week: Long Beach State. Doug McDermott is on the verge of becoming the most prolific two-year scorer in program history. He has 1,194 points, one shy of Bob Portman's record of 1,195.

3. Missouri State (16-12, 9-7, 87th)

This week: Old Dominion. Point guard Michael Bizoukas leads the Valley with 159 assists, just five fewer than he posted in three-plus seasons at DePaul.

4. Northern Iowa (17-11, 7-9, 52nd)

This week: at Virginia Commonwealth. Seth Tuttle needs to find a spot for the freshman of the year award he'll take home; in his past nine games, he's averaging 14 points and shooting 70 percent from field.

5. Indiana State (16-11, 7-9, 129th)

This week: at Butler. The Sycamores are 5-2 in the second half of the league schedule, but games against Missouri State and Creighton will challenge a bid to build some steam heading to St. Louis.

6. Illinois State (16-11, 8-8, 119th)

This week: Oakland. Nic Moore became the first Redbird freshman to record 100 assists in a season since Victor Williams did it during the 1997-98 season.

7. Drake (15-12, 8-8, 128th)

This week: at New Mexico State. A return is still indefinite for Ben Simons, the league's fourth-most productive scorer with a 16.1 average, as he tries to recover from mononucleosis.

8. Evansville (13-13, 8-8, 157th)

This week: Western Illinois. Colt Ryan has averaged 6.5 points in two games against Drake this season and 23 points in his other 14 games against Valley opponents.

9. Southern Illinois (8-19, 5-11, 240th)

This week: at Ball State. All signs point to Chris Lowery's departure as coach at the end of the season as interest in the once-proud program is reaching embarrassing levels.

10. Bradley (7-21, 2-14, 225th)

This week: Loyola-Chicago. The Braves need to win their last two games at home to avoid their first losing season at Carver Arena in the past 10 seasons.

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