Drake is 17th in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) formula through Wednesday night's games.
That's the Drake in Des Moines, that hasn't had an NCAA tournament berth since Jim Morrison's final months on Earth.
How? Because the 6-1 Bulldogs have defeated UC San Diego, UW Milwaukee, and Duquesne, I guess. Their loss was at St. Mary's, which is unbeaten and second in the RPI rankings of the 341 Division I teams.
St. Mary's has a bunch of Australian players. See, I know this stuff.
Northern Iowa is 110th, Iowa State 115th and Iowa 229th on the RPI, though Iowa won at UNI Wednesday night. Those victories over Northern Arizona, Florida Gulf Coast, Idaho State, Maryland Eastern Shore and Eastern Illinois don't really help move the needle upward.
Miami (Fla.) is No. 1 in the RPI, Sam Houston State (which beat Texas Tech) is fifth, and North Texas is 13th. This tells us it's still really early in the season.
Eastern Illinois, still smarting from its 57-45 loss at Iowa last Saturday, is No. 341.
My favorite college basketball team, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, is No. 337. My Highlanders (0-9) play Army in about a half-hour from when this was written.
If you're anywhere near the New Jersey Turnpike or Garden State Turnpike, get thee to Prudential Center to cheer on NJIT.