The atmosphere will be tense at Redbird Arena on Saturday as Bradley visits Illinois State in a Missouri Valley battle.

What Valley team has the most at stake in February? We will assume Creighton and Wichita State continue on their current paths and both are solidly in the NCAA Tournament come March.

Illinois State's Jackie Carmichael, left, works in front of Creighton's Doug McDermott, with Creighton's Grant Gibbs, right, helping on defense in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, Feb.

In chess, the ideal choice of opening for a defensive-minded player is known as "French defense," a solid-natured move concentrating on counterattacks and survival.

It remains to be seen if emotions will stay elevated between Illinois State and Creighton following a testy finish to their meeting a few weeks ago.

After a couple years of being a sports reporter and covering all different types of games, there are times when I have to try and suppress an eye roll as a coach or player gives some cliche quote along the lines of how any team can win on any given day.

Creighton moves up two spots in the poll following a week that began with a win at Drake, 77-69. After that came another win at home against Bradley, 73-59. Gonzaga breaks into the Top 25 at #24 with a win at Portland, 74-62. Vanderbilt comes in at #25 with wins against Middle Tennessee State, 84-77 and Tennessee, 65-47. Kansas State falls out of ... (more)

Drake's Rayvonte Rice has been selected as the StatSheet Missouri Valley Player of the Week for the week ending January 30th.

In the first game of 2012, the Southern Illinois men's basketball team downed ISU by five points in a disappointing road loss, a game the Redbirds did not easily forget.

As in all sports, the final match of an athlete's career is always a bittersweet one; proud to look back on prior accomplishments, but saddened because the road has come to an end.