Waiting for Drake's shoe to drop? Don't hold your breath

And I'm talking the Gene Wilder version, not the Johnny Depp remake.

Also in 1971: Dr. Tom Davis and his wife, Shari, were pregnant with a boy who would be born March 10, 1972. They named him Keno and 35 years later -- more specifically, after last season -- he replaced his father at Drake not unlike another young Midwesterner, Tony Bennett, replaced his father at Washington State before the 2006-07 season.

Oddly, the results have been similar. Bennett inherited a struggling program picked last in the Pac-10 and finished 26-8 in his first year. Davis inherited a struggling program picked ninth in the MVC and has started so impressively that it's nearing time to stop wondering when things will come crashing down and instead start believing in what is unfolding right before our eyes.

Which is difficult, I know.

Too often in sports we hold on to what we thought we knew long past the time to let it go. So when we see a team that was supposed to be good struggling early we discount the problems and figure everything will eventually get worked out. Sometimes it does. Other times it does not. But the opposite effect is what's lingering over Drake right now because we keep waiting for the Bulldogs to stop making shots and start losing games like teams picked next-to-last in non-BCS-affiliated leagues typically do.

But it's not happening.

It didn't happen when Drake opened MVC play at Wichita State.

It didn't happen when SIU brought a 17-game winning streak against Drake into the Knapp Center.

It didn't happen when sophomore Josh Young sprained his ankle in the second half against Indiana State.

The Bulldogs faced all those obstacles and escaped unscathed. So while I'm not sure it's time to pencil Drake into the Sweet 16, I am sure it's time to discard your preseason magazines and start taking this team seriously if only because the Bulldogs -- now first among Others Receiving Votes of the AP poll -- already own wins over the schools picked first (SIU), third (Missouri State) and sixth (Wichita State) in the league's official preseason poll.

My advice: Get back to campus, ASAP, Drake students. I know classes don't start until next week and all. But would you really want to miss Saturday's game against Illinois State, particularly when it could be the 15th consecutive win and launch the Bulldogs into the unlikeliest of places, i.e., the national rankings?