Two With 23, Already
 Through Feb. 19, Creighton and Wichita State are just two of 11 teams with 23 or more wins each of the last two seasons. That list includes Syracuse, Missouri, George Mason, North Carolina, VCU, BYU, Wichita State, Creighton, Murray State, Kentucky and Saint Mary's.

Player of the Week
Doug McDermott, Creighton, So., 6-7, Fwd., Ames (Iowa) High
 McDermott helped Creighton snap a three-game losing streak by averaging 27.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in two victories last week. He made 21-of-27 shots from the floor (77.8 percent) and 11-of-14 foul shots. He began his week with a team-high 18 points and added four rebounds in a 19-point win at Southern Illinois. On Saturday night, McDermott set a BracketBusters record with 36 points and added 11 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. The win over Long Beach State snapped the 49ers 12-game win streak. McDermott's 36 points give him 1,230 points in his career, the most in Bluejay history by a player in their first two years.

Newcomer of the Week
Anthony Downing, Missouri State, Jr., 6-1, Gd., Atchison (Kan.) Atchison High [Independence (Kan.) CC]
 Downing averaged a team-high 15.0 points per game last week, while firing at an impressive 13-for-25 clip from the perimeter. He was 3-for-3 from three-point distance against No. 24 Wichita State and distributed 5 assists, a pair of steals and 7 rebounds to the Bears' cause while establishing himself as one of the league's top-scoring juniors. He averaged 33.5 minutes per game during the team's most-recent two-game stretch, both starts, and is 19-for-36 (.527) over the last three games.

Shockers On Top
 Wichita State has earned at least a share of the MVC regular-season title and will be the No. 1 seed for the State Farm MVC Tournament, which begins March 1 in St. Louis (Scottrade Center). Creighton has locked up the No. 2 seed for the tournament, while Southern Illinois and Bradley have been assured spots in Thursday's opening round.

Title Town
 The league has had six different regular-season champs in the past six seasons (Southern Illinois-2007, Drake-2008, UNI/Creighton-2009, UNI-2010, Missouri State-2011, and Wichita State-2012).

Jam Session
 At the start of league play this week, only two games separate third place from eighth place in the MVC race. Only once in league history (1926-27) have the league standings been fewer than three games from third to eighth at season's end, when eighth-place Iowa State (7-8) trailed third-place Oklahoma (8-4) by 21/2 games. (Teams played an unequal number of league games that year.) The 2007-08 season marked the last time that only three games separated third from eighth (Southern Illinois was 11-7 and third, Missouri State and Indiana State tied for seventh at 8-10).

2 Teams with 23 Wins
 Wichita State (24) and Creighton (23) already have reached 23 wins for the season. It will mark the third-straight season that two MVC teams will enter the State Farm MVC Tournament with 23 wins. In fact, it's only happened three times in the tournament's 35-year history.

Two Teams, 23+ Wins in Arch Madness
2010 -- UNI (25), Wichita State (23)
2011 -- Missouri State (23), Wichita State (23)
2012 -- Wichita State (?), Creighton (?)

 The league has also had two recent narrow misses. In 2008, Drake had 25 wins pre-tournament and Illinois State, 22. While Creighton (25) and Illinois State (22) combined for 47 in 2009.


Spreading the Wealth
 Since 1995-96, every MVC member has won the regular-season title, and every member has qualified for the NCAA Tournament. No other conference in the nation has had every member accomplish both feats in that span.

Shox at No. 19
 After earning a No. 24 ranking in last week's Associated Press poll, Wichita State jumped to No. 19 in both polls this week. The Feb. 13 WSU ranking marked the first time WSU had been in the Top 25 since a No. 16 slot on Dec. 26, 2006. This year, Creighton had been ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll for 12-straight weeks, reaching a season-best No. 12 (Jan. 30) before dropping out on Feb. 13. The Bluejays are No. 26 in the AP this week and No. 27 in the coaches poll.

Ranked in Arch Madness
 In the past 10 seasons, the State Farm MVC Tournament, affectionately known as Arch Madness, has featured four teams that entered the tournament ranked in the Associated Press poll. The league has had at least one top-25 team in a season-ending poll in seven of the past 10 years. Eleven of the league's 35 tournaments have had a ranked team, but none of the previous 35 events have had two teams ranked entering the tournament.

Teams Ranked (AP) - State Farm MVC Tourney
 1979 -- Indiana State (1st)
 1982 -- Tulsa (10th)
 1983 -- Wichita State (11th)
 1984 -- Tulsa (12th)
 1985 -- Tulsa (15th)
 1986 -- Bradley (11th)
 1988 -- Bradley (14th)
 2003 -- Creighton (19th)
 2004 -- Southern Illinois (15th)
 2007 -- Southern Illinois (11th)
 2008 -- Drake (20th)

Twice in the last 10 years UNI was ranked No. 25 in an AP poll two weeks prior, but fell out just before the MVC Tournament started (in 2006 & in 2010)

MVC in the Final Polls (last 10 years only)
 2002 -- Southern Illinois (22nd, coaches)
 2003 -- Creighton (15th, AP; 23rd, coaches)
 2004 -- Southern Illinois (23rd, AP)
 2006 -- Wichita State (21st, coaches)
 2006 -- Bradley (24th, coaches)
 2007 -- Southern Illinois (14th, AP; 11th coaches)
 2008 -- Drake (23rd, coaches)
 2010 -- UNI (13th, coaches)

Rank and File
 The last time two MVC teams were ranked in the same AP top-25 poll was Feb. 8, 1983: Wichita State (16) and Illinois State (17). Notably, though, Wichita State (21) and Bradley (24) represented the league in the final coaches poll in 2006. The last time two MVC teams ranked in the top-25 of the AP poll played one another was on Jan. 16, 1982, when #18 Tulsa beat #16 Wichita State, 99-88, in Tulsa, Okla.

Road Tested
 In 104 previous seasons of MVC basketball, there have been 18 perfect conference road seasons (with a minimum 5 road games). Counting Wichita State last year, there are just 16 teams in league history that have claimed eight or more road MVC games in a season. Wichita State (7-1) and Creighton (6-2) have the league's best road records in conference play this season. Only four times in league history have two teams won seven road league games in the same year.

Two Teams, 7+ Road Wins in Same Season
2010-11: Wichita State (8-1); Missouri State (7-2)
2008-09: UNI (8-1); Creighton (7-2)
1922-23: Kansas (8-0); Missouri (7-1)
1921-22: Kansas (8-0); Missouri (8-0)

MVC vs. the Top 50
 Last year, the MVC compiled a 5-33 record against the RPI Top 50 during the regular season. This year (thru Feb. 20), the MVC has already compiled 14 top-50 victories. Creighton is the nation's only program with 4 top-50 wins AND nine true road wins this season. UNI has three top-50 wins, while Wichita State and Drake each have a pair.

RPI: Top 30, Near Lock
 Wichita State (15) and Creighton (28) enter this week with RPIs in the Top 30. Since 1991-92, 15 MVC schools have recorded a regular-season RPI of 30 or better. Fourteen of the 15 played in the NCAAs. In 2006, Missouri State (21) became the highest-RPI rated team in the history of the NCAA not selected.