ST. LOUIS -- For the fourth-straight year, Wichita State has been tabbed the favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball title.
Two starters and nine lettermen are back from a squad that led the nation in scoring defense and won a pair of NCAA Tournament games last spring. Last year WSU became just the third Valley school since World War II to finish alone atop the standings in three consecutive seasons and set an all-time MVC record with their seventh-straight 25-win campaign.
The Shockers received 37 first-place votes and 413 points to outdistance Illinois State, which earned 356 points to finish second.