2020–21 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team

2020–21 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record26–5 (15–3 MVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Larry Blunt
  • Marty Richter
  • Matt Gatens
Home arenaKnapp Center
2020–21 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 17 Loyola Chicago 16 2   .889 26 5   .839
Drake 15 3   .833 26 5   .839
Missouri State 12 6   .667 17 7   .708
Indiana State 11 7   .611 15 10   .600
Evansville 7 11   .389 9 16   .360
Valparaiso 7 11   .389 10 18   .357
Northern Iowa 7 11   .389 10 15   .400
Bradley 6 12   .333 12 16   .429
Southern Illinois 5 13   .278 12 14   .462
Illinois State 4 14   .222 7 18   .280
2021 MVC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs are led by third-year head coach Darian DeVries. They played their home games at Knapp Center on campus in Des Moines, Iowa, as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulldogs finished the season 26–5, 15–3 in MVC play to finish in second place. In the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament, they advanced to the semifinals after Northern Iowa was forced to forfeit due to COVID-19 issues. They defeated Missouri State in the semifinals before losing to Loyola in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 11 seed in the First Four. They defeated Wichita State to advance to the First Round where they were eliminated by USC.