Cleveland State basketball fans are dreaming about what seemed improbable at best before the season started: Their Cleveland State Vikings in the big dance in March. While that sounds wonderful, remember it's still only January and there is a lot of Horizon League basketball to be played. The good news, of course, is that the Vikings are 7-0 and as hot of a team as any in NCAA basketball. The bad news is that the schedule now turns to the road, where conference championships are won and lost.

Gary Waters' squad hits the road for four games. The road swing starts in Wisconsin playing Green Bay and Milwaukee. After Wisconsin it is off to Illinois to play University of Illinois Chicago and Loyola. If the upstart CSU team can take care of business and go a solid 3-1 on the road the chances grow for at least a solid #2 seed in the conference tournament which would automatically put Cleveland State in the semi-finals of the Horizon League tournament and also put pressure on Butler, the overwhelming favorite in the preseason, to keep winning so that the Vikings don't shock the conference and steal home court advantage when not only the most ardent Cleveland State fan would have predicted before the season began.

Winning on the road is never easy though. Ask Butler who came into a hostile Wolstein Center last week and walked away with a loss, and also fell to at Wright State (where Cleveland State managed its biggest road win of the year). CSU now is a marked team in the conference and if teams like Green Bay and Milwaukee want to climb back into Horizon League contention they will be desperate to knock the Vikings off from their lofty perch in the conference.

Green Bay is the first test on the road trek for CSU. The Phoenix own a 6-1 record at the Resch Center. Their lone loss came at the hands of Milwaukee on Saturday and will likely be eager to even their record (currently 3-4) in conference play. The Vikings will want to keep an eye on junior 6-9 225 pound forward Mike Schachtner. Schachtner is second in the league in scoring at 18.2 ppg, is shooting .500 from 3 point land, and nearly automatic (.899) from the free throw stripe. Shooting guard Ryan Tillema may pose match up problems because of his size (6 foot 8 220 pounds). The junior guard burned the UIC Flames this year with his biggest offensive performance with 33 points and has averaged over 17 ppg over the last month of play.

After the Vikings visit Green Bay on Thursday it is off to Milwaukee for a Saturday evening match up. The Wisconsin Milwaukee Panthers struggled at the beginning of the season but have hit their stride in recent games. Winners of seven of their last eight (after a dreadful 5 game losing streak) the Panthers are in the upper part of standings in the Horizon sitting at a 5-3 conference record. Milwaukee has been a perennial power in the Horizon with trips to 2003, 2005, and 2006 NCAA tournament which included a sweet sixteen run in their 2005 season.

Milwaukee is led by senior 6 ft 7 forward Paige Paulsen who contributes 14.9 pts and 6.6 rebounds a game for the Panthers. A fellow senior forward, Marcus Skinner, had a huge game in Panthers win against Green Bay with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks in the road win last Saturday. What may become a factor in the game is the fact that Milwaukee only suits up 9 scholarship players after losing top player Torre Johnson because of discipline problems and Tim Flowers a prized rookie recruit who was let go from the team for skipping classes. With Cleveland State's deep rotation (9 players scored in their victory last week against Valparaiso)Milwaukee may have a tough time keeping up with the intense defensive pressure that CSU has made their trademark this season.

Thursday January 24th
Cleveland State @ Green Bay
8:00 PM
Radio: WJMO 1300
*Game can be seen on the internet for free on the Horizon League's website*

Saturday January 26th
Cleveland State @ Milwaukee
8:00 PM
Radio: WJMO 1300
*Game can be seen on the internet for free on the Horizon League's website*