Dec. 10, 2004

Chicago, Ill. - While the UIC men's basketball team might not be ranked first in either the AP or the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll, the Flames are the No. 1 team in the country when it comes to strength of schedule according to CollegeRPI.com. UIC also ranks 41st out of 330 Division I teams in overall RPI.

The Flames (2-3) have endured a rigorous slate thus far in 2004-05 with home contests versus #3 Georgia Tech and UW-Milwaukee while going on the road to take on Bowling Green and Illinois State.

Things do not get any easier for UIC over the next week with road tilts at UNC Wilmington, #9 Duke and city-rival DePaul.

Butler has the top RPI among Horizon League schools at 40 while ranking second nationally in strength of schedule. UW-Milwaukee (65) follows UIC as the only other league program ranked in the top 100.

The Flames are back in action on Sunday, when they take on UNC Wilmington at 1:00 p.m. CST.