"Mid-Majors" are here to STAY

[Jetsfan80]

Just in case Kent State's elite 8 run in 2002 or George Mason's run to the Final 4 last season did not do the trick to prove that mid-majors are taking over, here are the many games so far this season in which the mid-majors have come out on top against major conference teams (SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, PAC-10). The upsets that occurred against teams when they were RANKED are in bold.

Butler:

71-69 over Notre Dame (away)

60-55 over Indiana (away)

56-44 over Tennessee (neutral)

Wichita State:

57-53 over LSU (away)

64-61 over Syracuse (away)

Winthrop:

74-63 over Mississippi State (away)

Gonzaga:

78-69 over Baylor (home)

82-74 over UNC (neutral)

87-77 over Texas (neutral)

Missouri State:

66-64 over Wisconsin (away)

Old Dominion:

75-62 over Georgetown (away)

Southern Illinois:

69-53 over Minnesota (neutral)

69-64 over Virginia Tech (neutral)

North Dakota State:

64-60 over Marquette (away)

Buffalo:

60-57 over Miami FL (neutral)

UNCW:

67-55 over Colorado (home)

Western Michigan:

71-68 over Virginia Tech (neutral)

Jackson State:

71-70 over Rutgers (away)

Cleveland State:

78-67 over Miami FL (neutral)

Illinois State:

78-65 over St. John's (away)

Furman:

70-62 over Vanderbilt (away)

Vermont:

77-63 over Boston College (away)

UC Irvine:

67-52 over South Carolina (home)

Western Kentucky:

70-67 over Georgia (away)

Brown:

51-41 over Providence (away)

Bradley:

78-58 over DePaul (home)

101-72 over Rutgers (away)

Wofford:

91-90 over Cincinnatti (away)

Fairleigh Dickinson:

76-71 over Seton Hall (away)

Miami-Ohio:

57-44 over Rutgers (neutral)

Colorado State:

84-83 over Kansas State (home)

Northern Iowa:

70-57 over Iowa State (home)

Oral Roberts:

78-71 over Kansas (away)

SE Louisiana:

65-63 over Oregon State (away)

Northern Arizona:

75-71 over Arizona St. (away)

Portland State:

71-67 over Arizona St. (away)

Montana:

72-65 over Minnesota (neutral)

Stony Brook:

59-51 over Penn St. (away)

Cornell:

64-61 over Northwestern (away)

Drake:

80-78 over Iowa St. (away)

Many of these games occurred in the major conference team's HOUSE, so that should be particularly disconcerting for the major conference teams.

In addition, several teams on this list (Butler, Wichita State, Gonzaga, Bradley) have more than 1 win over major conference foes, proving that its far from a one-time fluke. By the same token, several major conference teams (Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Miami FL, Rutgers, Arizona State) have found themselves on this list more than once.

[124]

I think UNCW is 2-5.

[uart]

I think UNCW is 2-5.

OOOOHH SNAP!

Yeah, seriously though. Don't forget that awful Xavier upset in USVI. We won't be discussing who they beat or how that went down. That one was obviously a fluke though.

[Jetsfan80]

I think UNCW is 2-5.

3-4. In a transition year. With our top scorer TJ Carter hurt (scored 25 pts in the NCAA Tournament 1st round). Having played only 1 home game thus far. We'll be fine.

It's the major conference teams (and particularly the coaches) that should be worried.

[NYJJared]

Are the mid-majors getting some upsets? Yes.

Are they "taking over"? No.

That said, the competitiveness of these smaller schools is what makes college hoops great. It keeps the out of conference games interesting, and the NCAA tournament as well.

[Jetsfan80]

Are the mid-majors getting some upsets? Yes.

Are they "taking over"? No.

That said, the competitiveness of these smaller schools is what makes college hoops great. It keeps the out of conference games interesting, and the NCAA tournament as well.

I would say they are making more than "some" upsets. When the Missouri Valley Conference is 56-18 DEEP into nonconference play and ranked only behind ACC in conference RPI, its safe to say that the landscape of college basketball is shifting.

While the mid-majors may not get a Final 4 team (like George Mason last season), its reasonable to believe that teams such as Wichita State, Butler, Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Drexel, Winthrop, Holy Cross, Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion all have legitimate chances to be Sweet 16 or Elite 8-type teams this season. They've proven they can knock off the big boys ON THE ROAD, and have veteran-led, deep teams that tend to beat the younger, more inexperienced types of teams when the NCAA Tournament rolls around.

This year, there will be a lot more mid-majors not only making the tourney, but pulling off upsets when they count in March. The MVC will likely get 4-6 teams this year, and other conferences (Horizon, Colonial Athletic Association, Patriot League) all have chances to obtain multiple bids.

[Jetsfan80]

UPDATE: Drexel just knocked off Syracuse, less than a week after beating Villanova (both games occurring on the road).

Meanwhile, little Appalachian State (NC) defeated UVA.

Drexel is joining Wichita State (ranked 8th in the country), Butler (16th), Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth and a host of other schools who are making major noise on the national level.

No, Mid-Majors may not be "taking over". And no, they may not get another Final 4 team this season. But there are at least a dozen mid-major schools who have Sweet 16 potential and a handful that could reach the Elite 8. Not bad.

[Jetsfan80]

UPDATE:

Drexel completes its demolishing of supposedly superior Philly schools by defeating Temple (coming off an upset over Syracuse), after knocking off St Joe's and 'Nova previously. While they did lose to Penn, they have been unofficially crowned as Philly's best team and have climbed into the top 10 in the RPI. They could reach the top 25 in the polls soon as well.

As for the rest of mid-major basketball, its same old, same old. No major upsets to speak of after a quiet week heading into xmas break.

Final 4: Wichita State, Drexel, Butler, Missouri State.....hey, it could happen.

[jaspegs]

lets go HOFSTRA PRIDE BABYYYYYYY

[NYJJared]

I would say they are making more than "some" upsets. When the Missouri Valley Conference is 56-18 DEEP into nonconference play and ranked only behind ACC in conference RPI, its safe to say that the landscape of college basketball is shifting.

While the mid-majors may not get a Final 4 team (like George Mason last season), its reasonable to believe that teams such as Wichita State, Butler, Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Drexel, Winthrop, Holy Cross, Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion all have legitimate chances to be Sweet 16 or Elite 8-type teams this season. They've proven they can knock off the big boys ON THE ROAD, and have veteran-led, deep teams that tend to beat the younger, more inexperienced types of teams when the NCAA Tournament rolls around.

This year, there will be a lot more mid-majors not only making the tourney, but pulling off upsets when they count in March. The MVC will likely get 4-6 teams this year, and other conferences (Horizon, Colonial Athletic Association, Patriot League) all have chances to obtain multiple bids.

No argument there, although the Patriot may not get 2 bids due to the early season struggles of Bucknell and Holy Cross.

[Jetsfan80]

No argument there, although the Patriot may not get 2 bids due to the early season struggles of Bucknell and Holy Cross.

Bucknell has severly shot themselves in the foot so far this season. The only way they make the NCAA Tourney is if they win the Patriot League tourney. Holy Cross is a dark horse for an at-large bid, but they may also need to win the conference tournament to make it. If they lose in the conference title game to Bucknell, they're probably NIT-bound.

Here's the most AMAZING statistic I've seen this season: 44-1. That is the Missouri Valley Conference's record at home in nonconference play this season as of yesterday. The only loss occurred when Evansville lost to ACC-foe Miami (FL). That is MIND BOGGLING. It's no small wonder that the MVC is worthy of getting 5 or more teams in the NCAA Tourney this year. That conference is the prototype for which all other mid-major conference are aspiring to be. But only the CAA (Drexel, George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, Hofstra, Old Dominion, etc.) is anywhere near them (and by that I mean that they have several teams winning big nonconference games this year), and they are not close at that.

The MVC only sits behind the ACC and Big East this year. Its stronger than the Big 12, PAC-10, SEC, A-10, C-USA, WAC, Mountain West, CAA and every other conference.

[124]

Until one wins a National Championship can we not have the debate on how good they are?

[Jetsfan80]

Until one wins a National Championship can we not have the debate on how good they are?

Yes, we can have the debate. And FYI, one did win a national title. Indiana State took the title back when Larry Bird was on the squad.

And the fact that they havent won a national title is part of the reason why they get the mid-major level. Feel free to gloss over them, but the way the college basketball landscape is changing so rapidly is astounding. Teams with miniscule budgets for athletics are, at times, dominating games against schools who have no excuse not to be losing.

If you're not impressed, its clear that college basketball is not your thing. That's cool and all, just stay out of conversations you don't really care about. Thanks.

Enjoy community college.

[124]

I will.

Don't you worry.

Plenty of people start out at community and end up at state schools (which I will be doing)... BTW thanks for caring so much.

Why should I be so impressed? They're small schools who make miracle runs every year, okay, big ****, do they win championships? No, they don't.

[Jetsfan80]

I will.

Don't you worry.

Plenty of people start out at community and end up at state schools (which I will be doing)... BTW thanks for caring so much.

Why should I be so impressed? They're small schools who make miracle runs every year, okay, big ****, do they win championships? No, they don't.

You should be impressed because they spent about one 50th of the amount the big schools spend. You should be impressed because the big schools refuse to play these teams in their houses, and STILL lose to them. You should be impressed because these teams get so few chances to show what they can do, and many are taking advantage of all of them. You should be impressed because the media continues to ball wash the BCS conference teams when they continue to fall to the Wichita State's, Butler's, and Drexel's of the world. And through it all, the AP, USA Today and every other poll still shuns these teams from the rankings they deserve. Furtheremore, there is typically only room for about 8 teams max that can earn at-large bids from mid-major conferences.

If championships are where you set the bar at, fine. But then you can eliminate a helluva lot of MAJOR conference teams from conversations too, because there have only been about 30 different schools in the final 4 since the 64-team (now 65) tournament format began.

Meanwhile, I sit back and enjoy this season, which is sure to produce a handful of sweet 16 mid-major schools, 2-3 in the elite 8, and maybe another one in the final 4.

The major conference teams, which are too big for their britches to care about these teams, can have fun getting dropped one by one. Things will only get worse for them as time goes by.