With a good amount of this college basketball season under my belt, I feel comfortable making a couple conclusion. Every team, with the exception of (maybe) three, sucks. Every conference, with the exception of none, sucks. Because of this, if any year were to be the year of the mid major, it would be this year. Being a practical guy, I know this is not going to be the case, but no year has been so easy to make a claim for one of the mid major teams in college hoops.
To echo these sentiments, I put a plethora of mid major teams in my top 25 for this week’s SU25 poll. I was looking at at least 3 others to include in my rankings, but simply could not find a spot. For the sake of transparency, here are my rankings, including 6 mid major teams, or 9 if you count the American (which I personally do).
I have previously been critical of the conference pride argument, although you might call me a hypocrite because of my consistent plugging of the Big East. But this season, every argument you can possibly make goes straight out the window.
“But, the ACC has ten teams in the tournament field!” True, but they also have 15 teams in the league, 5-10 in the conference is an absolute logjam, and they have Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Pitt, who might be the three worst teams in major conference play.
“But, the Big 12 has no teams outside of the top 100 of the RPI! every win is a good win in this conference.” Umm fine, but also, this is the worst Kansas team we have seen in recent memory, West Virginia can’t win anywhere but at home, the Oklahoma Trae Youngs are not a threat to do much, and Texas Tech relies too heavily on their defense.
“But, the Big East has 2 one seeds and sneaky lower seeds!” You’re going to have a tough time making an argument for a top-loaded conference that beats the shit out of itself from 3-10. I love the Big East, but they realistically might only have one team in play during the second weekend.
“But, the SEC has eight teams in the projected field and everyone appears to be about the same in terms of talent and ability.” Well first of all, exactly. And second of all, Auburn’s “magical” season only has two wins against currently ranked teams, Texas A&M has been insanely underwhelming, and every other team sucks. Missouri might actually be the SEC’s best bet in the tournament, especially if they get Michael Porter Jr. back.
“But, the Big 10 has two of the ten best teams in the nation!” Stop, I’m not even entertaining this one.
So now, let’s enter mid major teams that don’t get the publicity major conference teams get because of their lack of air time and the inherent nature of every loss on their schedule looking like a bad loss. From the preseason, there were numerous upsets of highly ranked teams by the invisible programs in college hoops. Loyola Chicago took their victory over Florida and turned it into a season where they have clinched at least a share of the Wichita State-less Missouri Valley Conference. Vermont rode preseason hype into a near victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena and now only have one loss in conference play. In non-conference play, two of College of Charleston’s losses were to teams currently in the AP top 25 and are now 22-6. Conference USA has a ranked leader in Middle Tennessee State and two other teams with intriguing resumes in Old Dominion and Western Kentucky. The Mountain West is home to Nevada, who actually has looked like one of the most consistently good teams in the nation, and Boise State, who sits at only six losses.
So many major conference teams have fallen off once the season really got in swing. Arizona State is 7-7 in an abysmal PAC 12. Texas is currently in the field because of a few good victories. Oklahoma, who is 6-8 in conference play and absolutely reeling, is still sitting at a six seed. Kentucky is still sitting on the five line despite nine losses. Alabama and their ten losses are on the seven line. On the flip side, Gonzaga, Nevada and St. Mary’s are a 5, 8 and 9 seed, respectively.
In a year where every team sucks and conference play has been more of a shit show than the 2018 All Star Game’s opening ceremony (or whatever the fuck you want to call it), it feels like the right thing to do to at least consider some mid major teams. Maybe for the committee to leave the door open a crack to inspire some hope and not reward teams that have pooped the bed like a drunk frat kid on Saturday at 4 in the morning. Even though it won’t happen, the sentiment is there, and there is no year like this year to really shake up Selection Sunday.