Mid-Major Top 25 as of 2/23/09

[wkuhillhound]

1. Gonzaga (29) 21-5 773 1
2. Butler (2) 23-4 739 2
3. Siena 22-6 699 4
4. St. Mary's 22-5 664 5
5. Creighton 23-6 657 6
6. Davidson 22-6 627 3
7. Wisconsin-Green Bay 21-8 572 9
8. Western Kentucky 19-8 539 10
9. Illinois State 22-6 455 8
10. Northern Iowa 18-10 448 7
11. VCU 19-9 437 11
12. Niagara 22-7 354 12
13. North Dakota State 21-6 408 22
14. Weber State 18-8 406 17
15. Arkansas-Little Rock 20-7 333 13
16. College of Charleston 20-7 288 16
17. American 19-7 280 24
18. Cleveland State 19-9 264 14
19. George Mason 18-9 221 18
20. Northeastern 17-10 201 19
21. Old Dominion 18-9 127 NR
22. Vermont 22-7 91 25
23. Radford 17-10 69 NR
24. VMI 20-7 63 15
25. Tennessee-Martin 19-7 57 NR

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Stephen F Austin 42, Buffalo 30, Robert Morris 29, Portland State 27, Troy 23, Portland 22, Binghamton 20, Liberty 19, Cornell 16, Morgan State 16, The Citadel 15, Montana 13, Hofstra 12, Miami (OH) 7, Bradley 6, Wright State 3, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 2, Sam Houston State 1.

*The Citadel makes an appearance in the poll.
*Radford, Old Dominion, and Tennessee-Martin debuts.
*North Dakota makes a gigantic leap up 9, congrats Bison! American rises 7.
*Top 10 remains in tact.

Source: http://www.collegeinsider.com/mmpoll/

[mcveyrl]

I think VCU is overrated and Northeastern is underrated from the CAA.

[wkuhillhound]

I think VCU is overrated and Northeastern is underrated from the CAA.

I'm lazy cause I'm gearing up for my walk. Did Northeastern just win their Bracket Busters game?

[mcveyrl]

I'm lazy cause I'm gearing up for my walk. Did Northeastern just win their Bracket Busters game?

Yea, they beat Wright State.

Although they had lost three of their last four before that. I still think they should be up there. Not way up there, but above VCU.

[wkuhillhound]

Yea, they beat Wright State.

OK, I thought they beat Cleveland State, cause it didn't make sense if they dropped in the poll. :o

[bluehenbillk]

Definitely a down year for the mids. Not many on that list would get at-large bids.

[wkuhillhound]

Definitely a down year for the mids. Not many on that list would get at-large bids.

My best guess is 2. Three is stretching it. xbawlingx

Gonzaga and Butler. St. Mary's and Siena is a stretch, but that's all. xbawlingxxbawlingx

[813Jag]

My best guess is 2. Three is stretching it. xbawlingx

Gonzaga and Butler. St. Mary's and Siena is a stretch, but that's all. xbawlingxxbawlingx
I think Gonzaga, Butler, and Siena will get autos any way. St. Mary's doesn't seem as good as last year. Of course this coming from a guy way in Florida.

[crunifan]

Three MVC teams in the top ten and we suck this year.

[dgreco]

is the A-10 not a mid major conference? I would think Dayton, URI, Temple, and Xavier would all be in there... no?

Or is that a High Mid-Major/Low Major Major or whatever they want to call it.

[gmoney55]

is the A-10 not a mid major conference? I would think Dayton, URI, Temple, and Xavier would all be in there... no?

Or is that a High Mid-Major/Low Major Major or whatever they want to call it.

Correct, A-10 is not Mid-Major.

[crunifan]

Correct, A-10 is not Mid-Major.

I don't care what anyone says, if you aren't in a Big Six conference, you are not a major.

With that said, the A-10, MVC, MWC, and CUSA are in a league above mid majors, but they are not majors.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I don't care what anyone says, if you aren't in a Big Six conference, you are not a major.

With that said, the A-10, MVC, MWC, and CUSA are in a league above mid majors, but they are not majors.

The A10 might not be a major conference but i wouldn't consider Temple, Xavier, UMASS, URI, Dayton, and St. Joe's mid major programs. Temple was voted as one of the top 30 programs of all time by ESPN earlier this season. The others have all been major players on the national level for some time now. The programs i would consider mid-major in the A10 would be St. Bonaventure, Richmond, Duquesne, La Salle, and Fordham. The tweeners would be Charlotte, St. Louis and George Washington.

Others i consider major programs despite being in "mid-major" conferences
Memphis
UAB
Houston
Utah
BYU
New Mexico
UNLV
Gonzaga

There's deffinately a different perception and history between the teams above and schools like Nothern Iowa, Creighton, Davidson, WKU, Bradley etc.

I don't undestand why they consider Gonzaga in this poll though. There is such a stark contrast between their program and the rest of the teams on that list.

[crunifan]

The A10 might not be a major conference but i wouldn't consider Temple, Xavier, UMASS, URI, Dayton, and St. Joe's mid major programs. Temple was voted as one of the top 30 programs of all time by ESPN earlier this season. The others have all been major players on the national level for some time now. The programs i would consider mid-major in the A10 would be St. Bonaventure, Richmond, Duquesne, La Salle, and Fordham. The tweeners would be Charlotte, St. Louis and George Washington.

Others i consider major programs despite being in "mid-major" conferences
Memphis
UAB
Houston
Utah
BYU
New Mexico
UNLV
Gonzaga

There's deffinately a different perception and history between the teams above and schools like Nothern Iowa, Creighton, Davidson, WKU, Bradley etc.

I don't undestand why they consider Gonzaga in this poll though. There is such a stark contrast between their program and the rest of the teams on that list.

Creighton has 16 NCAA appearances, plays in the 17,560 seat Qwest Center Omaha, and averages over 16,000 fans per game (10th in the nation). For a small private school in Nebraska, that is insane.

They aren't Gonzaga by any means, but they are up there with UAB, New Mexico (who they beat this year), Dayton (also beat), etc.

UNI definitely is not on the same level as those teams, but the MVC has been a top 10 conference for the past decade, often ranking ahead of the A-10, CUSA, and MWC.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Creighton has 16 NCAA appearances, plays in the 17,560 seat Qwest Center Omaha, and averages over 16,000 fans per game (10th in the nation). For a small private school in Nebraska, that is insane.

They aren't Gonzaga by any means, but they are up there with UAB, New Mexico (who they beat this year), Dayton (also beat), etc.

UNI definitely is not on the same level as those teams, but the MVC has been a top 10 conference for the past decade, often ranking ahead of the A-10, CUSA, and MWC.

Creighton is great program and certaintly a little under appreciated, Dana Altman certaintly is, but i still don't believe they have quite the cache as a New Mexico, UAB or Dayton. Also, their attendance is greatly enhanced by playing in the 42nd largest city in the country. Omaha isn't exactly small town America.

New Mexico's perception is helped by their arena, "The Pit", which has numerous NCAA tournament games including the 1983 NC State-Houston Final 4.

Dayton blows Creighton away in terms of history, 1966 National Runner-up, '84 Elite 8, 4 Sweet 16's and 12 NCAA's overall. They also have 21 NIT appearances and several during the time when the NIT was still a big deal.

UAB has 13 tourney appearances, '82 Elite 8, '81 & '04 Sweet 16. They've also got 2 NIT Final 4's in 9 shots.

The other thing is, overall, the schools in the A10, Conference USA, Mountain West, and to some extent WAC are national universities. As a whole they have more name recognition than the schools in the MVC, Horizon, CAA and WCC (excluding 'Zaga).

[wkuhillhound]

The A10 might not be a major conference but i wouldn't consider Temple, Xavier, UMASS, URI, Dayton, and St. Joe's mid major programs. Temple was voted as one of the top 30 programs of all time by ESPN earlier this season. The others have all been major players on the national level for some time now. The programs i would consider mid-major in the A10 would be St. Bonaventure, Richmond, Duquesne, La Salle, and Fordham. The tweeners would be Charlotte, St. Louis and George Washington.

Others i consider major programs despite being in "mid-major" conferences
Memphis
UAB
Houston
Utah
BYU
New Mexico
UNLV
Gonzaga

There's deffinately a different perception and history between the teams above and schools like Nothern Iowa, Creighton, Davidson, WKU, Bradley etc.

I don't undestand why they consider Gonzaga in this poll though. There is such a stark contrast between their program and the rest of the teams on that list.

Gonzaga is in the WCC and that's why they are considered a Mid-Major despite their grumbles. Gonzaga has been a recent phenomena. WKU has been a constant phenomena that is the difference between the two. WKU has been to more Final Fours (1), Sweet Sixteens (7), and more NCAA tournament appearances (20) than Gonzaga. Truth hurts Zags or Bulldogs. WKU recently won their 1,600th game, Gonzaga can't say that either. The Mid-Major label is strictly by conference affiliation and nothing else IMO.

[citdog]

HOW 'BOUT THEM DOGS!!!!!!