Coming off a big weekend of college basketball and with
March approaching, let’s take a look at the mid-major
landscape.
The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)
tournament is shaping up to be quite a battle.
Northeastern’s weekend victory over Wright State brought
its win total to seventeen. At 17-10, Northeastern is one
of six CAA teams with at least seventeen in the win
column, joining league leader VCU (19-9), George Mason
(18-9), Hofstra (19-9), Old Dominion (18-9), and James
Madison (18-11). These six teams posted a 4-2 mark this
weekend. In addition to Northeastern’s win, Hofstra
defeated Fairfield, Old Dominion trounced Liberty, and
James Madison outscored Gardner Webb. George Mason lost on
the road to a tough Creighton squad, while VCU fell by one
on the road at Nevada. Without a doubt, the CAA will
garner only one bid to the NCAA tournament this year, but
any number of teams will be strong candidates for post
season tournament play, including an invite to the
inaugural CollegeInsider.com post season tourney.
Traditionally, the CAA and Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)
stake claim to the title of the best mid-major League.
While the MVC may not have the depth of the CAA this year,
they do boast three strong teams at the top of the
standings. Creighton is having an outstanding season at
23-6, and won bragging rights over the CAA with its win
over George Mason on Saturday. Illinois State (22-5) and
Northern Iowa (18-10) follow Creighton in the MVC and are
both having excellent seasons, but the Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference (MAAC) and more specifically, the
state of New York, made a strong statement this weekend,
however, as Siena (22-6) defeated Northern Iowa, and
Niagara (22-7) triumphed over Illinois State.
Not to be outdone, is the Horizon League, the only
mid-major league with three 20 game winners. Everyone
knows about Butler, which improved to 23-4 with its
weekend win over Steph Curry and Davidson. Green Bay
stands at 21-8 after beating Long Beach State, and
Cleveland State fell to 20-9, losing to Wichita State.
Vermont of the America East Conference has quietly won 13
of 14, while VMI (20-7) may be suffering from a jinx of
some sort, as they recently appeared in Sports
Illustrated. The Keydets have lost three in a row after
literally racing to a 20-4 start.
Gonzaga’s (21-5) success has been well documented for
years, and Saint Mary’s (22-5) and Portland (18-9) have
been has been chasing them all year in the West Coast
Conference.
Without question, following the likes of Connecticut,
Oklahoma, UNC, Pittsburgh and others is enjoyable for any
hoops junkie. They will all be in the big dance in a
couple of weeks and are fighting for top seeds. Some of
the great battles taking place around the country in the
coming weeks, however, will be in the mid-major
conferences, most of which will be one-bid leagues. Teams
ranging from American University to the Citadel, from
Tennessee-Martin to North Dakota State, from
Arkansas-Little Rock to Robert Morris will be hoping to
peak at conference tournament time. It’s a great time of
year!
Brian Doyle is an Assistant Principal and Associate Head
Coach at Centreville High School in Clifton, Virginia. Prior to
becoming Assistant Principal, Doyle was a high school head coach
for thirteen years. Brian also serves as member of the voting
panel for the prestigious Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year
Award.
