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OVERSEEING THE NEW LANDSCAPE


With the core returning from a team that won 24 games and earned an invitation to the NIT, Oral Roberts is the prohibitive favorite to win the Mid-Continent Conference. Coach Scott Sutton’s club also figures to be one of the top mid-majors in America, something that doesn’t both Sutton in the least.

In fact he embraces it so much that he assumed the role of chairman for the Mid-Major Top 25 voting panel.

“I'm excited about the opportunity to chair this committee,” says Sutton. “I take great pride in working with CollegeInsider.com. I enjoyed the voting process last season, and I know our players and fans look forward to the Mid-Major Top 25 poll every week.”

Sutton is the fifth coach to oversee the Mid-Major poll, which is entering its seventh season of existence. But with the landscape of college basketball changing dramatically, Sutton’s season of service may be the most important to date.

“It will be interesting to see how things shake out in the next couple of years,” says Sutton. “The programs that left Conference USA had been ranked among the top fifteen or twenty in the country. The programs that are replacing them are good solid programs, but they have some big shoes to fill.”

Of course Sutton is referring to the mass exodus from C-USA, which has many wondering how the league will fair. And the bigger question is will it become a one or two-bid league (number of teams to the NCAA tournament)?

Sutton knows that it’s a very sensitive issue.

“One of my duties is to work with CollegeInsider.com and the coaches who vote to ensure that we have best defined the term mid-major. Up until now the voting panel has agreed that it’s based on conference affiliation. Now we have programs that were in mid-major conferences last season moving into power conferences this season. There has already been talk among the voters about possibly changing the definition of the phrase and which teams will be included or excluded.”

One of those schools is Central Florida, who finished No. 25 in the final Mid-Major rankings of 2004-05. It’s a big leap, going from the Atlantic Sun to C-USA so should Central Florida remain classified as a mid-major for at least the immediate future?

“No,” says Belmont coach and 2004-05 Mid-Major chairman Rick Byrd. “We cannot start picking and choosing from each conference. We can’t assume anything, meaning we can’t sit down before every season and decided who is, who might be and who isn’t a mid-major. But what is good is that we do talk about it. The voting panel has the power to make changes to the entire process, which is good in my opinion. So far there hasn’t been a need and I don’t see anything changing in the foreseeable future.”

Since its inception the voting panel has identified twenty-one conferences (and independents) as being mid-majors. It’s been understood and proven that there are always going to be teams that rise above the label of mid-major while still competing in a mid-major conference. Leading the way is Gonzaga, a program that shuns the term and the ranking system.

“I understand why Mark [Few] doesn’t want to be classified as a mid-major,” says Sutton. “I think anyone would understand his reasoning, but in the end the positives more than outweigh the negatives. I wouldn’t think that being ranked No. 1 in the Mid-Major poll has cost Gonzaga any recruits. They have been the exception.”

With realignment will we see someone dominate C-USA like Gonzaga’s recent stranglehold on the West Coast Conference?

“I don’t think so,” says Sutton. “Things have a way of sorting themselves out. I think we [voting panel] will just have to take a wait-and-see approach.”

Sutton and virtually every voting member believe much will be sorted out in March. The consensus is that a conference like the Big East may push the envelope for eight or nine bids to the NCAA tournament. Obviously that would have a negative effect on a league like the new-look C-USA.

But nothing can be determined based on one season. Sutton’s wait-and-see philosophy makes sense. After all, last season marked the first time the six-year history of the Mid-Major Top 25, in which the WCC finished in the top 10 of the RPI.

Prior to last season on only two occasions had a mid-major league finished the season in the RPI top 10 (In 2003 the Missouri Valley Conference finished No. 10 and in 2000 the Mid-American Conference finished No. 9. In both cases the WAC finished outside the Top 10).

“The numbers are much different than the perception,” says Byrd. “As I have pointed out in the past, there is a perception that the West Coast Conference is better than a league like the Mountain West, but last season was the first time the WCC finished in the top 10 (RPI Rankings) since the Mid-Major poll began. During that same time frame, the MWC has never failed to finish in the top 10.”

Like Rick Byrd and all those who preceded him, Sutton intends on putting in a lot of time and effort. While he loves the attention the Mid-Major poll has brought his program and countless others, Sutton realizes that he and the entire voting panel have a responsibility to maintain that.

And that means reexamining the process on a regular basis.

“What makes this unique is that we can change it,” says Sutton. “In time if we decide to add and subtract teams or conferences, we can do that. That’s what makes the Mid-Major Top 25 so great is that it continues to evolve through new voters and new discussions and I look forward to leading that discussion this season.”