Mid-Major Rankings

[Rich K]

Well lookey here, Bobcats ranked 19th in this midmajor poll. https://collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25 This poll came out on Feb 7th so ought to be updated on Monday I expect. Couple of wins should move us up a spot or two. Weber's on this poll I suspect they'll drop off. Southern Utah got some votes is the only other Big Sky team mentioned.

* Southern Utah head coach Todd Simon is the chairman of the Top 25 voting panel for the 2021-22 season.

NOTE: The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.

[Rich K]

My error Bobcat rank is 21st in the poll.

[Rich K]

Bobcats now reach #17 in the mid majors poll
https://collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25

[wapiti]

I assume Wyoming and the Mountain West is not a part of the mid-major????

I would have assumed the Mountain West was a Mid-Major conference.

[kennethnoisewater]

I assume Wyoming and the Mountain West is not a part of the mid-major????

I would have assumed the Mountain West was a Mid-Major conference.

That's interesting, it must be some goofy political thing where the MWC didn't get invited or they didn't want to be part of it. Generally everything outside of the power 5 plus the Big East and AAC is considered mid-major. I've heard the term "high majors", and maybe that's where the MWC fits? Looks like the A-10 isn't in there either which seems odd too.

[Rich K]

I assume Wyoming and the Mountain West is not a part of the mid-major????

I would have assumed the Mountain West was a Mid-Major conference.

That's interesting, it must be some goofy political thing where the MWC didn't get invited or they didn't want to be part of it. Generally everything outside of the power 5 plus the Big East and AAC is considered mid-major. I've heard the term "high majors", and maybe that's where the MWC fits? Looks like the A-10 isn't in there either which seems odd too.

Apparently those two conferences (MWC and A-10) are either in the Mid-Majors or not depending upon who you asked. That's why I included the list of the conferences in the OP. Congrats to Wyoming for hitting the top 25!

[Bobcat4Ever]

As Rich posted, from the bottom of the Mid-Major Poll:

NOTE: The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.

There are 32 D-I conferences. There are 22 Mid-Majors so there are 10 conferences somewhere else which must be high-majors if there aren’t any low-majors? Or is that an oxymoron? This would represent at least 220 teams, so it’s a tough list to get on to. Go, ‘Cats!

[kennethnoisewater]

I realize no Big Sky team is getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but how far up in these mid-major polls would a BSC team need to be to get that? Hypothetically, let's say MSU wins out and loses in the semi-finals of the BSC tourney. They'd be 27-6 (I think), and given the BSC's history on a national scale, that likely wouldn't be enough for a bid.

Would it ever happen? Would a team need a win or two against a tournament team? At what point would voters not be able to ignore a BSC team that doesn't auto-qualify?

[ilovethecats]

As Rich posted, from the bottom of the Mid-Major Poll:

NOTE: The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.

There are 32 D-I conferences. There are 22 Mid-Majors so there are 10 conferences somewhere else which must be high-majors if there aren’t any low-majors? Or is that an oxymoron? This would represent at least 220 teams, so it’s a tough list to get on to. Go, ‘Cats!

Correct. The 10 major conferences are the Atlantic 10, Mountain West, American, WCC, ACC, Pac12, Big East, SEC, Big10 and Big12.

[wbtfg]

I realize no Big Sky team is getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but how far up in these mid-major polls would a BSC team need to be to get that? Hypothetically, let's say MSU wins out and loses in the semi-finals of the BSC tourney. They'd be 27-6 (I think), and given the BSC's history on a national scale, that likely wouldn't be enough for a bid.

Would it ever happen? Would a team need a win or two against a tournament team? At what point would voters not be able to ignore a BSC team that doesn't auto-qualify?

That's an interesting question. I would say it would have to be a generational Big Sky team that has beaten multiple high major teams who lost a tournament game on a fluke....like maybe the the entire starting 5 got covid at the same time and missed the opening round game.

[Cataholic]

As Rich posted, from the bottom of the Mid-Major Poll:

NOTE: The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.

There are 32 D-I conferences. There are 22 Mid-Majors so there are 10 conferences somewhere else which must be high-majors if there aren’t any low-majors? Or is that an oxymoron? This would represent at least 220 teams, so it’s a tough list to get on to. Go, ‘Cats!

Correct. The 10 major conferences are the Atlantic 10, Mountain West, American, WCC, ACC, Pac12, Big East, SEC, Big10 and Big12.

Two of your “major conferences” are part of the “mid- major” poll.

[Cataholic]

I realize no Big Sky team is getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but how far up in these mid-major polls would a BSC team need to be to get that? Hypothetically, let's say MSU wins out and loses in the semi-finals of the BSC tourney. They'd be 27-6 (I think), and given the BSC's history on a national scale, that likely wouldn't be enough for a bid.

Would it ever happen? Would a team need a win or two against a tournament team? At what point would voters not be able to ignore a BSC team that doesn't auto-qualify?

That's an interesting question. I would say it would have to be a generational Big Sky team that has beaten multiple high major teams who lost a tournament game on a fluke....like maybe the the entire starting 5 got covid at the same time and missed the opening round game.

I don’t think the threshold is that high anymore. Just look at the mid-major poll and there are at least 7 teams that will get a look at for at-large bids. If South Dakota State stumbled in the conference tourney, they probably get an at-large invite at number 3 and they do not have a great resume. They have played one Top 25 team and were beat handily.

[Catprint]

As Rich posted, from the bottom of the Mid-Major Poll:

NOTE: The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.

There are 32 D-I conferences. There are 22 Mid-Majors so there are 10 conferences somewhere else which must be high-majors if there aren’t any low-majors? Or is that an oxymoron? This would represent at least 220 teams, so it’s a tough list to get on to. Go, ‘Cats!

Correct. The 10 major conferences are the Atlantic 10, Mountain West, American, WCC, ACC, Pac12, Big East, SEC, Big10 and Big12.

Two of your “major conferences” are part of the “mid- major” poll.

Major Conferences in this list are 1) American Athletic Conference (AAC); 2) Atlantic 10; 3) ACC; 4) Big 12; 5) Big East; 6) Big 10; 7) Conference USA; 8 ) Mountain West; 9) Pac 12 and 10) SEC. Only the WCC was in both lists and Conference USA was left out of the "Major" conferences list.

However, all of this seems to just be collegeinsiders.com definition. Other sites have 5 "Majors" or 8 "Majors" ESPN lists the Mountain West, Conference USA and Atlantic 10 as "mid majors" so they have 7 "Majors". Appears to be a totally arbitrary definition based on exposure, # of NCAA bids and national recognition of key schools.

[Rich K]

American | America East | ACC | Atlantic Sun | A-10 | Big 12 | Big East | Big Sky | Big South | Big Ten | Big West | CAA | C-USA | Horizon | Ivy | MAAC | MAC | MEAC | MVC | MW | NEC | OVC | Pac-12 | Patriot | SEC | SoCon | Southland | SWAC | Summit | Sun Belt | WCC | WAC

These are the 32 Division 1 Conferences.
Midmajor Madness lists 24 mid-majors
https://www.midmajormadness.com/pages/m ... conference
These are the 8 conferences they consider majors..
American
ACC
Big 12
Big East
Big Ten
MW
Pac-12
SEC

So the conferences not in the poll but listed at www.midmajormadness.com are
Atlantic 10 and Conference-USA.
So far there are either 5, 7, 8, or 10 "Majors" depending upon who you ask. Just to add to the fun "Rich K" has decided there are 9 "Majors"
American
ACC
Big 12
Big East
Big Ten
MW
Pac-12
SEC
West Coast. (I'll add this one just for Gonzaga since they seem to win enough to pull the whole conference in)

So there are either 5, 7, 8, 9, or 10 Majors depending upon who you ask

[lv2hoop]

I realize no Big Sky team is getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but how far up in these mid-major polls would a BSC team need to be to get that? Hypothetically, let's say MSU wins out and loses in the semi-finals of the BSC tourney. They'd be 27-6 (I think), and given the BSC's history on a national scale, that likely wouldn't be enough for a bid.

Would it ever happen? Would a team need a win or two against a tournament team? At what point would voters not be able to ignore a BSC team that doesn't auto-qualify?

Our RPI is too low to get an at-large. But we aren't too low to possibly get an NIT invite if it came to that. Or one of the lower post season tournaments like the CBI. Hopefully we can win three straight in Boise and it won't matter though.

[kennethnoisewater]

I realize no Big Sky team is getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but how far up in these mid-major polls would a BSC team need to be to get that? Hypothetically, let's say MSU wins out and loses in the semi-finals of the BSC tourney. They'd be 27-6 (I think), and given the BSC's history on a national scale, that likely wouldn't be enough for a bid.

Would it ever happen? Would a team need a win or two against a tournament team? At what point would voters not be able to ignore a BSC team that doesn't auto-qualify?

Our RPI is too low to get an at-large. But we aren't too low to possibly get an NIT invite if it came to that. Or one of the lower post season tournaments like the CBI. Hopefully we can win three straight in Boise and it won't matter though.

Yeah that's what I'm saying. I realize we're not getting invited, but what would it take for a BSC team to get an invite? I think it would take having a couple teams in the conference that are bubble teams or better, then beating one or more of those so you have quality wins. A rising tide lifts all boats. And even with that I think you're going to need to be 28-2 or something similar. It would take an all-time great season for a BSC team.

[BleedingBLue]

I realize no Big Sky team is getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but how far up in these mid-major polls would a BSC team need to be to get that? Hypothetically, let's say MSU wins out and loses in the semi-finals of the BSC tourney. They'd be 27-6 (I think), and given the BSC's history on a national scale, that likely wouldn't be enough for a bid.

Would it ever happen? Would a team need a win or two against a tournament team? At what point would voters not be able to ignore a BSC team that doesn't auto-qualify?

Our RPI is too low to get an at-large. But we aren't too low to possibly get an NIT invite if it came to that. Or one of the lower post season tournaments like the CBI. Hopefully we can win three straight in Boise and it won't matter though.

Yeah that's what I'm saying. I realize we're not getting invited, but what would it take for a BSC team to get an invite? I think it would take having a couple teams in the conference that are bubble teams or better, then beating one or more of those so you have quality wins. A rising tide lifts all boats. And even with that I think you're going to need to be 28-2 or something similar. It would take an all-time great season for a BSC team.

I would say it'd take there being at least 3 22-25 win teams in the conference, and the at large team having taken at least 3 of 4 from them in the regular season, plus a loss in the tourney final. Other musts would be wins over at least a few MWC, OVC, Summit, WCC teams or middle of the pack or better Pac-12 teams or middle of the pack major teams. Plus the other 22+ win teams having done similar. The OVC is better than the BSC and a team like Murray State or Belmont generally need 27+ wins to even be considered for at at large. Belmont was 27-6 in 18-19 and got an at large bid. In the regular season they beat UCLA, lost a close game to Purdue and lost 2 conference games before the conference tourney.

[Bobcat4Ever]

I think the best pre-requisite for being an at-large team is to be an automatic qualifier a few times. If you win the conference two or three times and compete well in the tournament, then if you have a great year but stumble in the conference tournament you might get a look. You’ve got to show achievement and get your name out there.

[wbtfg]

Hey @CatBlitz, is this your boy Eric Curry? Haha

[grizzh8r]

Hey @CatBlitz, is this your boy Eric Curry? Haha

Yep that's him. Arrogant @$$...