The Plight of Mid-Majors

[aucat]

This is a column by Sports Journalist Phillip Marshall today regarding mid-majors. Not that any team from the Big Sky is anywhere close to being a
"Cinderalla" in the NCAAs.


Mid-majors are on life support as power programs take over NCAA Tournament

The Southeastern Conference has seven teams in the Sweet 16. The Big 12 has four, the Big Ten has four and the ACC has one. All of those programs have resources that dwarf the mid-majors. They also have lots of players and even coaches who previously toiled as mid-majors. For the first time since 2017, no team seeded 11th or lower is remaining in the field. The only double-digit seed left is Arkansas, which is hardly a Cinderella. Get used to it.

As the NCAA Tournament field grew larger over the last half-century, so did the legend of the Cinderellas. Even in the past few years, Loyola of Chicago and Florida Atlantic have advanced to the Final Four. In 2018, Maryland-Baltimore County became the first 16-seed to beat a No. 1 seed, blasting Virginia. In 2023, 16-seed Fairleigh-Dickson shocked overall No. 1 seed Purdue.


Some of those early-round upsets are still going to happen. Drake, an 11-seed, knocked off Missouri, a 6-seed, this season. Who can forget St. Peter's beating Kentucky or Oakland beating Kentucky or Yale beating Auburn? But when it gets down to it, when it's time for the Sweet 16, the day of the mid-major Cinderella is just about over.

Florida Atlantic got to the Final Four with a veteran team. Now, everybody in the Sweet 16 has a veteran team. Everybody in the Sweet 16 has NIL payrolls in seven figures. They aren't all equal, but they all have enough.

Auburn center Johni Broome, locked in a race with Duke's Cooper Flagg to be national Player of the Year, came from a mid-major. So did Auburn guard Denver Jones. Chad Baker-Mazara came from a junior college. Spectacular Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. came from a mid-major. Alabama guard Mark Sears came from a mid-major. The list of transfers still in the tournament is longer than the list of players who signed out of high school.

But it's not just players.

Just since last weekend, McNeese's Will Wade has left McNeese State for North Carolina State. Drake's Ben McCollum has left for Iowa. Colorado State's Nico Medved has moved to Minnesota. Virginia Commonwealth's Ryan Odom has left for Virginia. New Mexico's Richard Pitino has left for Xavier, where Sean Miller left for Texas.

The transfer portal opened Monday and already includes more than 1,000 players. Soon there will be a stream of players leaving mid-major programs for the bright lights and NIL money.

Who can blame the players? If they can get more money and more exposure, why would they not do it?

Mid-major programs want to win like everyone else. But it comes at a cost. They might hire a really good coach and have some players punching above their weight class. But it doesn't last. Those coaches and players leave.

NIL money and unfettered transfers have left mid-major programs in basketball and football on life support. They are like a farm system now. And there is not a thing they can do about it.

St. Francis, which lost to Alabama State in the First Four, decided not to take it anymore and is moving to Division III. Don't be surprised to see others do something similar as revenue sharing goes into place.

In this season's Sweet 16, the four conference represented are the Power 4 conferences that are flush with cash that comes from TV contracts that focus on football.

You could call the Big East a power conference. Gonzaga and St. Mary's are in the Big West, but they also have money and operate like power programs.

That's about the size of it.

Others will occasionally pull off an upset, but when it comes time for the big boys to settle who wins the championship, they will rarely be at the party.

[grizzh8r]

This is a column by Sports Journalist Phillip Marshall today regarding mid-majors. Not that any team from the Big Sky is anywhere close to being a
"Cinderalla" in the NCAAs.


Mid-majors are on life support as power programs take over NCAA Tournament

The Southeastern Conference has seven teams in the Sweet 16. The Big 12 has four, the Big Ten has four and the ACC has one. All of those programs have resources that dwarf the mid-majors. They also have lots of players and even coaches who previously toiled as mid-majors. For the first time since 2017, no team seeded 11th or lower is remaining in the field. The only double-digit seed left is Arkansas, which is hardly a Cinderella. Get used to it.

As the NCAA Tournament field grew larger over the last half-century, so did the legend of the Cinderellas. Even in the past few years, Loyola of Chicago and Florida Atlantic have advanced to the Final Four. In 2018, Maryland-Baltimore County became the first 16-seed to beat a No. 1 seed, blasting Virginia. In 2023, 16-seed Fairleigh-Dickson shocked overall No. 1 seed Purdue.


Some of those early-round upsets are still going to happen. Drake, an 11-seed, knocked off Missouri, a 6-seed, this season. Who can forget St. Peter's beating Kentucky or Oakland beating Kentucky or Yale beating Auburn? But when it gets down to it, when it's time for the Sweet 16, the day of the mid-major Cinderella is just about over.

Florida Atlantic got to the Final Four with a veteran team. Now, everybody in the Sweet 16 has a veteran team. Everybody in the Sweet 16 has NIL payrolls in seven figures. They aren't all equal, but they all have enough.

Auburn center Johni Broome, locked in a race with Duke's Cooper Flagg to be national Player of the Year, came from a mid-major. So did Auburn guard Denver Jones. Chad Baker-Mazara came from a junior college. Spectacular Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. came from a mid-major. Alabama guard Mark Sears came from a mid-major. The list of transfers still in the tournament is longer than the list of players who signed out of high school.

But it's not just players.

Just since last weekend, McNeese's Will Wade has left McNeese State for North Carolina State. Drake's Ben McCollum has left for Iowa. Colorado State's Nico Medved has moved to Minnesota. Virginia Commonwealth's Ryan Odom has left for Virginia. New Mexico's Richard Pitino has left for Xavier, where Sean Miller left for Texas.

The transfer portal opened Monday and already includes more than 1,000 players. Soon there will be a stream of players leaving mid-major programs for the bright lights and NIL money.

Who can blame the players? If they can get more money and more exposure, why would they not do it?

Mid-major programs want to win like everyone else. But it comes at a cost. They might hire a really good coach and have some players punching above their weight class. But it doesn't last. Those coaches and players leave.

NIL money and unfettered transfers have left mid-major programs in basketball and football on life support. They are like a farm system now. And there is not a thing they can do about it.

St. Francis, which lost to Alabama State in the First Four, decided not to take it anymore and is moving to Division III. Don't be surprised to see others do something similar as revenue sharing goes into place.

In this season's Sweet 16, the four conference represented are the Power 4 conferences that are flush with cash that comes from TV contracts that focus on football.

You could call the Big East a power conference. Gonzaga and St. Mary's are in the Big West, but they also have money and operate like power programs.

That's about the size of it.

Others will occasionally pull off an upset, but when it comes time for the big boys to settle who wins the championship, they will rarely be at the party.

Yep. Welcome to forced mediocrity.

[Colter_Nuanez]

Talked about this extensive on Monday on Nuanez Now in both hours....

https://open.spotify.com/episode/05jYlk ... aad09b4b88

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5GBwlB ... 23e16b4060

[CatBlitz]

I'm so exhausted by what college sports has become. I haven't watched an entire basketball game all season. I hate it, but I just find myself caring less and less.

[84CatGrad]

And nobody is even talking about academics. Remember academics? Remember when teams had to at least pretend that kids were going to class, and if a kid stuck around for four years they at least had a shot at graduating? Now kids earn $500K/year and transfer three times. What must there transcript look like? I know, I know, if they earn $2 mil or more over their career who cares about a degree in sociology? But why are we still pretending there is such a thing as a student-athlete, at least in the upper echelons? It's time to set some limits on transferring or abandon the student-athlete myth and make them school employees.

[grizzh8r]

I'm so exhausted by what college sports has become. I haven't watched an entire basketball game all season. I hate it, but I just find myself caring less and less.

Same. I normally follow FBS football closely. This year, I didn't even watch the CFP. Mostly because of being ridiculously busy at work, having two grade school boys and the run to Frisco for The Cats. That said, it's not like I really missed it.

[CatBlitz]

And nobody is even talking about academics. Remember academics? Remember when teams had to at least pretend that kids were going to class, and if a kid stuck around for four years they at least had a shot at graduating? Now kids earn $500K/year and transfer three times. What must there transcript look like? I know, I know, if they earn $2 mil or more over their career who cares about a degree in sociology? But why are we still pretending there is such a thing as a student-athlete, at least in the upper echelons? It's time to set some limits on transferring or abandon the student-athlete myth and make them school employees.

There never really was. You'd be surprised at the passes football players got from professors and the school as a whole before NIL.
Shouldn't have been pretending 20 years ago either.

[tetoncat]

What I don't understand. If 1000 go into portal (there will be more by time it closes.) They cannot go to power 4 teams. They lose graduates and transfers, but they are also bringing in the Top high school and foreign players. Where do all these others go. It just seems like musical chairs and someone's getting left out.

[CatBlitz]

I'm so exhausted by what college sports has become. I haven't watched an entire basketball game all season. I hate it, but I just find myself caring less and less.

Same. I normally follow FBS football closely. This year, I didn't even watch the CFP. Mostly because of being ridiculously busy at work, having two grade school boys and the run to Frisco for The Cats. That said, it's not like I really missed it.

Watched probably 3 regular season games this year.
With the mass exodus the Cats had, it'll probably be even less in 2025.
Maybe I'm just getting old but it's nowhere near the same anymore.

[CatBlitz]

What I don't understand. If 1000 go into portal (there will be more by time it closes.) They cannot go to power 4 teams. They lose graduates and transfers, but they are also bringing in the Top high school and foreign players. Where do all these others go. It just seems like musical chairs and someone's getting left out.

Exactly what will happen.
There will be a breaking point. No idea what that is but it'll happen.

I liked Paul Pabst's idea on the DP show today. You sign an NIL. deal? Great. You'll get 80% of it when you complete year 3 at the school you sign with.
You want to leave before that, you forfeit the remaining at the time you leave.

[tetoncat]

What I don't understand. If 1000 go into portal (there will be more by time it closes.) They cannot go to power 4 teams. They lose graduates and transfers, but they are also bringing in the Top high school and foreign players. Where do all these others go. It just seems like musical chairs and someone's getting left out.

Exactly what will happen.
There will be a breaking point. No idea what that is but it'll happen.

I liked Paul Pabst's idea on the DP show today. You sign an NIL. deal? Great. You'll get 80% of it when you complete year 3 at the school you sign with.
You want to leave before that, you forfeit the remaining at the time you leave.

Great idea. The problem is the big schools and boosters who want to win at all costs. As long as they have money they don't want limits. Not sure why they like revolving doors. Kid leaving MSU to go hi mid or power 4 I get. Going from Duke to UConn can't be that much number difference

[MinnesotaBobcat]

The NCAA tournament has always been great because of the Cinderella teams. Last week there were only 3 or 4 small schools that beat big schools, and they got blown out in the second round. Honestly, I’ve found this year’s tournament boring and haven’t watched nearly as much as I have in the past. I won’t be watching any games this weekend because there isn’t a game on that schedule that I’m interested in.

It’s amazing how the NIL era has just sucked the joy out of being a fan of low mid-major basketball. For the second year in a row our men’s team is basically starting over from scratch, and the women’s team team has already lost some key players. It’s hard to blame players for following their dreams and $$……but I wonder how much longer I’ll pay attention to college athletics. This just plain sucks, and I don’t see the NCAA having any interest in trying to fix this.

[Bobcat4Ever]

The NCAA is powerless to do anything. The power conferences have all the juice. If the NCAA attempted to make any rule to organize the madness, the big law schools would simply designate (and fund) a student to carry a class-action suit and that would be the end of that.

I guess if I ran the NCAA I would put a closed sign on the door — in other words cut any ties with the new non-student hired guns group asap. Make it clear that they don’t follow any precepts of fair play or scholar-athletes, and they are being kicked out of the NCAA. I doubt they would get any rebuttal, but it would be great fun to see Alabama or Ohio State sue the NCAA for kicking them out.

Then if Division-III (non-scholarship), Division-II schools, or disenfranchised D-I mostly FCS schools wanted to create a new collegiate student-athlete association — more power to them. I think these schools have been burned badly enough that they’d welcome the chance to make their own rules. I think drop the Division designations — replace that with relegation. I think you’d have leagues that top to bottom would be much more competitive, to say nothing of affordable, stocked by students who are also super-good athletes. Shoot, I’d by a viewing pass.

In summary, NCAA be proactive for once. Kick them out before they officially leave. I’ll bet a lot of schools are ready for something new today! How many Bobcat football players like the current state of affairs? Six a year? What about the rest of the guys? Give ‘em a chance. They could even play for scholarships.

[Cataholic]

Not even the P5 conferences are immune to the portal. Blue blood program Indiana has ZERO returning players on the roster. Every single player with eligibility has entered the portal. They did hire a new coach, but this pretty hard to even fathom.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/c ... 709550007/

[BelligerentBobcat]

The NCAA tournament has always been great because of the Cinderella teams. Last week there were only 3 or 4 small schools that beat big schools, and they got blown out in the second round. Honestly, I’ve found this year’s tournament boring and haven’t watched nearly as much as I have in the past. I won’t be watching any games this weekend because there isn’t a game on that schedule that I’m interested in.

It’s amazing how the NIL era has just sucked the joy out of being a fan of low mid-major basketball. For the second year in a row our men’s team is basically starting over from scratch, and the women’s team team has already lost some key players. It’s hard to blame players for following their dreams and $$……but I wonder how much longer I’ll pay attention to college athletics. This just plain sucks, and I don’t see the NCAA having any interest in trying to fix this.

There’s some fantastic basketball being played. Been a great tournament imo.

[MSU01]

The NCAA tournament has always been great because of the Cinderella teams. Last week there were only 3 or 4 small schools that beat big schools, and they got blown out in the second round. Honestly, I’ve found this year’s tournament boring and haven’t watched nearly as much as I have in the past. I won’t be watching any games this weekend because there isn’t a game on that schedule that I’m interested in.

It’s amazing how the NIL era has just sucked the joy out of being a fan of low mid-major basketball. For the second year in a row our men’s team is basically starting over from scratch, and the women’s team team has already lost some key players. It’s hard to blame players for following their dreams and $$……but I wonder how much longer I’ll pay attention to college athletics. This just plain sucks, and I don’t see the NCAA having any interest in trying to fix this.

There’s some fantastic basketball being played. Been a great tournament imo.

IMO, the relative lack of upsets this year made the first weekend of the tournament somewhat less compelling but has led to some really fun matchups in the Sweet 16 and beyond as all the best teams have played each other. The two Final Fours have 7 #1 seeds and a #2 seed that became the clear best team in its region due to the Juju Watkins injury. It's going to be a very fun weekend of basketball!

[tetoncat]

The NCAA tournament has always been great because of the Cinderella teams. Last week there were only 3 or 4 small schools that beat big schools, and they got blown out in the second round. Honestly, I’ve found this year’s tournament boring and haven’t watched nearly as much as I have in the past. I won’t be watching any games this weekend because there isn’t a game on that schedule that I’m interested in.

It’s amazing how the NIL era has just sucked the joy out of being a fan of low mid-major basketball. For the second year in a row our men’s team is basically starting over from scratch, and the women’s team team has already lost some key players. It’s hard to blame players for following their dreams and $$……but I wonder how much longer I’ll pay attention to college athletics. This just plain sucks, and I don’t see the NCAA having any interest in trying to fix this.

There’s some fantastic basketball being played. Been a great tournament imo.

IMO, the relative lack of upsets this year made the first weekend of the tournament somewhat less compelling but has led to some really fun matchups in the Sweet 16 and beyond as all the best teams have played each other. The two Final Fours have 7 #1 seeds and a #2 seed that became the clear best team in its region due to the Juju Watkins injury. It's going to be a very fun weekend of basketball!

Seet 16 was okay but Elite 8 was primarily blowouts.

[imacat]

UCLA had an historic regular season. They dominated the conference but they don’t have the level of talent to compete at the national level. U Conn was simply bigger, stronger, faster and more athletic.

[imacat]

South Carolina had a great regular season. They were dominate at their level. They just don’t have the athleticism to compete with teams like U Conn. Kuddos to them for hanging close in the first half.

[wapiti]

With nil money in the millons a year, will there be fewer players jumping early to the pros?