Mid Majors

The NCAA conspires to keep mid majors out of the NCAA tournament year in and year out. As parody has overtaken men's college basketball, the NCAA selection committee refuses to acknowledge this reality. Instead, they privilege the power conference cabal that runs the sport.

A team such as Drexel is shamefully on the bubble. This is a team that won the Colonial regular season and won 19 straight games until the CAA tournament championship game. There is no way Drexel should be on the bubble; they should be solidly in with an 8 seed if there was justice.

The reality is that the best three teams in the CAA are better than the mediocre teams in the power conferences. This isn't limited to the CAA either. There are numerous mid majors this year that deserve serious consideration for the NCAA tournament as at large bids. I'd rather see great mid majors than average power conference teams because the great mid majors have earned the nod with their record.

The rating system the NCAA uses is flawed. it privileged who you beat. But just because you beat a school with a name (i.e. a school from a power conference) doesn't mean that team is any good. George Mason's defeat of VCU must be considered a better win than anything South Florida has. But because South Florida is in the Big East, they are privileged.

It's a system that desperately needs changing. Strength of schedule is a flawed statistic based on the same erroneous logic I mentioned above. it's unfair for the mid majors, for the fans, and for the sport.