Should there even be the term mid-major anymore?

In the past, when fans went to exhibition games they expected to see highlight reel dunks, amazing passes and a blow out win against a mid-major. Now the games have grown to be more of a struggle for teams in bigger conferences. This new phenomenon started back a few years ago when Gonzaga burst onto the scene as that mid-major who did not quite fit the profile. When Gonzaga started “shocking” teams in the NCAA tournament, sometime around the year 2000, people started to question who was actually a mid-major.

Today this debate has surfaced once again, power conference teams, this year more than ever, have been upset. As the college basketball season got under way this year no one knew about teams like Gardner-Webb, Findley, Mercer and Grand Valley State. After Grand Valley State shocked Michigan State in an exhibition game early this season fans of the game took notice. We still don’t know who Grand Valley State is, but we do know that they were a Division II team that knocked off the eight ranked team in the nation. What’s causing this to happen? Are coaches not stressing the need to win these exhibition games? Or are these mid-major programs actually getting better?

Some answers have been that “we are trying different matchups”, “looking at several players” and “we are a young team right now” from head coaches like Rob Jeter, Tom Izzo, and Thad Matta. I don’t know if this is the truth or if coaches are making excuses for being humiliated on national television, but these upsets have been happening with greater frequency lately.

When No. 22 Kentucky went down in Rupp Arena to Gardner-Webb the excuses went out the door. This was the regular season and not an exhibition anymore. Gardner-Webb was actually a Division I team associated with an actual conference! Kentucky was supposed to have a solid season starting out ranked and loaded with some fresh new talent.

Teams like George Mason, Bradley and Missouri State last season were Cinderella teams, but do they fit the glass slipper? Should there even be the term mid-major anymore?

With all the success of mid-majors this season it seems as if we might be able to take the Missouri Valley Conference out of the mid-major role. The last couple of years the MVC has been sending more than one team to the NCAA tournament, and this year it looks as if three teams from the MVC have a shot at postseason play. Even here in the Horizon we have a ranked team for the second year in a row with Butler ranked 13th in the nation.

Competition and parity make the game of college basketball great. Knowing that on any given night any team is susceptible to a loss and an upset. Fans storming the court to celebrate with their university’s team, players popping their jerseys out to show the world their school pride; there is something about watching this that makes college basketball great.

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