We need a new term for these not-so-rich conferences we have been lazily referring to as “mid-majors,” because according to the results from this year’s NCAA tournament, these conferences have produced some teams that shouldn’t be labeled mid-anything.
We’ve seen players who were totally dominant, like Bradley’s athletic seven-footer Patrick O’Bryant. The Witchita State Shockers were totally fearless when they defeated second-seeded Tennessee.
And George Mason has demonstrated that a totally team-oriented club with zero pro prospects can knock off coaching titans Roy Williams, Tom Izzo and hall-of-famer Jim Calhoun within a two-week span. Their trip to college basketball’s biggest stage in Indianapolis has left the nation in a state of shock that could be described by anything but mid-level.
What may be even more disturbing to gamblers and big-time coaches alike is that the Godzilla-like havoc these teams have been wreaking just might be permanent.
With high school superstars forced to wait a year after their senior prom to high-step into the NBA, we’re bound to see more pro-prospects in the Big Dance. Pro talent might soon pack the field of 65 like a Fab Five party packs the Riverside Lounge.
Plus, what’s keeping the next LeBron from going to a school in the Missouri Valley Conference because campus is close to home and mom’s mac and cheese? Situations like these have us wondering when Iona might challenge Syracuse as the best college team in New York.
As much as people on the hilltop and around the capital might hate to admit it, this mid-major madness has already occurred in the D.C. area. The new George in town has surprised the nation and left regional powers Georgetown and George Washington curious as to why they are not the ones in the Final Four.
It’s not the up-and-coming Thompsonites or Pops’ Colonials who will be dancing in early April. It’s those Patriots who call the end of the Orange line home who are cutting down the nets. Yes, the same Patriots who spent exactly one week in the top-25 and lost to Drexel. Twice.
But all that matters now are the names of teams George Mason didn’t lose to. First Michigan State, then UNC and most recently UConn could not do what non-major, non-big-time basketball school, Drexel did.
Just a year ago, had you compared George Mason’s ability to Georgetown and GW they would have been described as the George Costanza of the group: athletically challenged and awkward.
What a difference a year makes. As the only George to make the Final Four since 1985, you might be more inclined to compare them to George of The Jungle: the studs of the trio, pounding their chests all the way to a shot at the national title.
The Patriots and others that hail from conferences branded with the middling prefix are showing they can play with anyone. Realizing that they beat teams who have won four of the last seven National Championships, to count them out again this weekend could be a major mistake.
