Division 1 Mid-Majors Review Part 1
The Mid-Majors have to be very strategic if they want to reach the NCAA Tournament. How they schedule in non-Conference is essential to put them in the Top 50 RPI world. Some of the Mid-Majors conferences have 3 or more teams in their conference with RPIs in the Top 50 on a consistent basis which only strengthens the overall conference this is usually typical with the BCS schools who will have 5 to 9 teams depending on the year. Other Mid-Major conferences it’s all about the postseason tournament and the automatic bid to NCAAs. There are 26 Mid-Majors Conferences. Below is a review of the first half of the Mid Majors.

 

WCC 
Portland RPI 12 have re-emerged; they are the only undefeated team in the WCC and are looking for the years of past where they were a consistent Top 5 program and won two National Championships. BYU, last year’s runner up RPI 29 and Pepperdine Sweet 16 RPI 42 are both doing well and controlling their own destiny. After that, Gonzaga RPI 64 will need to get a Top 50 RPI win and have a date at home this Wednesday against Pepperdine and just missed out last season’s NCAA Tournament with RPI of 51. Santa Clara are two games below 500 with RPI 68 got off to a inconsistent start and will be very dangerous down the stretch and with the appropriate results will be back in Top 50 RPI world. St Mary’s RPI 88 and USF RPI 91 will need to go on a run and beat a couple of Top RPI teams to move closer to Top 50 RPI to give themselves an opportunity to get in or win the WCC to get an automatic bid. The WCC is one of three conferences that does not have a tournament so all is on line with the WCC and 8 league games left for each team. The WCC will be looking at 3 to 5 teams to potentially get into the NCAAs most likely, and with such a strong national championship tradition and deep tournament runs they will be very tough as usual.

 

WCC Record RPI
Portland 7-0-4 RPI 12
BYU 4-2-4 RPI 29
Pepperdine 7-1-2 RPI 42
Gonzaga 6-2-2 RPI 64
Santa Clara 4-6-1 RPI 68
St Mary’s 4-2-4 RPI 88
San Francisco 5-3-3 RPI 91
LMU 2-1-6 RPI 153
San Diego 2-6-3 RPI 178
Pacific 5-1-6 RPI 179

 

Big East 
The ever competitive Big East currently has 5 teams in Top 100 RPIs and 3 in top 50 world. As usual the Big East starts with Georgetown RPI 18 with a rich tradition of making the NCAA Tournament and going deep reaching the College Cup twice in recent years. Xavier RPI 25 and Georgetown have both started 4-0-0 in conference and matchup at the Hoyas this Thursday with major regular season championship implications. Connecticut RPI 52 will play Xavier on the road on Sunday this game will factor strongly with RPI and the rest of the Conference. Big East overall is 57-49-19 and with 6 of the 11 teams reaching the Big East Championships the Conference is looking likely to get 3 teams in and maybe a fourth into the NCAA Tournament if the RPI results go a certain way.

 

Big East Record RPI
Georgetown 8-1-3 RPI 18
Xavier 10-2-1 RPI 26
Connecticut RPI 52
Creighton 6-2-4 RPI 70
Butler 4-6-1 RPI 94
St John’s 5-4-3 RPI 145
Marquette 6-5-1 RPI 162
Providence 3-7-1 RPI 181
DePaul 2-8-0 RPI 219
Seton Hall 4-6-2 RPI 229
Villanova 5-4-3 RPI 238

 

IVY 
Harvard RPI 9 are flying with Top 10 RPI and are undefeated. They played a strong Non-Conference schedule that will set them up with a strong ability to reach the NCAA Tournament and get a seed if the results keep coming. Brown RPI 42 last year’s IVY Champs are in a good place going 2-0-0 in Conference and have a home date with Harvard on October 15th which may decide the IVY Championship. Princeton, Columbia and the rest of the IVY’s will have a say with 5 IVY league games left. The IVY overall is 38-24-17 and the only other conference that does not have a postseason tournament to decide the champions and will be looking like that will get 2 to 3 teams depending on the remaining strong RPI games left on the table.

 

IVY Record RPI
Harvard 7-0-2 RPI 9
Brown 7-2-1 RPI 42
Yale 4-5-1 RPI 83
Princeton 7-4-0 RPI 92
Columbia 5-3-1 RPI 103
Dartmouth 5-4-1 RPI 114
Penn 2-1-7 RPI 136
Cornell 1-5-4 RPI 250

 

Atlantic 10 
St Louis RPI 16 is one of the only two teams in the country to reach the 12 win total and believe it or not the other is also in the Atlantic 10 Dayton RPI 50 both teams have the same records at 12-1-1. On October 16th they play each other when the Flyers will invite Billikens in a major conference matchup. VCU RPI 51 may have the most unusual record in the country at 5-1-7 and have two results against Top 5 RPI teams: win at home over Pittsburg RPI 2 and tie on the road at Virginia RPI 4 all in the same week. Very impressive. The Atlantic 10 has 5 teams in Top 75 RPI which bodes well for getting at Large Berths for the NCAA Tournament. The postseason tournament seeds will be very competitive with 8 teams that will play for the championship. The overall record of Atlantic 10 currently is 73-69-50 with the ability to get 3 to 5 teams into the NCAA Tournament this will be exciting to watch.

 

Atlantic 10 Record RPI
St Louis 12-1-0 RPI 16
Dayton 12-1-1 RPI 50
VCU 5-1-7 RPI 51
Davidson 9-2-2 RPI 66
Loyola Ill 6-5-2 RPI 74
U Mass 4-5-5 RPI 85
La Salle 6-6-0 RPI 104
Duquesne 5-5-1 RPI 111
George Washington 3-3-6 RPI 183
George Mason 1-8-4 RPI 224
Rhode Island 1-7-6 RPI 226
St Bonaventure 2-5-6 RPI 244
St Joseph’s 2-5-6 RPI 254
Fordham 4-7-1 RPI 268
Richmond 1-8-3 RPI 316

 

American Athletic 
A very wide open conference with 4 teams floating around the Top 50 RPIs with UCF RPI 46 Memphis RPI 62 SMU RPI 63 Cincinnati RPI 76 with that said East Carolina RPI 93 and South Florida RPI 154 are on top after playing 3 games each in Conference. Six teams make the postseason American Athletic tournament with #1 #2 seeds getting a bye. It is very tough to predict who will be playing in the NCAA Tournament from American Athletic and overall are 39-31-25, but there is an opportunity to get two or three teams in which should be very interesting to watch.

 

American Athletic Record RPI
UCF 2-2-4 RPI 46
Memphis 4-3-4 RPI 62
SMU 6-2-3 RPI 63
Cincinnati 4-1-4 RPI 76
East Carolina 7-4-2 RPI 93
Houston 5-4-2 RPI 108
Tulsa 5-4-2 RPI 128
South Florida 5-6-0 RPI 154
Temple 1-5-4 RPI 169

 

Colonial 
Drexel RPI 57 are 3-1-0 in conference play and sit on top of the Colonial. Only 4 of 12 teams make the postseason tournament and looking at the below RPIs it is most likely 2 teams at best could get into the NCAA Tournament. Northeastern RPI 81 are the only team that could get at Large Berth with their win over Connecticut RPI 54 and a tie against Brown RPI 42, but still they need to keep getting results and their opponents also do to to keep climbing. The Colonial Conference is currently 69-54-25 overall with so many competitive games to play down the stretch to get into the top 4 to play for the Conference Championship.

 

Colonial Record RPI
Drexel 8-1-3 RPI 57
Northeastern 5-4-3 RPI 81
Monmouth 9-2-1 RPI 97
William & Mary 6-4-3 RPI 109
Towson 8-2-3 RPI 117
Elon 6-4-2 RPI 118
Hofstra 6-5-2 RPI 140
UNC Wilmington 6-5-1 RPI 151
College of Charleston 8-4-1 RPI 189
Stony Brook 4-7-2 RPI 242
Delaware 2-7-4 RPI 275
Hampton 1-9-0 RPI 339

 

WAC 
The two Chris’s matchup in a very competitive game this past Sunday night with Utah Valley getting a late winner on the road. Utah Valley RPI 48 and Grand Canyon RPI 127 have been the teams to beat in recent years and have represented the WAC very competitively in Non Conference. Currently on Top of the WAC is New Mexico St who have played two more games and next in line are all three Utah Schools with 10 pts Utah Valley, Southern Utah RPI 173 Utah Tech RPI 157 in Conference. WAC overall is 55-50-23 with 6 teams making the postseason WAC Championships. In regards to the NCAA Tournament the only possible scenario is if Utah Valley are not the WAC Tournament Champions they would still have an opportunity to get at Large Berth with their road win at BYU RPI 29 and tie UCF RPI 46 if they keep getting the appropriate results this would give the potential for two teams in.

 

WAC Record RPI
Utah Valley 7-2-3 RPI 48
Grand Canyon 4-5-1 RPI 127
Cal Baptist 5-2-2 RPI 133
Seattle 3-5-2 RPI 142
New Mexico State 6-3-3 RPI 146
Utah Tech 7-2-1 RPI 157
Southern Utah 8-1-1 RPI 173
S F Austin 3-7-1 RPI 196
Texas Rio Grande Valley 2-7-1 RPI 219
Tarleton 3-5-3 RPI 223
Abilene Christian 4-5-3 RPI 272
Sam Houston St 3-6-2 RPI 288

 

Sun Belt 
Anything can happen in the Sun Belt with 14 teams and 11 teams reach the postseason conference tournament with the automatic bid at stake to play in the NCAA Tournament. Unless the RPI math is wrong it looks extremely likely only one team will go to the NCAA Tournament. South Alabama RPI 87 have dominated the Sun Belt in recent years and will be looking to continue that tradition, new addition James Madison RPI 87 from Colonial who are currently tied in first with Texas St RPI 56 will be battling it out with them for the regular season. Ultimately though it will come down to the postseason tournament and maybe the dark horse and new addition to the Sun Belt Old Dominion RPI 215 last year’s Conference USA Tournament Champion joined the Sun Belt to add to overall competitiveness. The Sun Belt is currently 55-55-45 keep watching with so much to play for.

 

Sun Belt Record RPI
Texas St 8-1-2 RPI 56
South Alabama 6-1-5 RPI 77
James Madison 7-2-3 RPI 87
Southern Miss 1-6-2 RPI 102
Arkansas St 5-4-2 RPI 136
Ga Southern 2-3-5 RPI 182
Georgia St 4-2-5 RPI 194
Appalachian St 3-5-4 RPI 199
Old Dominion 3-6-2 RPI 215
La Monroe 9-2-2 RPI 222
Troy 3-5-2 RPI 252
Marshall 2-6-3 RPI 255
La Lafayette 1-5-5 RPI 257
Coastal Carolina 1-7-3 RPI 311

 

Mountain West 12 Teams
The Mountain West is a very unpredictable conference to say the least with 8 elevation schools and with 5 different Tournament Champs in the last 5 years. 6 teams make the Mountain West Tournament with New Mexico, last year’s champions hosting this year. The RPIs are between 90 to 312 so it will be tough to get a at Large Berth for the NCAA Tournament. After 4 conference games all 12 teams are within three points between them so as usual it will be a very tight race for the 6 teams that get into the Mountain West postseason. Currently San Diego St RPI 90 Utah St RPI 205 San Jose St RPI 213 are all tied for first. Currently overall 40-54-46 from top to bottom and should come down to the last week of season to see who claims the Regular Season Championship stay tuned.

 

Mountain West Record RPI
San Diego St 4-3-5 RPI 90
Boise St 5-2-6 RPI 112
Colorado St 4-3-5 RPI 152
Colorado College RPI 175
New Mexico 3-3-5 RPI 185
Air Force 4-5-2 RPI 202
Utah ST 5-3-5 RPI 205
San Jose St 3-4-4 RPI 213
Wyoming 2-5-4 RPI 247
Nevada 2-6-3 RPI 278
UNLV 3-8-1 RPI 290
Fresno St 1-8-3 RPI 312

 

Conference USA 11 Teams
Conference USA has already played 5 games with UAB RPI 70 in first and Rice RPI 139 one point behind in second. A conference that is most likely only going to get one team to the NCAA Tournament will just add to overall competitiveness. 8 teams make the Conference USA postseason tournament with last year’s tournament champions Old Dominion moved on to the Sun Belt. There is a lot of parity and will make it interesting to watch the conference overall is 48-58-27.

 

Conference USA Record RPI
UAB 7-2-3 RPI 70
North Texas 7-4-2 RPI 95
Florida Atlantic 6-5-3 RPI 98
Rice 6-7-0 RPI 139
Western Kentucky 3-5-3 RPI 146
UTSA 6-3-3 RPI 187
Charlotte 3-7-2 RPI 238
FIU 2-5-3 RPI 249
Middle Tennessee 2-6-2 RPI 260
Louisiana Tech 3-7-3 RPI 281
UTEP 3-7-3 RPI 306

 

Big West 
Top to bottom the Big West is a very tough read with teams capable of beating anyone on a given day. Long Beach St RPI 101 played a lively Non-Conference schedule and has used that experience to get ready for the Big West. They are currently on Top of Conference with 6 games to go and a game in hand over second place Cal St Bakersfield RPI 271. The Big West traditionally in recent years has been dominated by Long Beach St and Cal St Fullerton RPI 73 when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Last year UC Irvine RPI 168 won the regular season and postseason tournament and went on to knock off UCLA in the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament. So there is a lot of competitive experience in the Big West. In the past they have been a conference that can get two teams into the dance this season is most likely only one team. The Big West currently overall is 38-58-39 and six teams reach the postseason tournament and with everything to play for down the stretch.

 

Big West Record RPI
Cal St Fullerton 5-4-4 RPI 73
Long Beach St 4-4-4 RPI 101
UC Irvine 5-3-5 RPI 168
Hawaii 4-3-2 RPI 179
Cal Poly 5-6-1 RPI 192
UC Davis 4-4-4 RPI 210
UC Riverside 2-3-6 RPI 225
Cal St Northridge 2-11-1 RPI 232
UCSB 2-6-5 RPI 240
UCSD 1-8-4 RPI 241
Cal St Bakersfield 4-6-3 RPI 271

 

Big Sky
In recent years the Big Sky has been consistently won by Montana RPI 160 Northern Colorado RPI 213 Eastern Washington RPI 198. This season Idaho RPI 129 is making a serious charge to win the Conference Tournament for first time in school history they have won Regular season twice but never the postseason tournament they are currently 4-0-0 and 4 points clear on top of Big Sky with 4 games left. The usual suspects are following behind in league standings and Six teams get into the postseason tournament hosted by Northern Colorado, last year’s regular season champions. A lot to watch for and the Big Sky is currently overall 28-51-28.

 

Big Sky Record RPI
Idaho 9-1-2 RPI 129
Montana 3-4-6 RPI 160
Eastern Washington 5-5-4 RPI 198
Northern Colorado 4-7-3 RPI 213
Weber St 2-9-0 RPI 290
Sacramento St 1-7-4 RPI 289
Idaho St 1-8-1 RPI 295
Portland St 2-5-4 RPI 301
Northern Arizona 1-5-4 RPI 320

 

Horizon
The Horizon League post season tournament the past four year has been won by Milwaukee RPI 116. This spring there was a coaching change and they hired Kevin Boyd who has made the NCAA Tournament 13 times with his time in the PAC 10/12. This will just add to the competitiveness of the conference; currently Wright St RPI 114 is on top with 5 games left, Detroit RPI 245 follows with IPFW RPI 132 and Milwaukee. Only one team will make the NCAA Tournament this season and the Horizon League as six teams that will play in their postseason tournament with the higher seed hosting. Overall the Horizon League 46-42-37 this will make for a very interesting watch on the Horizon.

 

Horizon Record RPI
Wright St 6-4-2 RPI 114
Milwaukee 5-3-3 RPI 116
IPFW 6-2-4 RPI 132
IUPUI 5-1-6 RPI 138
Oakland 3-2-7 RPI 143
Cleveland St 5-4-3 RPI 144
Robert Morris 6-2-4 RPI 216
Northern Kentucky 1-6-2 RPI 227
Detroit 5-6-1 RPI 245
Green Bay 2-6-2 RPI 253
Youngstown St 2-6-3 RPI 294