Non-BCS Top 25
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Last year, I did a "Mid-Major Top 25", and I planned on doing the same thing this year. It was going to include all the teams outside the Big Six conferences. However, after all the controversy surrounding which teams are mid-majors and which ones aren't, it made me re-think that idea. People in the Atlantic-10 and the Missouri Valley and the Mountain West don't want to be included in a ranking of "mid-major" teams. Therefore, I decided to avoid any sort of backlash and just call it the "Non-BCS Top 25". The easy way out? Sure. But there was no easy way to rank the Top 25 teams outside the Big Six conferences.
1. Memphis
2. Creighton
3. Wichita State
4. Southern Illinois
5. Hofstra
6. Xavier
7. Gonzaga
8. Nevada
9. San Diego State
10. Winthrop
11. Air Force
12. BYU
13. Missouri State
14. Houston
15. Massachusetts
16. George Mason
17. Akron
18. Marist
19. George Washington
20. Bucknell
21. New Mexico State
22. Northern Iowa
23. Pennsylvania
24. Toledo
25. New Mexico
Others Considered: Oral Roberts, Charlotte, Drexel, Western Kentucky, Niagara, Loyola Marymount, San Franscisco, Saint Louis, Long Beach State, Northern Arizona, Loyola (Chicago)
Last year, I did a "Mid-Major Top 25", and I planned on doing the same thing this year. It was going to include all the teams outside the Big Six conferences. However, after all the controversy surrounding which teams are mid-majors and which ones aren't, it made me re-think that idea. People in the Atlantic-10 and the Missouri Valley and the Mountain West don't want to be included in a ranking of "mid-major" teams. Therefore, I decided to avoid any sort of backlash and just call it the "Non-BCS Top 25". The easy way out? Sure. But there was no easy way to rank the Top 25 teams outside the Big Six conferences.
1. Memphis
2. Creighton
3. Wichita State
4. Southern Illinois
5. Hofstra
6. Xavier
7. Gonzaga
8. Nevada
9. San Diego State
10. Winthrop
11. Air Force
12. BYU
13. Missouri State
14. Houston
15. Massachusetts
16. George Mason
17. Akron
18. Marist
19. George Washington
20. Bucknell
21. New Mexico State
22. Northern Iowa
23. Pennsylvania
24. Toledo
25. New Mexico
Others Considered: Oral Roberts, Charlotte, Drexel, Western Kentucky, Niagara, Loyola Marymount, San Franscisco, Saint Louis, Long Beach State, Northern Arizona, Loyola (Chicago)
posted by Jeff at 7:49 PM
8 Comments:
Decent list but perplexed by a bunch of them.
George Mason.....Absolutly not top 25 material for this list. Vaughn will be an added plus but the verdicts still out. They MAY be a consideration if they mesh.
George Washington...laughable
UNI-Maybe but Eric Coleman still can't hit a FT. Solid frontcourt but another team that I'm not sold on.
Niagara....not sure why you would even consider them to be close to hitting this list, especially with the off the court issues that have come about.
Both San Fran and Loyola Mary should be on this list and will be by end of the year.
Drexel has no reason to be left off your list.
Akron has the chance to be this year's Bradley.
For the most part, list is real solid. Good work Sir.
I’ll admit it up front; I am an SIU alum and an avid fan. I also happen to think that they are going to be a very good basketball team this year; possibly one of the best 20 teams in the country.
What I am really writing about is the stupid way in which sports writers and others have to qualify their success and the success of others, like Gonzaga for example. A few years ago the insidious term “mid-major” crept into the lexicon of sports gibberish. What ever happened to the idea that they are just a good team? No one ever called Texas Western a mid –major when they kicked Kentucky’s ass in 1966. Now non-BCS is starting to creep into the language. What has the Bowl Championship Series got to do with basketball??? Because you are a powerhouse in football does that mean you will put a good basketball team on the floor? I am sorry but that logic, or lack of it, does not compute. The thing about NCAA basketball that makes it great is that it doesn’t require 100 scholarships to put a good team on the floor. So let’s start right here and forget “mid-major” and “non-BCS.” Let’s just talk about good teams.
Ed Roberts
I was just trying to give people a list of some of the lesser-known teams to watch out for in March and throughout the season.
As for anonymous #1...
George Mason returns two very good players in Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas, and they bring in a solid recruiting class. They will be a top-3 team in the Colonial.
George Washington has an outstanding perimeter group in Maureece Rice, Carl Elliot, and Cheyenne Moore. That's enough to beat several of the teams on this list.
I'd consider Niagara because I looked at teams that had a good chance at finishing in the top two or three of their league. They return four double-figure scorers, as well.
I agree that Loyola Marymount should've been on it--I overlooked them and San Fran, agreed.
Drexel has no reason? Other than the fact that they were below .500 last season and finished 7th in the Colonial.
I agree about Akron. I think they are going to be outstanding.
I guess I was never sold on GW last year which makes me liking them even less this year.
They may be good with those guys you mentioned but I don't buy it.
I personally buy into the fact that you can't be as good as the year before when you lose seniors. GMU will be good but not as good. Hofstra and Drexel are better for sure. Lot of what if's IMO for the rest of the conference.
Yeah, Drexel came in 7th last year in the CAA. Bradley wasn't very good in 2004-2005 but you knew with what was returning they would be nasty come 05-06.
Drexel has those intangibles that I love coming into a season. Have both front and backcourts in great shape going into the year.
They were competitive in the CAA last year but when you have RIDICULOUSLY good teams in GMU, NEU, Hofstra, ODU, UNCW, and VCU I can see why they came up a little short in the standings department.
Like I said, great work on this blog. As always, preseason rankings change and are tough to come up with.
Cheers
Blue Ribbion Yearbook isn't the holy grail(had BYU placing last in 04-05) but lets look at what they have for said teams.
DREXEL-#1 in the CAA...exactly
GMU-#3 in the CAA...interesting
Niagara-#6 in the MAAC
G-Dub-#6 in the A-10
LMU-#2 in the WCC
San Fran-#3 in the WCC
UNI-#5 in the MVC...Evansville will be better than them.
I get Blue Ribbon too, but thanks for telling me their rankings.
Who ever came up with this list is a cock sucker. Umass, marist, New Mexico State all suck choad. Where the hell is Maryland. They can kill every team on this list. The one who came up with this list is a Anal piece of crap. go shove your head up your ass u dick.
That was well-said, anonymous.
First of all, this is a mid-major poll--so Maryland isn't on it.
Of course, Maryland refuses to play any good mid-majors so you probably won't see them play any of these teams either.
But good thing you read titles and whatnot. Keep it up.
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