Mid major basketball refers to college teams which are not typically part of the major six American conferences including the ACC, SEC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, or Pac-10. This phrase was first developed in 1977 by Coach Jack Kvancz of Catholic University. The term is not officially acknowledged by the NCAA. However it is used fairly regularly to help distinguish between BCS and non BCS conference teams.
The mid major moniker can sometimes be confusing as it doesn’t always accurately reflect the true picture. For example in recent years, the Missouri Valley Conference was considered to be a mid major conference. However is has received up to four NCAA tournament bids every year from the 1990’s to 2007.
And the Horizon League has put a team into the second round of the NCAA tournament in each of the past six years and 10 out of the last 13 years. A number of mid major conferences regularly draw more attendance than conferences like the Atlantic 10 or Conference USA.
This can make is difficult to accurately define and label mid major conferences and the higher rated conferences are often finding it difficult to effectively distinguish themselves from these so called mid major conferences. So the situation can certainly be confusing and misleading.
As stated earlier, the major basketball programs are normally part of the following six conferences:
- Atlantic Coast Conference
- Big 12 Conference
- Big East Conference
- Big Ten Conference
- Pacific 10 Conference
- Southeastern Conference
The so called Mid Major conferences normally includes all of the 25 other conferences which are not considered to be a major conference. At the time, these conferences also normally produce high quality teams on a consistent basis. In many cases, one of these mid major conferences has the potential to produce at least one viable bid in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
And while mid major basketball programs may be included in up to 25 other conferences, the following nine are normally considered to be the ones most often referenced:
- Atlantic 10 Conference
- Big Sky Conference
- Colonial Athletic Association
- Conference USA
- Horizon League
- Mid-American Conference
- Missouri Valley Conference
- Mountain West Conference
- Sun Belt Conference
- West Coast Conference
- Western Athletic Conference
This list can change from year to year since many people still cannot agree on which constitutes a major conference and what constitutes the mid major conferences. And as said earlier, a number of analysts still refuse to consider the Mountain Valley Conference to be a major conference despite the fact that the league has outperformed many of the other “major” conferences over the past few years.
Mid major teams face a number of important challenges. One of them is scheduling major conference opponents during home games. The major conference teams will not typically schedule a high quality mid major team if they feel there is a reasonable chance that they will lose the game.
And even if they win, there is little to be gained in terms of media exposure. The major teams may agree to play lesser ranked mid major teams during their out of conference schedules to help maintain impressive records against less qualified opponents.
It is an ongoing situation which perpetuates confusion and at times unfair treatment. But it will most likely remain a key part of categorizing college basketball programs.