I’ve been thinking about this one for a while. The big guns are still the big guns, but the midd are making a serious run. Those top programs will continue to get the top players and top coaches, but many of those top players are leaving early, leaving unbalanced rosters. The Butlers, VCUs, Gonzagas, Creightons, Daytons, Wichita States of the world are building true programs. VCU has been able to keep Smart. Few has stayed at Gonzaga. Marshall at Wichita. Think about attendance, too. Creighton and Wichita are way up there, better than most ACC schools in fact. And some of these coaches are being paid quite handsomely.
To further illustrate the point, I took a look at the top 40 on the final Dance Card, and there are 12 mids there.
But to Va’s point, what exactly is a mid? I’m not sure I know anymore. And schools like St. john’s, Marquette, Providence, Gtown, Cincy, etc may soon find themselves at more of a mid major status as they are currently excluded from the power conferences.
So here’s the 12 in the top 40:
Wichita State
Creighton
SDSU
Saint Louis
UMass
St. Joe’s
VCU
George Washington
Dayton
Gonzaga
Memphis
Xavier
If some of these are “mids”, well, they don’t have it so bad. They are getting it done.
