2011-2012 Preseason Mid-Major Top 25

Today, we are rolling out our Mid-Major Top 25, and there are a number of very teams populating this list.

And while we hope that this list will spark a discussion, it may not be the discussion we planned on. Labeling a program as a mid-major or a high-major is a bit of a hot button issue. You may get shot in you call Memphis, Gonzaga or Xavier a mid-major. But the Muskies actually spend less on basketball than TCU and Rice. Memphis and Gonzaga both find themselves behind Auburn.

So, in the end, I made the final decision. No Memphis, Xavier or Gonzaga here. Temple is out as well. The Mountain West schools and recent Mountain West defectors (ahem, BYU) don't make the cut, either. We do include every other Atlantic 10 and Conference USA team, however, as well as St. Mary's, Butler and every member of the WAC.

To browse through the rest of our Season Previews, click here.


1. Belmont Bruins: So there you are. Belmont. The best mid-major team in the country. And while I am sure that there are plenty of folks in Boston or Moraga or Omaha that will disagree, but I'm not even sure how close this is. The Bruins won 30 games last season, steamrolling through the Atlantic Sun competition -- their only loss was their "road trip" to visit heated rival Lipscomb. And of the 11 players that were in the Bruin rotation last season, nine of them return, including four starters. Their best back court player is back in junior Ian Clark, as is their dominating interior duo of Mick Hedgepeth and Scott Saunders. Belmont gets a chance early on in the season to test themselves against Duke and Memphis, and don't expect either game to be a blowout.


2. Harvard Crimson: I'm very high on Harvard this season. This is a team that finished tied with Princeton atop the Ivy League standings, coming with a Douglas Davis floater of making the NCAA Tournament. This year, they return everyone, including Ivy League Player of the Year Keith Wright and a finally healthy Kyle Casey. Throw in a talented freshmen class that features a trio of players that cracked top 100 lists, and there is a reason the Crimson cracked the BIAH Preseason Top 25.

3. St. Mary's Gaels: St. Mary's is going to be an interesting team to keep an eye on next season. They do lose Mickey McConnell, which will be a factor, but the Gaels also return everyone else, including Matthew Dellavedova, who can handle the point. With a couple of talented sophomore joining him on the perimeter in Stephen Holt and Jorden Page, size in the middle and a junkyard dog at the four in Rob Jones, a legitimate case can be made that St. Mary's is actually the best team in the West Coast Conference.

4. Creighton Bluejays: You already know that the Bluejays have an all-american on their roster in forward Doug McDermott. But he is far from alone on that roster. Antoine Young is a playmaker at the point that is one of the best on-ball defenders in the country while Gregory Echinique is a Venezuelan big man that averaged double figures in the Big East with Rutgers. Throw in role players like Gonzaga transfer Grant Gibbs, Josh Jones and Jahenns Manigat -- along with a talented recruiting class -- and the Bluejay will be ranked on and off throughout the season.

5. Nevada Wolfpack: This may actually be the first pick that is a surprise in these rankings, and not just because I actually classified Nevada as a mid-major. The Wolfpack finished last season with just 13 wins, but they got much better as the season progressed, finishing 8-8 in WAC play. They also bring back all six players that started games last season, including talented sophomore Deonte Burton and transfers Malik Story (Indiana) and Olek Czyz (Duke). There are a number of pieces on the roster, the key is whether or not those pieces actually come together.

6. Butler Bulldogs: It may take a while for Butler to prove me right on this. While Andrew Smith, Ronald Nored and Chase Stigall are returning starters, none of them are potential stars. Chrishawn Hopkins and Khyle Marshall are, but they are also sophomores. It may take a while for everything to come together, but the same thing happened last season. And when all the pieces finally did get put into place, the Bulldogs made their second straight run to the national title game. Advice: don't bet against Brad Stevens.


7. Marshall Thundering Herd: Marshall may have the best back court that you've ever actually heard of. Senior Damier Pitts is a talented point guard that can score and create. Sophomore DeAndre Kane has the potential to be a player of the year in Conference USA by the time his career is over. Throw in some size up front, talent coming off the bench and a couple of talented newcomers -- Justin Coleman was a Louisville signee and Robert Goff was supposed to go to Oklahoma when Oklahoma was good -- and this is a team that may end up surprising a lot of people.

8. Long Beach State 49ers: LBSU isn't deep. They essentially had a seven-man rotation last year, and graduated three of those players. But they do return their top four scorers, all of whom are seniors that have played together for four years. Casper Ware is one of the best point guards in the country you've never seen play and TJ Robinson is a double-double machine in the paint. Last year, they won their conference by four games. Expect something similar this year.

9. Wichita State Shockers: Wichita State is your typical Valley contender. They defend, they have an experienced roster and they are very well-coached. Coming off of an NIT title, the Shockers return a talented perimeter attack in Joe Ragland, David Kyles and Toure' Murry as well as seven-footer Garrett Stutz inside. Don't give the MVC title to Creighton just yet.

10. Drexel Dragons: Drexel is exactly what you should come to expect from a team coached by Bruiser Flint. They are physical and disciplined defensively and they absolutely dominate the glass despite being undersized -- their power forward, Samme Givens, averaged a double-double despite standing all of 6'5" If Chris Fouch can get healthy and provide a scoring punch, the Dragons are the team to beat in the CAA.

11. George Mason Patriots: George Mason is going to look different this season after losing their head coach and their two best playmaker. But Ryan Pearson is the truth at the four, and the rest of this roster has been through their fair share of battles.

12. Weber State Wildcats: Weber State was surprisingly competitive last season despite only having Damian Lillard for nine games before he broke his foot. With Lillard back and rejoining a group that returns the majority of their important pieces, expect the Wildcats to make plenty of noise this year.

13. St. Louis Billikens: The Billikens return everyone from last season and add Kwamaine Mitchell, who will likely end up being a first-team all-Atlantic 10 play, back into the mix after he sat out last season.

14. Tulsa Golden Hurricane: Losing Justin Hurtt will hurt, but both Scottie Haralson and Jordan Clarkson should be able to increase their scoring while the return of Donte Medder gives Doug Wojcik the point guard he was missing last season.

15. Oral Roberts Golden Eagles: ORU brings back essentially their entire team -- including star forward Dominique Morrison, from a team that finished second in the Summit League last season.


16. Kent State Golden Flashes: Kent State brings back six of the seven players from a team that went 12-4 in the MAC last year, headlined by potential Player of the Year Justin Greene.

17. Fairfield Stags: Ed Cooley may have left for Providence, but he turned over plenty of talent to Sydney Johnson. Derek Needham is one of the best point guards in the mid-major ranks, while BC transfer Rakim Sanders should have a big year.

18. Iona Gaels: The Gaels have one of the best 1-2-3 punches at the mid-major level with Arizona transfer Momo Jones, star forward Mike Glover and the underrated Scott Machado all returning.

19. Bucknell Bison: Bucknell was the consensus pick to win the Patriot League this season, headined by the return of reigning Patriot PoY Mike Muscala.

20. VCU Rams: VCU lost a ton of talent from last year's team, but with Brad Burgess back to lead a group of youngsters with Final Four experience, counting Shaka Smart's club out would be a silly thing to do.

21. Indiana State Sycamores: ISU loses a couple of key back court pieces, but with Dwayne Lathan healthy and sophomore Jake Odum back to run the show, Larry Bird's alma mater is back to relevancy.


22. New Mexico State Aggies: Troy Gillenwater is gone, but Wendell McKines finally appears to be healthy after missing last season.

23. UNC-Asheville Bulldogs: The Masked Dunker is gone, but JP Primm and Matt Dickey will give the Bulldogs a very good back court.

24. Chattanooga Mocassons: The Mocs bring back their top four scorers, including Georgetown transfer Omar Wattad, and six of the nine players from last season's rotation.

25. UAB Blazers: Mike Davis will be without last year's C-USA Player of the Year Aaron Johnson, but Cameron Moore does return and he should be talented enough to keep UAB competitive in the league.

Austin Peay
Boston
Central Florida
Davidson
Florida Atlantic
LIU
Morgan State
Tennessee Tech
Utah State
Yale
Continue reading...

2011-2012 Season Preview: Mid-Major All-Americans

Today, we are rolling out our mid-major all-american teams. A couple of disclaimers before we get into the meat of the post -- mid-major does not mean non-BCS conferences. You won't find any Memphis Tigers on this list. There are no Xavier Musketeers or Temple Owls. Likewise with BYU Cougars, Gonzaga Bulldogs or anyone out of the MWC. Butler has gotten the bump in our minds as well. After careful consideration, we did decide to put St. Mary's and Utah State on this list simply due to a lack of visibility for the programs. VCU and George Mason are on here as well.

Quibble with who made the cut if you will, but I'd strongly suggest you enjoy the enlightening we are giving you on the talent that won't be on ESPN every night.

To browse through the rest of our season previews, click here.


MID-MAJOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Doug McDermott, So., Creighton

McDermott is an easy pick for the mid-major player of the year. Coming off of a season where he averaged 14.9 ppg and 7.2 rpg for a Bluejay team that made the finals of the CBI, McDermott has shown up on a number of preseason all-american teams. He made the USA's U19 team and averaged 11.3 ppg and 6.8 rpg on the team's trip to Latvia this summer. With Creighton bringing back the majority of their roster from a season ago, the Bluejays are the favorite to win the Missouri Valley and a borderline top 25 team. As an all-american candidate playing on a team that will be a national name this season, McDermott's name will come up quite a bit this year.

MID-MAJOR FIRST TEAM

G: Casper Ware, Sr., LBSU - Ware is a high-scoring, play-making point guard will be the catalyst for a team that returns quite a bit of talent and will be the hands-down favorite to repeat as Big West champs. Ware is coming off of a year where he averaged 17.2 ppg, 4.4 apg and 1.6 spg.

G: Damian Lillard, Jr., Weber State - Lillard had a disappointing season in 2010-2011, playing just nine games before seeing his season end when he broke his foot. In 2009-2010, Lillard averaged 19.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 3.6 apg. While his numbers may not be as impressive this season, they won't need to be; the Wildcats are the favorite to win the Big Sky.

F: Orlando Johnson, Sr., Santa Barbara - Johnson is a prototype for a mid-major scorer. He's 6'5" with enough strength and athleticism to overwhelm smaller opponents but the jump shot and perimeter ability to blow by bigger defenders. That's why he was able to average 21.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg and shoot 40.5% from the floor for the Gauchos.

F: Michael Glover, Sr., Iona - Glover is a basketball nomad with an intriguing story. Originally a Seton Hall recruit, the man they call Optimus Prime on the streets of the Bronx was never cleared as a freshman in 2007-2008. After attending two different high schools and nearly landing at both St. Francis in Brooklyn and Hofstra, Glover finally wound up with Iona, where he averaged 18.4 ppg and 10.1 rpg in his first season.


C: Arsalan Kazemi, Jr., Rice - Kazemi may be the unlikeliest member of this group simply because he is the first native Iranian to earn a Division I basketball scholarship. He's quite talented, as well. The 6'7" forward averaged 15.2 ppg and 11.0 rpg as a sophomore, despite being the focal point of every defense the Owls faced.

MID-MAJOR SECOND TEAM

G: Reggie Hamilton, Sr., Oakland - After transferring to Oakland from UMKC after a year anda half as a Kangaroo, Hamilton exploded as a junior with the Grizzlies. Playing alongside Keith Benson, Hamilton averaged 17.6 ppg and 5.3 apg. This year, he'll have the show to himself.

G: CJ McCollum, Jr., Lehigh - After leading the Mountainhawks to the NCAA Tournament as the most productive freshman in the country, McCollum was forced to carry an even heavier load last season after Lehigh graduated three starters. He responded by posting averages of 21.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg and 2.5 spg. He's a 6'3" guard.

G: Nate Wolters, Jr., SDSU - Wolters exploded in the second game of his sophomore season, going for 25 points and nine assists as the Jackrabbits knocked off Iowa. He didn't slow down all season, as he ended the year aveaged 19.5 ppg, 6.1 apg (and just 2.2 t/o's) and 4.6 rpg.


F: Kyle Weems, Sr., Missouri State - The reigning MVC Player of the Year almost didn't return to Missouri State. With everyone else in the rotation from last season graduating and his coaching staff heading to Tennessee, Weems, who had graduated, received overtures from a number of high-major programs. But he's back with the Bears and ready to try and defend their MVC title.

C: Andrew Nicholson, Jr., St. Bonaventure - Nicholson is one of the most productive big men in the country at any level. He can score at will in the post, and this season added range out to the three point line. If he improves on his physicality in the paint, Nicholson, who averaged 20.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg as a junior, is a first round pick come June.

MID-MAJOR THIRD TEAM

G: Alex Young, Sr., IUPUI - The third Summit League player on this list, Young is a 6'6" swingman that simply produces. He averaged 19.7 ppg and 6.4 rpg last year, and if he improves his jump shooting and cuts down his turnovers, those numbers will go up this year.

G: Kevin Foster, Jr., Santa Clara - How about this for a stat -- Kevin Foster shot 67 more threes than Jimmer Fredette did last season. And while he didn't hit them at quite the same clip as the Jimmer, he did have some big games, including a 36 point explosion in a win over Gonzaga. With Marc Trasolini out with a torn acl, expect Foster's 20.2 ppg average to go up this year.


G: DeAndre Kane, So., Marshall - Kane is a major reason why Marshall is a trendy pick to give Memphis a run at the top of Conference USA. A 6'5" guard, Kane excels at using his strength to draw fouls and get to the line. He's a good rebounder and creator for his size, but he needs to cut down on turnovers and improve his shooting percentage. He averaged 15.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg and 3.4 apg.

F: Keith Wright, Sr., Harvard - Wright is the reigning Ivy Player of the Year and one of the biggest reasons why the Crimson are expected to make a run to the NCAA Tournament this season. The burly, 6'8" post player is a load to handle defensively and a nightmare to keep off the glass. He averaged 14.8 ppg and 8.3 rpg last season.

C: Greg Mangano, Sr., Yale - Mangano actually has a legitimate chance to make the jump from the Ivy League to the NBA. A skilled, 6'11" center, Mangano has three point range, can score with his back to the basket, rebounds the ball well and is a dangerous shot blocker. He averaged 16.3, 10.0 rpg and 3.0 bpg as a junior.

MID-MAJOR FOURTH TEAM

G: Derek Needham, Jr., Fairfield - Needham has been one of the best players in the MAAC in his first two seasons with the Stags. Playing for a grind-it-out head coach in Ed Cooley, Needham averaged 14.1 ppg and 4.5 apg as a sophomore, which was down from 16.4 ppg and 5.2 apg as a freshman. Those numbers should go in a more free-flowing system under Sydney Johnson.

G: DJ Cooper, Jr., Ohio - Cooper may be the most entertaining player on this list to watch play. The 5'9", left-handed point guard averaged 15.8 ppg and 7.5 apg for the Bobcats last season.


G: Matthew Dellavedova, Jr., St. Mary's - Dellavedova is going to have big shoes to fill with Mickey McConnell graduating. He should be up for the job, however, as he has put up some impressive numbers in his two seasons in Moraga. Dellavedova averaged 13.1 ppg and 5.3 apg as a sophomore despite playing the off-guard spot.

F: Brad Burgess, Sr., VCU - Burgess was the perfect fit for VCU last season, a sharp-shooting, defensive-minded small forward that didn't mind playing a role for the Rams. He did it very, very well, however, averaging 14.3 ppg and 5.1 rpg. More impressive? When Burgess took 14 or more shots in five games last season. In those five games, he averaged 24.6 ppg and hit 17-26 from beyond the arc.

F: Javon McCrea, So., Buffalo - As a freshman, McCrea came off the bench and played only 21.6 mpg, but he put up some very impressive numbers -- 11.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 1.3 spg, 65.7 FG%. He's an efficiency lover's dream. With more playing time this year, McCrea should have a monster sophomore season.

MID-MAJOR HONORABLE MENTION

Kent Bazemore, Sr., Old Dominion
Julian Boyd, Jr., Long Island
Kyle Casey, Jr., Harvard
Will Cherry, Jr., Montana
Ian Clark, Jr., Belmont
TyShwan Edmondson, Sr., Austin Peay
Chris Gaston, Jr., Fordham
Samme Givens, Sr., Drexel
Justin Greene, Sr., Kent State
Rob Jones, Sr., St. Mary's
Momo Jones, Jr., Iona
Ken Horton, Sr., CCSU
Dario Hunt, Sr., Nevada
Scott Machado, Sr., Iona
Julian Mavunga, Sr., Miami (OH)
Ray McCallum, So., Detroit
Tony Mitchell, Fr., North Texas
Dominique Morrison, Sr., Oral Roberts
Kevin Murphy, Sr., Tennessee Tech
Kyle O'Quinn, Norfolk State
Brockeith Pane, Sr., Utah State
Ryan Pearson, Sr., George Mason
Rakim Sanders, Sr., Fairfield
Tony Taylor, Sr., George Washington
Trey Zeigler, So., Western Michigan
Continue reading...

Mid-major recruiting and the "Tweener"

Anyone that hasn't read Drew Cannon's piece at Basketball Prospectus on how mid-major programs should recruit needs to go do it now.

I'll wait.

You done?

Good.

Let me preface this by saying that Cannon's piece was phenomenal. It was insightful analysis broken down in an academic manner that was easy to understand and clearly made his point. The best mid-major players tend to be the guys that are skilled, but don't quite have the skill set for the position that their size would slot them in at the high major level. The kids that fall into the dreaded tweener category.

As good as it was, wasn't this analysis, you know, a little bit obvious?

Major college basketball, for the most part, is a feeder program. Whether its the NBA, the NBDL, or the professional leagues overseas, the goal of just about every player that enters a high-major program is to one day get paid to play. Those. get the television exposure. They compete for national titles. Its no surprise that the best recruits in the country all want to play for these programs -- the Duke's and the Kansas's and the UNC's and the Kentucky's.

He gets kids to the NBA. Wouldn't you want to play for him?
(photo credit: NYDN)

If you're not good enough to play for those schools, wouldn't you want to play against them? Providence isn't exactly a powerhouse basketball program anymore, but if you accept a scholarship to play for the Friars, one night you'll be playing in front of a raucous Dunkin Donuts Center with Villanova coming to town. Three days later, you will be playing at the Carrier Dome in front of 20-some thousand. The next week its a road trip to Pitt and a home game against Villanova. Go to Georgia, and you'll get two shots at beating Kentucky, Florida, and Tennessee every season.

I doubt Dominique Jones would have snuck into the first round of the 2010 draft if he hadn't averaged 35, 8, and 4 while leading South Florida to a mid-season four game winning streak that included upsets of Georgetown and Pitt. And its not just the chance to prove yourself individually as a basketball player. Do you think Tyrese Rice, or Rakim Sanders, or Joe Trapani will ever forget going into the Dean Dome and knocking off eventual national champion UNC in 2009?

With the noted exception of an overwhelming minority -- Xavier, Gonzaga, Memphis, etc. -- mid-major programs simply cannot offer these same perks to recruits. This is not a knew discovery. It is the reason people are shocked when someone like Rashanti Harris picks Georgia State, or Aaric Murray decides to go to La Salle.

Simply put, if high-majors want a kid, they are generally going to get that kid. It happens the other way, but thats the exception, not the rule.

So to survive, mid-majors need to find the guys that slip through the cracks. The guys that are slotted by the high-majors as "not good enough for us."

The 5'11" shooting guards. The 6'5" power forwards with freakish athleticism. The 6'9" forwards that prefer to play on the perimeter and knock down jump shots. The seven-footers that can't yet run down the court without tripping over their own feet or jump over a phone book. The tweeners. Like Cannon said, the kids with the high-major skill set but low-major tools, or the kids with low-major skill and high-major tools.

Take Josh Young, the just-graduated, 6'1" and 170 lb scoring guard from Drake that Cannon talks about. There is no doubt that Young was an excellent player for the Bulldogs, averaging 14.1 ppg in his four seasons. But Young isn't a point guard, he's a shooting guard and the rest of his game isn't good enough to allow him to play off the ball at a high major level. I don't think its unfair to say Young's only high-major skill was is jump shot.

Josh Young had a very nice career at Drake.
(photo credit: ESPN)

Nolan Smith isn't much taller than Young. He was able to play the two-guard for Duke this past season because he could defend both back court spots and he had a much better all-around game. Next year, Duke with play plenty of minutes with Kyrie Irving, Seth Curry, and Smith on the court together. None of them cracks 6'3".

Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente shared a back court for a very good Kansas State team last year, and neither have the prototypical size to be a two-guard. But, like Smith, there was much more to their game than the ability to score.

Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher started for Villanova just four years after the Wildcats used a four guard line-up to make the Elite 8.

My point is that size -- the fact that Young is a "tweener" -- isn't the only reason he didn't get a high major scholarship. "Tweeners" get high-major scholarships, and many have successful collegiate careers. They just happen to be better basketball players than Young.

Again, this isn't a startling revelation.

I'm not arguing it, either. I think Cannon absolutely hit the nail on the head. Mid-majors rely on tweeners. My point is that these tweeners -- the kids that excel at the mid-major level -- are at that level for a reason.

Simply put, they aren't quite good enough to excel in a major conference.

Continue reading...

Mid-Major Recruiting

Mid-majors have been having an unbelievable summer recruiting wise. First, Rivals No. 2 class of 2009 recruit DeMarcus Cousins commits to UAB. Then Zeke Marshall (No. 37 to Akron), Aaric Murray (No. 35 to La Salle), and Greg Smith (No. 87 to Fresno St.) all went the mid-major route. Now, Rashanti Harris, the No. 26 recruit in the class of 2009, has committed to Georgia State. If you are counting, that is five of the top 90 players (and top 15 big men) that have decided to go to school outside of the power conferences.

Don't get me wrong, schools like Xavier, Memphis, Gonzaga, and Nevada have been landing highly touted recruits for a long time, but those are four of the best basketball programs in America right now. You would be hard pressed to find someone in the know about college hoops that would call any of them a true mid-major. So what is going on? Does it have anything to do with guys like Rodney Stuckey (Eastern Washington), Paul Millsap (Louisiana Tech), Jason Thompson (Rider), George Hill (IUPUI), or Courtney Lee (Western Kentucky) getting drafted in the first round (or in Millsap's case, having a successful career after being a second-rounder) in recent years? Maybe it does. Maybe these kids are thinking that they can star at these small schools against weaker competition, which would highlight there strengths and hide their flaws. Maybe the recruiters at the smaller schools are harping on this fact. Or maybe it is just a lucky year for mid-majors.

Regardless, all of the guys listed above are big men, and unless you are a Greg Oden or Michael Beasley (which none of these guys are supposed to be), you are usually more of a work in progress than a finished product. So unless they want to put up huge numbers but still have some fatal flaws in their game (think JaVale McGee), these guys will still need to work (and work hard) to become NBA prospects. Continue reading...

Who you callin' a mid-major?

College basketball is a lot like the Hollywood scene: the rich get richer, while it is increasingly difficult and competitive for an unknown or "small-time" actor to become one of the marquee names.

(Ed. Note: For his wondering fans, a picture of BIAH contributor and through-and-through Blue Devil fan, Ross, can be seen below).

The analogy is simple: big-name programs like Duke, Kansas, North Carolina (and for you, Rob, UConn) are granted unspoken (and perhaps unfair) privileges. They have the biggest recruiting budgets, the most recognizable logos and uniforms, and play on national television multiple times a season. As a result, recruits across the country see these teams play, and these powerhouse programs are able to afford to go see any recruit they choose. It is no surprise that every year, the best high school players in the country routinely select the same schools (by my count, there are anywhere from 18-24 of these schools in the country). The proof is everywhere: look at the rosters from some of college basketball's most storied and successful programs. A few of the players will be local, but many will be from all over the country. Players that grow up in California see Duke and North Carolina just as much as they see their local school. The flip-side is true, as well: players in New York can watch UCLA all the time.

Now, what happens if you are a small school with little or no prestigious basketball history? For the most part, schools like this work hard to attain moderate levels of success, and reaching the NCAA tournament seems like the ultimate prize (I am mostly talking about schools outside of the BCS Conferences). These schools recruit mostly local players, develop them over three or four years, and then hope that a team of upper-classmen can beat more talented freshman from bigger schools. Schools like Penn, Bucknell, Tulsa, New Mexico and others have achieved success like this for years.

Now, all of this is changing. Watch out, Jayhawks and Bruins, Huskies and Hoyas! The mid-majors are coming! This trend has been written about exhaustively in the past few years. It started with Gonzaga's success at the beginning of the decade. Players like Blake Stepp, Dan Dickau and later Ronny Turiaf and Adam Morrison transformed the tiny Spokane school into a basketball powerhouse. Butler followed, beating numerous BCS schools over the past few years and becoming a team that no one wants to play. The fears of college basketball's blue bloods were confirmed when George Mason, a commuter school outside of Washington, D.C., with no basketball history and a wacky coach, made the Final Four in 2006.

The next team to follow in this tradition seems to be tiny Davidson College, a 1,600-student school outside of Charlotte, NC. Their march to the Elite Eight, led by guards Stephen Curry and Jason Richards, riveted a nation. Now, with Curry back as a pre-season All-American, people are starting to notice the tiny Wildcats.

But here is the difference: national television is starting to take notice as well. As a recent ESPN.com article (insider needed - Andy Katz's blog )outlined, as many as seven Davidson games will appear before a national audience this season. While ESPN did create "BracketBuster" games to showcase mid-major teams that might make trouble for a traditional power in the NCAA tournament, this is the first time that the network has gone out of its way to showcase a school like Davidson.

So what does this mean? Well, for starters, it's hard to call Davidson a mid-major anymore. The national television exposure will give high-school players around the country a chance to watch their style and imagine themselves in Wildcat red. Their basketball budget will rise. Curry will be on the cover of magazines and on television around the country, giving the program a face. All of these sound like trademarks of schools like Duke and North Carolina. And to think, Davidson is brash enough to creep onto the scene in their own backyard.

Parity in any arena is hard to come by. Directors in Hollywood will always want to cast Tom Cruise or Matt Damon, rather than take a chance on an unknown actor. And ESPN or CBS will always want to show a school from the ACC or Big East that even casual fans have heard of, rather than an unknown team that no one cares about. Yet Davidson, Butler and George Mason prove that the glass ceiling can be broken. Teams that were afterthoughts one year can become darlings the next. As Curry and Davidson are about to find out, the trick is sustaining it. Continue reading...