Mid-Major struggles

Do you remember this?

Last Friday, we wrote about St. Louis, warning the A-10 teams left on their schedule that the Billikens were a very good team at Chaifetz Arena. On Saturday, they proved us right, coming back from 15 down against Dayton to knock off the Flyers in double overtime.

The loss was a blow to Dayton's tournament hopes, but the Flyers still have a strong enough resume that they can play their way into the tournament down the stretch.

URI is in a more precarious situation.

The Rams have a great computer profile, but they don't have the wins to back it up. Heading into last night's game at St. Louis, they had lost two in a row to Richmond and Temple, blowing two chances at improving their resume.

They did it a third time last night, as St. Louis once again made us look smart (that's hard to do these days). The Billikens once again came back from a double digit halftime deficit to knock off Rhode Island by five.

URI is in a tough spot. The only game that they have left on their schedule that will help boost their profile is against Charlotte, who also happened to lose last night.

Its happening all over the country. The was supposed to be the season that the mid-major conferences took over. The A-10 was looking at as many as six bids. The MWC had three locks as recently as two weeks ago. A number of the smaller, one-bid leagues seemed guaranteed an at-large bid if their favorite (Siena, Northern Iowa, etc.) was upset in the conference tournament.

In the last two weeks, mid-majors have been dropping like flies. As we mentioned, URI has lost three straight, Charlotte two in a row, and Dayton dropped that roadie to St. Louis. UNLV has three straight losses. St. Mary's has dropped back-to-back games. UNI and Siena now look like they need to win their auto-bid. Wichita State threw away their chances by losing to Evansville, then being taken to overtime time by that same Evansville team. C-USA has become a one-bid league.

What does all that mean?

Well, with the Pac-10 and SEC looking like mid-major leagues themselves, its the middling teams from the Big East, Big XII, and the ACC that will take advantage.

Can the Big East really get nine bids this year?

If the mid-majors keep struggling, then yes.