In the Preseason Previews, I covered 41 mid-majors at the top of their respective conferences (26 mid-major conferences). However, even in the mid-major category there’s going to be a pecking order. The following will be an overview of the best mid-majors and then a quick ranking of the four mid-major conferences I project could be competing for multiple bids in March.

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s will be the class of the mid-major level of college basketball once again. Both are already ranked in the AP Top-25 and Gonzaga, in particular, has a real chance to build a resume that could survive losing to Saint Mary’s in the conference tournament.

Memphis has a chance in the non-conference to make some big statements, but a couple losses could be forgiven if the Tigers can dominate their 19 conference games, with only South Florida and Tulane as real contenders.

Saint Louis’ Robbie Avila looks to lead the Billikens (What is a Billiken?) in what should be an easy non-conference ahead of a tough A-10 slate against VCU, Dayton, George Washington and Loyola Chicago. Meanwhile, VCU will be attempting to defend their crown while rebuilding with key additions coming from Bryant.

South Florida has two seniors looking to improve the Bulls from a disappointing 6-12 conference performance last year. The Bulls have a non-conference schedule that will allow first year coach Bryan Hodgson to settle in nicely.

SDSU, Yale, Navy, and McNeese round out the top 10. San Diego State returns junior guard Miles Byrd to a loaded roster. Yale and Navy bring back some of the most experienced lineups across the board and McNeese, under a new head coach, looks to continue their two year run of dominance.

1	Gonzaga
2	Saint Mary’s
3	Memphis
4	VCU
5	Saint Louis
6	South Florida
7	SDSU
8	Yale
9	Navy
10	McNeese
11	Dayton
12	Akron
13	Vermont
14	Liberty
15	Chattanooga
16	Miami (OH)
17	Illinois State
18	Towson
19	UC Santa Barbara
20	High Point
21	Norfolk State
22	UNCW
23	LIU
24	Saint Thomas
25	Bethune-Cookman

Dayton, Akron, Vermont, Liberty, and Chattanooga have the schedules and the personnel to challenge for a March Madness run. And that would be extremely welcome, as there were no 11-seeds or higher in the second round last year, and only one 10 seed (New Mexico).

Miami (OH) has a loaded roster and could take the next step after a 25 win campaign last year.

UC Santa Barbara brings in one of the best “step-down” transfers in Aidan Mahaney. His time in Connecticut didn’t go well, but his time at Saint Mary’s was extremely productive. The Gauchos will compete with UC Irvine, who comes off an NIT title appearance themselves, for a shot at the Big Dance, but a schedule that only includes a road trip to Nevada in their non-conference will hardly be enough to keep them down.

UNCW brought in a host of transfers, including three guards averaging double figures last year. A non-conference slate that puts them into position to win 30+ games, will help UNCW vie with Towson and Charleston for a ticket to March.

Ten Players to Watch

• Miles Byrd (SDSU)
• Nick Townsend (Yale)
• Aidan Mahaney (UCSB)
• Robbie Avila (SLU)
• TJ Hurley (Vermont)
• Austin Benigni (Navy)
• Graham Ike (Gonzaga)
• KK Robinson (Little Rock)
• Chase Walker (Illinois State)
• Tavari Johnson (Akron)

Multi-Bid Watch

1	WCC
2	A-10
3	American
4	MAC

WCC

Between the top-2 mid-major powers, the West Coast Conference will have the opportunity to close out Gonzaga’s time in the conference as a multi-bid league.

A-10

How will the top half of the A-10, featuring George Mason/George Washington/Loyola Chicago/Dayton/VCU/SLU shake out? SLU has, at eye-level, the clearest path to 10+ wins in the non-conference. Dayton faces the toughest tests with trips to Cincinnati and Marquette to go along with neutral sites against Virginia and Georgetown. The A-10 could see anywhere from 1-4 teams in the Big Dance, but I predict 3.

American

Memphis and South Florida will also contend with Tulane and conference Preseason POY Rowan Brumbaugh as he looks to build on a 15.7 ppg and 4.8 assists per game performance from last year.

MAC

Akron + Miami (OH)

I’ll be covering all of this on F2P’s new Instagram page (@field2page) as well! Come over and take a listen!