Three weeks are in the books. And my, what a collection of games. Bethune-Cookman was on the verge of a giant opening night shocker before falling at Auburn 95-90. UT Martin went into UNLV and stole an opening win. Utah State survived a tough battle against VCU in Frisco. Yale dismantled Navy to start their season. Santa Clara took down McNeese and Xavier. Dayton went on the road and upset Marquette.
Gonzaga continues to look like the class of the mid-major tier with wins over Oklahoma, Creighton, Arizona State, and Alabama (in Vegas). But, overall, the mid-majors are making themselves known with four representatives in the KenPom top-50: Gonzaga (3), Saint Mary’s (26), Utah State (27), and SLU (50). The group from 51-80? Mid-Major Madness: VCU (54), Santa Clara (55), SDSU (56), Boise State (57), George Washington (60), Akron (62), Dayton (69), San Francisco (70), Memphis (71), George Mason (73), Colorado State (78), and Yale (79).
So, 16 of the top 80 schools are in mid-major conferences. And there’s a few out there (High Point, McNesse, Liberty) who could find their way into that level soon. Of course, being top 80 won’t translate into much down the road, but it’s a good benchmark to start the season. (Most at-large teams have been in the top 80 of KenPom, with only 2016’s Temple Owls being outside of that range)
Four Mid Majors
Utah State
The Aggies have three wins over top 150 teams (VCU, Tulane, and Davidson). Their performance in the Charleston Classic Lowcountry Bracket was exceptional. Against Tulane and Davidson, the Aggies put up 96 and 94 points while allowing 75 and a stifling 60, respectively. MJ Collins Jr. is putting up 21 ppg on 63.4% shooting. The Aggies own the 44th best scoring defense in the country allowing 65 points per game while also mirroring that with the 44th best scoring offense at 89.7 ppg. This translates into a top-20 differential.
The Aggies visit South Florida and Charlotte to start the second month of the season, but are playing high quality basketball that should translate to an effective season if they can maintain it.
Saint Louis
Saint Louis is doing even better than Utah State at creating points. The Billikens have the 7th best offense (95.6 ppg) with the 12th highest FG percentage (52.9%). SLU has four guys averaging double figures, four averaging at least 2 assists, and five averaging at least 4 rebounds. Robbie Avila is second on the team in points (13.6) but is shooting 58.5% from the field and 58.3% from beyond the arc.
However, they’ve built this with five home games to open the season, against the 339th ranked SOS. The Bills will be tested on Thanksgiving in a matchup with the next team on Four Point Play.
Santa Clara
The Broncos are playing like it’s 2026 and Gonzaga has already left the West Coast Conference. Santa Clara is 6-0 with wins over McNeese and a huge road win over Xavier (by 19). They own the 16th best strength of record (just behind Utah State). Christian Hammond leads the Broncos with 17 ppg while shooting better than 50% from the field and Bukky Oboye has accumulated 13 blocks while only averaging 14.2 minutes per game (1 block every 5.5 minutes).
A big match looms on Turkey Day against the Bills. And it might be one of the top mid-major games of the non-conference. The Broncos also travel to New Mexico and take on Arizona State and North Texas in the remaining non-conference slate.
George Mason
George Mason has trotted themselves out to a solid 6-0 record through the early season. Five Patriots are averaging double figures, but they are doing it against a lackluster schedule. Florida Atlantic, tonight, will be their toughest test so far but they sit at 106 in KenPom. George Mason’s latest game against Ohio was their most complete game of the season. The Patriots put up 92 points on 46% shooting and forced 12 turnovers.
I’m not fully convinced the Patriots have the consistency to match Virginia Tech in early December, but the rest of their schedule is favorable. Look out for these guys to be 11-2 or better in the non-con.
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