Amateur Status College Basketball Mid-Major Preview

Mid-Major basketball is special. Teams fight not just to score more points than their opponent, but also for the respect of the nation. For most of the players at these schools, college basketball isn't a one year stop between high school and the NBA. It is their pinnacle, the highlight of their athletic careers, and they play like it every night. On occasion, some of these schools rise to national prominence, but the elite status of mid-majors is fleeting. The Loyola Marymount Lions, led by Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers, was briefly a national power. After Gathers' tragic death, his LMU Lions went on to the Elite Eight without him. With Gathers and his 29 point per game average, they may have won the national championship. Since Kimble led Loyola Marymount on their inspirational run, other teams have received high rankings, high seeds, and have advance deep into the tournament, but only UNLV in 1990 has won a national title. In the past decade, Gonzaga and Kent State have reached the Elite Eight, George Mason reached the Final Four, and Memphis reached the national championship. Excluding Gonzaga, none of those aforementioned teams were in the 2009 tournament field. The Memphis Tigers have carried the Mid-Major banner as the best non power conference program over the past few years, but the departure of coach John Calipari has the Tigers searching for a way to stay on top in their own conference. Davidson lost the best player in the history of their conference, Stephen Curry, to the NBA draft. The Wildcats will also struggle to win their conference after running through the SoCon for the past three years with Curry in the backcourt. The Mid-Major team to beat in 2009-2010 is Butler. They are ranked in nearly everyone's top 15 this year and they have the talent to make a deep run in this year's tournament. 

Here are the top 25 Mid-Major teams in the country this year along with some standout players to watch outside of the six power conferences.    


Pre-Season Mid-Major Top 25 

1. Butler Bulldogs
2. Siena Saints
3. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
4. Memphis Tigers
5. Dayton Flyers
6. Xavier Musketeers
7. Gonzaga Bulldogs
8. BYU Cougars
9. Northern Iowa Panthers
10. San Diego State Aztecs
11. UNLV Rebels
12. Creighton Blue Jays
13. Niagara Purple Eagles
14. Utah State Aggies
15. VCU Rams
16. Cornell Big Red

17. Old Dominion Monarchs 
18. Oakland Grizzlies 
19. Southern Illinois Salukis
20. Portland Pilots
21. Richmond Spiders
22. UTEP Miners
23. Illinois State Redbirds
24. Akron Zips
25. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers


The Best Players in Mid-Major Basketball
F - Matt Howard (Butler)
F - Gordon Heyward (Butler)
G - Shelvin Mack (Butler)
F - Edwin Ubiles (Siena)
C - Jerome Jordan (Tulsa)
G - Doneal Mack (Memphis)
F - Chris Wright (Dayton)
G - Matt Bouldin (Gonzaga)
G - Jonathan Tavernari (BYU)
G - P'Allen Stinnett (Creighton)
F - Larry Sanders (VCU)
G - Ryan Wittman (Cornell)
G - Derrick Nelson (Oakland)
F - Arnett Moultrie (UTEP)
G - Osiris Eldridge (Illinois State)
G - AJ Slaughter (Western Kentucky)
F - Luke Babbitt (Nevada)
G-F Marquis Blakely (Vermont)
G - DJ Rivera (Binghamton)
G - Aubrey Coleman (Houston)
G - James Florence (Mercer)
G - Aaron Jackson (Duquesne)
G - Ryan Thomson (Rider)
G - David Kool (Western Michigan)


The Best Players Transferring into Mid-Majors this Year

G - Elliot Williams (Memphis from Duke)
G - Jordan Crawford (Xavier from Indiana)
G - Derrick Jasper (UNLV from Kentucky)
G - Chace Stanback (UNLV from UCLA)
G - Larry Wright (Oakland from St. John's)
F - Shamari Spears (Charlotte from Boston College)
F - Derrick Caracter (UTEP from Louisville) 
G - Armon Bassett (Ohio from Indiana/UAB)
G - Tony Freeman (Southern Illinois from Iowa)
F - Drew Viney (Loyola Marymount from Oregon)


Mid-Major basketball is always full of surprises. There is really no way to tell who will emerge, but the players and teams listed in this preview are guaranteed to impress barring injury. Also, watch out for Derrick Caracter at UTEP and Armon Bassett at Ohio. Both of those kids are former problem cases that are looking to take advantage of their second chances in the NCAA.