"Mid-major" top 10 from ESPN

[Lobograd82]

http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/blog/i...ame=ncwexperts

Interesting: 1) Note the qulaifier before the article starts, re: "...bringing the Atlantic 10, Conference USA and Mountain West into the mid-major top-10 fold"; and 2) note the numbers (1= TCU) and (10= UNM) below.

TCU tops mid-major top-10 rankings

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 | Print Entry

Posted by Graham Hays

And due to popular demand, the preseason edict on qualifiers has been reversed, bringing the Atlantic 10, Conference USA and Mountain West into the mid-major top-10 fold.

1. TCU (7-2): When you beat Maryland at home and Cal on the road, you can lose all the games you want to Fresno State and Boston College (or more accurately, you can lose to Fresno State and Boston College). Sverrisdottir and LaFleur sounds like a partnership you'd find at Tottenham, not deep in the hear of Texas, but Icelandic sophomore Helena Sverrisdottir and Houston's own TK LaFleur have been terrific. Texas transfer Rachel Rentschler adds another weapon to the arsenal and name worthy of Arsenal.

2. Gonzaga (8-2): A loss on Sunday at UC Santa Barbara was a dose of reality, but the Bulldogs still look strong. South Dakota State comes to town Friday in the best game you won't hear anything about. Point guard Courtney Vandersloot averages 6.8 assists and shoots 54 percent behind the arc -- and yet she wasn't even available (sprained ankle) when Gonzaga knocked off Virginia in Milwaukee two weeks ago.

3. South Dakota State (8-1): Perhaps wins against Oregon, Illinois and Missouri don't look quite as impressive as those teams struggle, but South Dakota State beat Wisconsin by 20 in the Badgers' only loss this season. The Jackrabbits also hung with Maryland despite playing without point guard Ashlea Muckenhirn, who has since returned.

4. Marist (7-1): Not much went right against Oklahoma in Norman, but that date was never going to turn out well for a team that needs time to sort itself out in the post. The important part of the trip to the Sooner State came two days after the 26-point loss against Oklahoma, when the Red Foxes regrouped and routed Tulsa by 20 on the road.

5. Arkansas Little Rock (6-1): A 20-point win against a Southern Miss team that should be in the Conference USA race will get you noticed. A 14-point win against Oklahoma State three days later will do more than that. Point guard Asriel Rolfe was the nation's freshman leader in assist-to-turnover ratio last season, and she's once again running a tight ship for a team that shoots the ball well and takes it away from opponents.

6. Wisconsin-Green Bay (7-0): Getting off to the best start in school history isn't inconsequential for a program with as strong a history as UW-Green Bay. The top four scorers for the Phoenix average between 10.0 and 11.6 points per game, and the team is shooting 39 percent behind the arc. Big tests loom against Wisconsin and Illinois State at home and Marquette and DePaul on the road, all between now and the end of the month.

7. Old Dominion (4-2): Life on the road has been decidedly unkind to the Lady Monarchs, who dropped a 34-point decision at Texas and a 26-point loss at Michigan State. So what are they still doing here? That 78-70 win against Virginia is the life preserver. And a team that shot around 44 percent overall and 35 percent from behind the arc last season has to eventually start hitting shots with some consistency, right?


8. Xavier (7-3): A loss against Cincinnati was the first disappointing result for a team that has battled extremely well after the loss of Amber Harris (and at 6-2, Cincinnati isn't an automatic win). Ta'Shia Phillips has been very good, notably with a spectacular 25 rebounds against North Carolina, but April Phillips also deserves credit for stepping up on the boards and on the defensive end. If Harris returns in the spring, look out.

9. Richmond (8-0): Who would have guess that Joanne Boyle's old team would remain unbeaten longer than the Cal coach's team in Berkeley? Granted, the Spiders haven't played a schedule that would scare anyone, but eight wins in eight tries -- including five away from home -- is worthy of recognition. A win against VCU was good, but real tests come in January, with games against Wake Forest, Maryland and George Washington.


10. New Mexico (7-1): This seemed like it might be a rebuilding year after Dionne Marsh's illustrious 12-year run in Albuquerque came to an end (or maybe it just felt like she was there forever). But even without Marsh, New Mexico is off and running -- literally, averaging 10 more points per game than a season ago. A soft schedule loaded with home games helps (minus that 38-point loss at Stanford). Interestingly, all 11 players who have seen time have hit at least one 3-pointer.

[Lobo2x53]

Interesting to read.

As much as I would hate missing games at home I can go to, I do think we need to play a few more road games against decent opponents--not all of them top-5 programs, but some top-30 teams we have a reasonable chance to beat on their home court.

[Lobodawg92]

Stange though, I don't see the schedule as so soft. We have some easy games, or at least they are supposed to be, but we have some toughies as well. Nebraska, DePaul, TTech are not what I see as a soft home schedule. Stanford anywhere is not either! :-)

Go Lobos!

[AdoptedLobo]

Check this out: a comment that came in under the article starting this thread:
__________________
According to collegerpi.com the strength of schedule rank of your list is as follows:
1. SD St 23
2. Xavier 60
3. ODU 66
4. New Mex 84
5. TCU 89
6. Gonz 104
7. Rich 212
8. Wis-GB 213
9. Marist 231
10.Ark LR 261
An in depth look at the numbers would benefit your list. South Dakota State seems be the top team followed by TCU for its wins against top competition. New Mexico being dogged for a week schedule even with all the home games seems unfair considering the lousy schedule strength of others on the list. Illinois Chicago warrants inclusion based on their RPI and using any point win over a lousy Tulsa team is a weak argument. Thanks for including more than just a list of teams. These conferences need all the ink they can get. Any chance updates on each of these conference races is possible?
_______________

[LIDOakaLJT]

Also, that close win vs North Texas looks a whole lot better this morning. Previous to our game, North Texas beat Valporaiso. Well, Valpo knocked off 23rd ranked Purdue last night (by double digits).


GO LOBOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LIDOakaLJT]

The one thing that bugged me about the article was the mention of the 38 point loss at Stanford. Why didn't he also state that 3 days later, then-Top 5 Rutgers was drubbed by 34 points also at Stanford. Guess that would make his argument "soft."


GO LOBOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[loboray]

I guess after we unloaded on the Aggies they are also a part of our soft schedule. That is going to be one tough game in Las Cruces and I predict before this season is over the Aggies will be helping our RPI. Our easy win was a coaching masterpiece that the players executed mostly without flaw. They will be waiting for us on the 20th.

[NMStorm]

I disagree with this statement though:

" These conferences need all the ink they can get."

Being classified as a "mid-major" diminishes the program and the conference. We are not a mid-major at least not when it comes to basketball and especially women's basketball.

[EastMtnLobo]

Exactly NMStorm. Is Duke a mid major? Is Rutgers? How about Baylor or Depaul? They aren't mid majors in womens bball.

But when was the last time you have heard say Nebraska, or Michigan or Colorado winning the national championship in wbb?

Mid major is a football term and only a football term. It is demeaning to classify universities by it.

[zoom]

they should have mentioned that "at the time #2" rutgers was beaten just as badly by stanford...81-47...

[NMStorm]

Exactly NMStorm. Is Duke a mid major? Is Rutgers? How about Baylor or Depaul? They aren't mid majors in womens bball.

But when was the last time you have heard say Nebraska, or Michigan or Colorado winning the national championship in wbb?

Mid major is a football term and only a football term. It is demeaning to classify universities by it.

It drives me crazy and it is being spearheaded by ESPN and the so-called "BCS" schools. They know that the more they can fit us into a box the better it will be for them and the worse for us. It sucks that so many fans of the "other" schools keep falling for this mid major crap! Overall UNM's women's basketball program is one of the top 20-30 programs in the entire nation easily and nowhere near a mid-major. The men's program isn't quite as high but much better than at least half of the schools that would never be considered mid-majors.

[loboray]

You have to win your way into ESPN's hearts and minds when they don't feature your conference on their network. Example, they don't ignore BYU or Utah in football. That would be rediculous. So win enough and they won't be able to ignore you or your conference no matter how much they would like to.

[NMStorm]

You have to win your way into ESPN's hearts and minds when they don't feature your conference on their network. Example, they don't ignore BYU or Utah in football. That would be rediculous. So win enough and they won't be able to ignore you or your conference no matter how much they would like to.

I'm sorry but you're wrong. BYU and Utah get virtually no air-time considering their rankings and accomplishments. Utah is a top ten team (at least) and is undefeated and they barely get a mention. One loss and they would be completely out of the highlights. BYU hasn't even been mentioned since they lost to TCU months ago other than their loss to Utah. TCU is a very good team and one I would argue is at least top 15. Rarely are they mentioned. We have three top twenty football teams and we get a fraction of the highlights on Sportscenter that the Big East, ACC, and Pac 10. You'll hear more about Indiana, Rutgers, North Carolina State and the like and those teams are garbage.

[loboray]

All true, but they have contracts with those conferences and of course they are BCS. How much more coverage does the WAC get, even though they are under contract to have their games televised at the most inopportune times possible.

[NMStorm]

All true, but they have contracts with those conferences and of course they are BCS. How much more coverage does the WAC get, even though they are under contract to have their games televised at the most inopportune times possible.

In a round about way, that is my point. Those schools who have contracts with ESPN are hyped as being high majors simply because of those contracts and it doesn't matter how well they perform. We should not accept being labled a mid-major under any circumstances no matter how many times the media slugs try to pin it on us.