Finals Week, Part I: History

Welcome to Mid-Majority Finals Week! While students at many American colleges (maybe even you!) are suffering through final examinations, we're taking advantage of the dearth of ballgames this week to offer an exciting mid-major quiz. And fill blog space.

So here's the deal. For the next four days, I'll be posting four ten-question quizzes about various aspects of mid-major basketball, each with a distinct discipline: history, geography, mathematics and bracketology.

This isn't just for pride, even though it's mostly for pride. You could also win stuff! The three respondents with the highest correct-answer totals will get to choose something from the Mid-Majority Swag Closet. First place gets first choice, and so on/so forth. What could they win, Bob?

A Metro Atlantic Athletic Association mini-basketball featuring all 10 school logos
A brand-new copy of The Last Amateurs by John Feinstein
A Mid-Majority logo t-shirt, your choice of brown on white or brown on "heather" (I think that means gray)
A new, unwrapped copy of ESPN College Hoops 2K5 for Playstation2

A Big Red plush mascot doll from Western Kentucky
A game-used road 4 jersey (size 46) from Monmouth University, defending champions of the Northeast Conference

"Pencils down" time is Saturday at 6:00 PM EST. Send your completed answer sheets to finalsweek@midmajority.com. You can wait until the last minute to send in answers to all 40 questions, or send them in 10 at a time. But keep in mind that any ties will be broken based on the earliest timestamp of the message containing answers 31-40. And if you're doing a few at a time, please make sure you send them from the same e-mail address.

Open books, writing answers on your arm, and Googling are allowed. What, you think I'm able to stop you?

Today's Test: HISTORY

1. The North Atlantic Conference and the Seaboard Conference merged in 1996 to become what circuit?

2. Who was the national leader in points per game for the 2003-04 season, and what college did he play for?

3. In what year was the Atlantic Sun Conference founded?

4. Before Quinnipiac adopted the nickname "Bobcats," what were their teams known as?

5. What conference was Gonzaga originally a charter member of?

6. What school gave UCLA legend John Wooden his first college coaching job?

7. What is the oldest venue in Division I basketball, and who plays there?

8. What was the original name of Texas Western (now Texas-El Paso), the school that won the 1966 national championship?

9. In what year did prospective student-athletes start signing national letters of intent (NLI)?

10. In the mid-Thirties, a simple rule change revolutionized college basketball. Something that had occurred after every single made basket was abolished, speeding up the game immeasurably. What was that time-consuming practice?

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