• Season 9 SuperTicker presented by BLAPP
#TMM9
Having recently completed its 9th season, The Mid-Majority is a community chronicle of the smaller Division I college basketball conferences. Last year, the theme was Team. Six groups of five (plus a fantasy mid-major player) were engaged in friendly Amazing Race-style competition, criss-crossing Hoops Nation to provide awesome college basketball content. Season X (2013-14) will be our final one.

Recent Game Recaps

Epilogue, The Ninth: Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Memories

So We Meet Again

Rte. 139 - End of the Line

Hanging On

A Championship in Pictures

This Time of Year

Dotson Leads Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen

Grizzlies Overwhelmed by Orangemen

Empire

Challenge 11: Final Four Memories

By George, UConn is Dead

Butler and Us

Donning the Black and Gold

Challenge 10: Tourney Memories

The Madness of the Horizon League

The Rare Ivy League Conference Tournament

MAC Madness

Anything Can Happen in the MAAC

Challenge 9: Shock The Neighborhood

A Youthful Surprise

From Worst to First

Peers and Seers

Tag: Illinois State Redbirds
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S9 March 29, 2013 I don't necessarily love post-game press conferences. They're tedious, boring and usually filled with questions that have no relevance on the game. But they are a requirement in my line of work as a journalist, so I attend them.The worst press conferences are during tournament settings with the los...
S9 March 29, 2013 A few days before Thanksgiving, right in the midst of ESPN's Feast Week, I turned on the television to watch a basketball game. Typical me. Ignoring family members to watch a bunch of college kids dribbling a basketball and aimlessly throwing it toward a net. On this particular afternoon, I was wat...
S9 February 19, 2013 "Loss of virginity is rational increase; and there was never virgin got till virginity was first lost." - Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends WellNORMAL, Ill. - I was set to lose my Valley virginity Sunday night as I traveled south from Chicago to central Illinois. As you'd expect, I was very excite...
S9 November 14, 2012 Game #9-031: California-Santa Barbara Gauchos at Illinois State RedbirdsNovember 12, 2012 8:05 pmRedbird ArenaBBState Stats/Recap Fresh on the minds of the crowd filing into Redbird Arena was the end of last season. The Redbirds had come up just short of an NCAA berth by losing in overtime to Creigh...
S8 March 27, 2012 Game #8-685: Illinois State Redbirds vs. Wichita State ShockersMarch 3, 2012 2:35 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapFrom the outside, every team in the Missouri Valley is an underdog. When Gregg Marshall claims he wants to stay at Wichita State, for example, the national media simply cannot comprehe...
S8 March 27, 2012 Game #8-676: Northern Iowa Panthers vs. Illinois State RedbirdsMarch 2, 2012 3:35 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/Recap"In a game that is that close... All it takes is one really good play."That's what Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson had to say after his season ended in a loss to Illinois State. A phi...
S8 March 14, 2012 Game #8-756: Illinois State Redbirds vs. Creighton BluejaysMarch 4, 2012 2:05 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapOne might think something that so perfectly describes Our Game during its season’s final month was a creation of a slick New York ad agency, working in close cooperation with the highest a...
S8 March 4, 2012 Game #8-685: Illinois State Redbirds vs. Wichita State ShockersMarch 3, 2012 2:35 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapThe line for tickets stretched outside the door of the Scottrade Center, most of them clad in gold. The Wichita State fan base had grown again, this time taking up almost the entire we...
S8 March 3, 2012 Game #8-676: Northern Iowa Panthers vs. Illinois State RedbirdsMarch 2, 2012 3:35 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapEarlier this season, we discussed the Interlude, the dance craze started by three Northern Iowa students which quickly swept through campus, becoming a UNI tradition as well as an inte...
S8 January 24, 2012 Game #8-453: Illinois State Redbirds at Evansville AcesJanuary 21, 2012 8:05 pmRoberts Municipal StadiumBBState Stats/RecapIt seems almost surreal to think we are at the midpoint of conference play in the Missouri Valley, yet on Saturday night at the Ford Center in downtown Evansville, the Purple Ac...
S8 December 22, 2011 Game #8-278: Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans at Illinois State RedbirdsDecember 20, 2011 7:05 pmRedbird ArenaBBState Stats/RecapIf there’s one gripe I can come up with about the otherwise wonderful set of games I’ve had the honor of attending this season, it’s that few of them have been, shall we say, ...
S8 November 24, 2011 Game #8-107: Illinois Fighting Illini at Illinois State RedbirdsNovember 23, 2011 9:30 pmRedbird ArenaBBState Stats/RecapThis is not about existentialism. It's also not about basketball as a metaphor for whatever or the great struggle of haves versus have-nots. This is about something much simpler t...
S8 November 19, 2011 Game #8-062: SIU Edwardsville Cougars at Illinois State RedbirdsNovember 17, 2011 8:05 pmRedbird ArenaBBState Stats/Recap I left Champaign Monday feeling pretty good about myself, about my team and life in general. I didn't really feel that way Thursday. It was a busy day for me. First, I intern at...
S7 April 4, 2011 HOUSTON -- Win or lose, this is it. Today, April 4, is the 154th and final day of The Mid-Majority's Season 7. As of this writing, the ultimate final result remains unknown. We do know two things: there is a basketball game tonight at 9:23 p.m. ET, Butler will fight hard for all of us and each of ...
S7 March 13, 2011 If college basketball has taught us anything, it's that there's nothing that becomes irrelevant more suddenly than Championship Fortnight. Once the NCAA Tournament bracket is released, the previous two weeks slip into history... very quickly. But one thing that has to be remembered: the teams that w...
S7 March 4, 2011 h2 {margin-bottom:10px;font-size:13px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:17px;} #droid {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;margin-bottom:8px;} #droid a:link, #droid a:visited {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;}Bullet PointsOn the third d...
S7 March 4, 2011 [9] Binghamton Bearcats vs. [8] Maryland-Baltimore County RetrieversMarch 3, 2011 8:15 pmHartford, CTBBState Stats/Recap Championship Fortnight begins with the other side of March: a low-seed eliminator between recent champions Binghamton and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County. "Ladies...
S7 March 3, 2011 h2 {margin-bottom:10px;font-size:13px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:17px;} #droid {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;margin-bottom:8px;} #droid a:link, #droid a:visited {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;} Bullet PointsIn Day Two...
S7 March 1, 2011 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- First of all, a great big thank you to every single person who got in on the Team Ballz promotion yesterday. They sold out in just under eight hours, and there are going to be some awesome new Ballz births in Hoops Nation in April. There were some folks who ended up late and hea...
S7 February 23, 2011 CHICAGO -- Every single one of the conference games going on tonight, and tomorrow, and Friday and Saturday too, were scheduled months in advance by a league office (or, in some cases, years ago). Some were circled rivalry games worth driving a day for, others were just-anothers. In early March, t...
S7 February 16, 2011 HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- March really is here before we know it, because there's half a week missing out of February. This month wasn't designed that way -- and nothing was adjusted for our benefit or anything -- but it's still disorienting and disruptive to look at a calendar and realize that in two ...
S7 February 4, 2011 Friday mornings have become extra-enjoyable, because these game reports that are coming in are really great. While there's a lot of Season 7 left, I'm excited about Season 8, and the prospect of having well-written, well-executed student and passionate fan accounts of games across Hoops Nation to re...
S7 February 3, 2011 Today is National Pixelvision Day, and the festivities will last from 7 pm ET to after midnight. If you'd like to get involved, shuttle down. PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- An old hippie once proclaimed that information wants to be free. He was a publisher whose bound publication eventually folded. Me, I thi...
S7 January 31, 2011 As is annual tradition here at TMM, we've put together a full rundown of all the announced BracketBusters matchups, and this will likely be the most clicked-on page of the season once again. It's incredibly difficult to find a complete list of all the non-TV games, which are quietly announced by the...
S7 January 29, 2011 Binghamton Bearcats at Boston University TerriersJanuary 26, 2011 9:00 pmCase GymBBState Stats/Recap New England has had a tough winter. Snowstorm after blizzard after Nor'Easter has dumped feet and feet of snow on the upper right-hand corner of Hoops Nation; it's piled high along the sides of roa...
S7 January 13, 2011 CHICAGO -- Whenever I am standing in a long line at a bank, holding a check and a deposit slip in a limp right hand attached to a limp right arm, my mind wanders. I know the others in line are experiencing the same in-between feeling too, that it's a state we share. These days, most people occupy ...
S7 January 10, 2011 VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Now that January has reached double-digits, the slow transition is, in full essence, complete. It's conference season, and even the teams in the Ivy League are starting to play each other. This is definitely the second part of the beautiful season, the third best of the four. N...
S7 December 17, 2010 We are pleased to announce that we have a winner in our "The Moment" writing contest. With 36 percent of a heavy vote and a very organized campaign, Stephen Spence and Illinois State have taken the prize home to Normal, and to the Valley. For his efforts, Stephen will be receiving a red and white ...
S7 December 16, 2010 15:08@whelliston I just straight-up lunchbanged some Casey's General Store pizza and potato cheese wedges. #boOMFG15:38@caseysgenstore @whelliston: Happy to hear you enjoy our pizza :-)16:54@whelliston: I love it and want to marry it! RT @caseysgenstore: @whelliston: Happy to hear you enjoy our pi...
S7 December 13, 2010 CHICAGO -- Necessity is the mother of invention, but another thing that Mom does is feeds and cares for you. On Saturday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse, as "Underdawgs" author-slash-Indianapolis Star superwriter David Woods and I competed to see who could close the press room (he won), I experienced a...
S7 December 10, 2010 Last week, we asked you to submit a short essay about a college basketball moment that altered your life's course. To some, that meant a real shift, and to others it was a play that closed a circle and instilled something deep in the heart. We received 26 entries, and they were all great, but we h...
S7 December 9, 2010 Toledo Rockets at IPFW MastodonsDecember 8, 2010 6:00 pmAllen County War Memorial ColiseumBBState Stats/Recap Fort Wayne, Indiana is one of hundreds of far-inland American cities struggling to find an identity in the post-crash New Economy. For now, "sports tourism" will do. And we are sports tour...
S6 March 22, 2010 In a lot of ways, Northern Iowa feels like the Missouri Valley's far outpost, all the way up there at the tip of the conference. There's no sizable metropolitan area or skyline, like the western points of Omaha and Wichita, and Cedar Falls doesn't jump up on you on the highway -- you have to choose ...
S6 February 28, 2010 Big Games Colonial: at Old Dominion 73, Virginia Commonwealth 70 ODU - 23-8 (15-3) [RPI: 42, State: 42] VCU - 20-8 (11-7) [RPI: 62, State: 49] Star of the Game: Frank Hassell 17 Pts (8-9 FG, 1-3 FT), 6 Reb REGULAR SEASON CAA CHAMPS: ODU Ends Perfect Home Season With Win Over VCU - Gerald Lee scor...
S6 February 9, 2010 Big Games Western Athletic: at New Mexico State 70, Louisiana Tech 68 NMSU - 15-8 (8-2) [RPI: 78, State: 94] LTU - 19-5 (7-3) [RPI: 71, State: 67] Star of the Game: Troy Gillenwater 19 Pts (7-12 FG, 4-4 FT), 8 Reb, 2 Stl Laroche Hits Game Winner over LA Tech, 70-68 - New Mexico State sophomore ...
S6 February 3, 2010 I'll never forget Christmas 1987. The anticipation made my little underdeveloped heart jackrabbit in its bony cage. I recall bounding down the old toasty staircase, pushing my little sister aside, my eyes wide as canned hams. And there, 'neath the tinsel-topped tree, was the box I'd longed for so ...
S6 January 25, 2010 We've spent most of the last week in the Missouri Valley Conference, an annual trip of ours since The Mid-Majority's second season. People often ask me, "Why do you always say that the Valley is the best mid-major conference in the country?" It's a harder sell nowadays, as the MVC will, most likel...
S6 December 18, 2009 INDIANAPOLIS -- If you were a young boy once, or just a 1990's sitcom character, you probably passed odd hours engaging in the classic game of playground speculation -- who would win? Who'd prevail in a fight between Superman and Spiderman? The Incredible Hulk of the Green Giant? My dad or your dad?...
S5 March 16, 2009 Bullet Points Stephen F. Austin punched Hoops Nation's final NCAA Tournament ticket Sunday afternoon, its first appearance ever. Championship Fortnight is over, and the national postseason is just ahead. Completed brackets and scores for all 23 TMM leagues are included below. Southland Texas...
S5 March 15, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a decrepit old ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of th...
S5 March 13, 2009 CLEVELAND -- Hundreds of seasons lie in ruins now, but there's never time to properly mourn them. Instead, mid-March is for celebrating mid-major championships and great victories, for getting golden tickets to the other side of the great gate of Selection Sunday. It's a time for Robert Morris' rede...
S5 March 12, 2009 KATY, Tex. -- Quick programming note: we've run into some technical difficulties here in Texas, so that marathon chat we promised has to be postponed. Next week seems a better fit anyway, since there will be an actual 65-team bracket to talk about. We'll do a regular chat tomorrow from Cleveland at ...
S5 March 9, 2009 Bullet Points Northern Iowa has qualified for the NCAA Tournament by winning the Missouri Valley championship. Davidson was eliminated in the Southern Conference semifinals by the College of Charleston. After semifinal rounds yesterday, finals are set in seven leagues: the CAA (George Mason...
S5 March 8, 2009 Bullet Points Radford (Big South), East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun) and Morehead State (Ohio Valley) have qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Cleveland State, the Horizon No. 3, eliminated No. 2 Green Bay in that conference's semis, and Illinois State upended Creighton in the Missouri Valley...
S5 March 7, 2009 Bullet Points Cornell became the first school to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. For the second straight year, the Big Red claimed the Ivy League title, beating Penn 83-59. The upsets began in earnest on Friday. Ohio Valley No. 4 Morehead State took out No. 1 Tennessee-Martin. CAA No....
S5 March 6, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a rapidly-aging ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of t...
S5 March 6, 2009 Bullet Points Four-time Atlantic Sun champion Belmont barely escaped Mercer, and Big South top seed Radford fought off a strong challenge from No. 4 UNC Asheville in that league's semifinals. The Big South final on Saturday is set: VMI at Radford. The three top seeds in the Northeast Confer...
S5 March 2, 2009 INDIANAPOLIS -- Every day we get just a little more physically vulnerable, every day another step closer to the inevitable finish line of life. The positive trade-off is that whether we've cheated the reaper by strengthening our bodies or not, our minds are always increasing in power. Every day, we ...
S5 February 27, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a relatively new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of ...
S5 February 25, 2009 HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Still trying to figure out what all this means. So you're saying that if I had just auctioned off a crate full of Ballys last month, we wouldn't have had to do that whole bailout thing? But seriously, it's amazing to see that we've touched off the hottest plushie trend since Pea...
S5 February 24, 2009 Northern Iowa at Illinois State (Missouri Valley) Redbird Arena - Normal, IL 8:05 PM EST And so we approach the end of one of the most strange, random, Bizarro MVC regular seasons in memory. Hopefully next year at this time, we'll be discussing two, three and four bid possibilities -- or rather, t...
S5 February 21, 2009 So here we are again, it's late February and it's time for Mid-Major Christmas... BracketBusters VII, brought to you locally by Flying J Travel Plazas and Ballito's Powdered Horchata. Here's a handy clip-n'-save list of all Saturday's televised games, with links to handy print-n'-collect Basketball ...
S5 February 20, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a somewhat new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of th...
S5 February 17, 2009 Evansville at Creighton (Missouri Valley) Qwest Center - Omaha, NE 8:05 PM EST The Bizarro Valley race is, and I think we can all agree on this, mercifully about to end. There are only three regular-season games to go, and then we can get to the important business of sticking all these teams into ...
S5 February 12, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a kinda-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S5 February 10, 2009 NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Tomorrow I'll drive the four hours back up to Little Rock, jump on a jetliner and return to the hub-and-spoke center of Hoops Nation, the city of Indianapolis. On Thursday at 1:30 p.m., I'll walk into the Hyatt Regency with 19 other journalists and engage in the third annual NC...
S5 February 6, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a gracefully-aging ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three o...
S5 February 5, 2009 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Let's get this out of the way first: when the first place team loses to the last place team, it's definitely not good for the league profile. And when the overwhelming preseason favorite takes one in the collective stomach from a team that long ago unanimously passed a team rule b...
S5 February 4, 2009 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- A bit late, but I just wanted to thank everybody who showed up for our first Mid-Majority chat last Friday. There were over 200 questions, just as many as my final chat over the MLK holiday at the other place. It blows my mind that so much of the regular audience found its way ove...
S5 February 3, 2009 Northern Iowa at Bradley (Missouri Valley) Carver Arena - Peoria, IL 8:05 PM EST The Great Unknown is a scary thing, isn't it? We pattern-seeking creatures require some sort of assurance that future events will mirror the results we've already seen. Staring into the anti-void of endless possibilit...
S5 February 3, 2009 As is annual tradition here at TMM, we've put together a full rundown of all 51 announced BracketBusters matchups, and this will likely be the most clicked-on page of the season once again. It's incredibly difficult to find a complete list of all the non-TV games, which are quietly announced by the ...
S5 January 30, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a sorta-newish ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of th...
S5 January 29, 2009 CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Being an East Coaster with a family tree that only extends thin branches into the midwest, freezing fog is definitely a new experience. Yesterday morning, driving the long straight Interstates of Iowa headlong into the sun, the sky was thick and golden, just like heaven would pro...
S5 January 28, 2009 Silver Jews - "People" CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Since 2004, I've gone through a lot of different bags, pens, cell phones, cameras, iPods and Moleskines. The only item that I currently carry around the country that came with me on trips four years ago is a taped-together copy of "Actual Air" by poet and...
S5 January 26, 2009 OMAHA -- You know what I don't understand? Hubris. How anybody could believe that they're the center of the universe, or better than everybody else, or the owner of unassailable opinion, has always been beyond my comprehension. Walking the world demands humility, and is full of reminders why our liv...
S5 January 22, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a sorta newish ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of th...
S5 January 22, 2009 EMMITSBURG, Md. -- They call them the blues because of blue notes, those tones hidden in between the in-between places there on the pristine straight streets of the music scale. Each one of us has had the blues at one time or another, stuck in the gutter, the ditch, the rut, been down soooo loonnngg...
S5 January 15, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a new-esque ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S5 January 14, 2009 Drake at Illinois State (Missouri Valley) Redbird Arena - Normal, IL 8:05 PM EST There's a lot of relativity, onion-peeling and head-shaking involved in mid-major analysis. It's generally accepted that the Missouri Valley is headed to a second consecutive one-bid year, because there isn't the kind...
S5 January 12, 2009 BOONE, N.C. -- I'm going to get into my grandpa rocking chair and tell you what's wrong with pop music. I'm sorry that you had to get this from a basketball writer, but that's just the way it worked out. Most music specifically released for public consumption is far too dependent on context and repu...
S5 January 7, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a new-ish ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the Fin...
S5 January 7, 2009 ATLANTA -- One of the upsides to spending so much time in basketball arenas is that my connection to popular music remains simple, true and direct. In this atmosphere, with athletic competition on the floor and fans demanding two hours' worth of entertainment, organized payola can't find purchase. I...
S5 January 2, 2009 Creighton at Illinois State (Missouri Valley) Redbird Arena - Normal, IL Saturday, 8:05 PM EST We don't often keep the G!O!T!N! camera crew in one place for any significant time, but after the events of New Year's Eve afternoon, we have a situation in the Valley that requires additional monitoring...
S5 January 2, 2009 POCATELLO, Id. -- First of all, we have a chat today over at ESPN SportsNation at 4 p.m. Eastern, or 2 p.m. Mountain Standard. Don't forget! One last blast of mid-major mystery before we turn our attention solely to conference races, and forget that the top eight conferences exist -- a luxury we'll ...
S5 December 31, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the Final F...
S5 December 31, 2008 Evansville at Illinois State (Missouri Valley) Redbird Arena - Normal, IL 3:05 PM EST Much of today's action is of the afternoon variety, because Americans are conditioned to party like rock stars on New Year's Eve. And as 2008 comes to a close with a full slate of Valley games, here's one game th...
S5 December 29, 2008 LOGAN, Utah -- Whenever I travel to this part of the country, the Tetris-stack of states that makes up the intermountain west, I feel a great sense of unease. This goes back to when I lived in western Oregon for seven years, and would occasionally come further inland, but my advancing age allows me ...
S5 December 19, 2008 Illinois-Chicago at Illinois State Redbird Arena - Normal, IL 8:05 PM EST Here's a very interesting tilt between two Illinois programs who have been dormant in recent years, but are having breakout seasons heading into play in their respective conferences. If the NCAA field ends up being littered ...
S5 December 3, 2008 SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Tonight I'll be making my first visit to Missouri State's brand new JQH Arena, which was just christened within the month. I've been really excited about this for a couple weeks now, for a few reasons. I like shiny new things as much as any American, but most of all I'm curious a...
S5 December 1, 2008 TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- It's the first of December. Do you know where your college basketball team is? (Arkansas State, by the way, is here in town.) More importantly, do you know what it is? So much of this right now, at this point of the season, is involved in figuring our what is real and what is tr...
S5 November 24, 2008 Miami (Oh.) at Wright State Ervin J. Nutter Center - Dayton, OH 7:00 PM EST You know that phrase, "Throw out the records?" It's such a cliché that it's a Kenny Mayne cliché, which means there's no farther it can go. But in mid-major college basketball, at this point of th...
S5 November 24, 2008 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- For my money, the greatest movie about rock and roll music ever made is Stop Making Sense, the 1984 Talking Heads concert film directed by Jonathan Demme. The movie strikes a very personal note for me, because I take a 40 long jacket. Manufacturers don't tend to make that size, so...
S5 November 14, 2008 PEORIA, Ill. -- Remember back when you were a kid, it was a hot summer day out in your backyard... you had your 1980's NBA-style short-shorts on with no shirt, just hanging out in the grass your daddy just mowed fresh that morning. Not a care in the world. Then you got really thirsty, and you were t...
S4 April 1, 2008 Seriously, what's the big deal about fearlessness? It's made out to be this incredible and rare trait that only a select few possess. People forget that it's our natural, default state of being. We enter the world too naive to fear anything; over time, we develop a profile of all that scares us. Som...
S4 March 19, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 March 17, 2008 I can't think of anything that captures the essence of modern corporate America better than Selection Sunday. Four and a half months of sweat and blood spilled by on-court workers is distilled into numbers and charts, spreadsheets and presentations. Merits are debated by people in suits in a locked ...
S4 March 17, 2008 Bullet Points In the final final in mid-majordom, Texas-Arlington emerged as surprise Southland champs. All hail! We had 78 entries into our "guess-the-play-in-matchup" contest on Saturday, and not a single correct answer. The correct pairing, as we all know now, is Coppin State (MEAC) against Moun...
S4 March 10, 2008 Bullet Points All hail Drake, double-champions of the Missouri Valley Conference. Not only did the Bulldogs capture their first MVC tourney ever, it was the first time in 10 years the regular season champs survived Arch Madness. Four finals tonight: we'll have autobids delivered in the Colonial, Me...
S4 March 9, 2008 Bullet Points Three autobids were given out yesterday. All hail mighty Winthrop of the Big South, Austin Peay of the Ohio Valley Conference, and the Atlantic Sun's Belmont. All are off to the Big Dance! One final today -- the championship of the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake and Illinois State...
S4 March 8, 2008 Bullet Points Today, three autobids to the NCAA Tournament will be awarded! The Big South, Ohio Valley and Atlantic Sun will crown champions. The No. 6 was a lucky number yesterday -- surprising Tennessee State moved to the finals of the OVC, Northern Iowa upset No. 3 Southern Illinois in the MVC, ...
S4 March 7, 2008 Bullet Points There was an upset in the Atlantic Sun quarters, as No. 6 Gardner-Webb routed No. 3 Stetson. The Big South final is set: UNC Asheville and Winthrop, the league's top two seeds. The game will be played Saturday. In the MVC first round, No. 8 Indiana State and No. 7 Missouri State adva...
S4 March 6, 2008 Bullet Points All four Patriot League quarters were decided by three points or less, and the round featured two upsets as No. 7 Bucknell and No. 5 Army advanced. Bucknell beat No. 2 Navy 87-86 on a John Griffin 40-foot buzzer-beater in triple overtime. In the Sun Belt, the campus-site first roun...
S4 March 5, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 March 4, 2008 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- M is for March, and madness, and mania, and magic; any etymologist knows they all came from the same source, Ma-, a Anglo-Saxon derivative meaning "super-awesome." M is also for Mid-major. It's our time, and this is our year. With so many struggling power-conference teams trying t...
S4 February 27, 2008 RICHMOND, Va. -- We don't do a lot of Mid-Major Mailbag action around here anymore (we get plenty interactive enough with the chats, you know). But there's something about the combination of assisted research and the last slow Wednesday of the season that makes us want to break out the blockquote ta...
S4 February 26, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 February 26, 2008   Southern Illinois at Bradley (Missouri Valley) Carver Arena - Peoria, IL 7:00 PM EST Drake's Des Moines miracle notwithstanding, it's been a tough year for the 101-year-old Valley. Five new coaches, half the returning starters lost, and a lack of the signature nonconference wins that marke...
S4 February 25, 2008 FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Sometimes I just have to pinch myself (even though dreams can be complicated enough that I wouldn't wake up if I did). Three years ago, I was just another computer programmer with a college basketball blog, and the next thing I know I'm talking over BracketBusters highlights wit...
S4 February 23, 2008 CHARLOTTE -- That was fun. Yesterday, we proved conclusively that you can talk about mid-major basketball for six hours and that the topic will attract a couple thousand questions, not the six or seven most people would expect. There were a lot of awesome questions about everything from hoops to the...
S4 February 19, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 February 14, 2008 In 1969, Drake achieved the Final Four with a 26-5 record. Adolphus (Dolph) Pulliam was the emotional leader of that team, and his Bulldogs lost in the national semifinals to UCLA and Lew Alcindor by a single point. After his senior season, he was drafted by multiple professional basketball and foot...
S4 February 12, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 February 12, 2008 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- We'll get to all the Bally ephemera tomorrow, promise, but we're mulling over the BracketBusters TV announcement from yesterday. We wanted to share it with you if you didn't get the memo or are on the wrong mailing list. So here, then, is the final lineup for Mid-Majorpalooza 2008...
S4 February 6, 2008 As is tradition here at TMM, we've put together a full rundown of all 50 announced BracketBusters matchups. Mostly because we know that it's incredibly difficult to find a complete list of all the non-TV games, which are quietly announced by the schools after ESPN unleashes the televised matchups. T...
S4 February 6, 2008 KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- At 7:48 p.m. Central Standard Time on Tuesday night, I became infected with The Knowledge. After nearly 48 hours of conscientious objection, of no TV or radio or websites other than Google Maps, of looking the other way when passing by USA Today newsboxes, I now know who won t...
S4 February 5, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 February 5, 2008   Drake at Illinois State (Missouri Valley) Redbird Arena - Normal, IL 8:05 PM EST Yes, everybody knows about the 19-game winning streak. But here begins the true grind for Drake, three games which will test their mettle like no stretch has. OK, fine, whatever, so we've been saying things li...
S4 January 31, 2008 DENTON, Tex. -- While making the long drive up I-45, which is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about, I was pondering the names we give things. A lot of them don't quite fit, and bleed into general use because once people have agreed on a title for something, it's tough to get everybod...
S4 January 29, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 January 24, 2008 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- I never meant this to be Philosophy Week, and I apologize for all the thoughtful treatises on insignificance I've spilled recently. I'm going to blame it on jet lag, and leave it at that. I've made a key decision, and I post it here for you now primarily to point to it later once...
S4 January 22, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 January 22, 2008   Drake at Creighton (Missouri Valley) Qwest Center - Omaha, NE 8:05 PM EST You've beaten your fellow league-undefeateds and now sit alone at the top of Hoops Nation's toughest and deepest conference. You've won 15 games in a row, are on all sorts of national watch-lists, and are No. 14 in t...
S4 January 21, 2008 MORAGA, Ca. -- One of the most-asked question types I get is in regards to these datelines. Where am I? Where have I been? How many games am I up to? I know it's all pleasant small-talk, and folks are just trying to make conversation, but I've been meaning to put together a one-webpage answer to ans...
S4 January 17, 2008 DAVIS, Ca. -- We have a system here, we do a California trip every season and alternate between Southern (odd-numbered years) and Northern (even). We're going to go recover from the jet lag before charging into our annual West Coast Bias weekend, but we have some Easty bits to clean up. UNC-Ashevi...
S4 January 16, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 January 14, 2008 CHARLESTON, S.C. -- It's Monday, which means no cutesy-cutesy, no how-do-ya-do, no warm-up act jokes. Nearly every one of the 245 teams in Hoops Nation played over the weekend, and we're totally committed to mention at least two percent of those. It's all basketball today. Drake. No leading score...
S4 January 10, 2008 SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- I was going to start out today with a hilarious joke about squirrels and their nuts, but this came across the wires this morning. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a fine newspaper, ran this today: Xavier shuns mid-major award. Here's a taste for those who don't like clicking things: Ri...
S4 January 9, 2008 After a week-long break (nobody wants to talk during the holidays), TMMI is back. And to kick off the new year, we have one of the most powerful men in all of Hoops Nation, Missouri Valley Conference commissioner Doug Elgin. He's led the toughest mid-major conference in the land since 1988, spent fo...
S4 January 9, 2008 ELON, N.C. -- Late start today due to delayed air travel. A whole bunch of people in suits wielding Blackberries and Blackjacks, talking about internal voter metrics or somesuch, seem to suddenly be travelling from New England to the mid-South today, all at once. Couldn't figure out why. Let's go! ...
S4 January 8, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 January 8, 2008   Northern Iowa at Illinois State (Missouri Valley) Redbird Arena - Normal, IL 8:00 PM EST Tuesday night is the night that we usually go to your mother’s place, and it's also Valley night. In a topsy-turvy MVC where everything formerly down (Illinois State, Indiana State and Drak...
S4 January 7, 2008 INDIANAPOLIS -- Making the transition from nonconference to conference season is always a little rough. Not that we're getting dragged into something we don't want to be dragged into -- they just require such different mindsets. For two months, it's all rah-rah beat the power conferences, and then i...
S4 January 3, 2008 DES MOINES -- We usually leave the politics to bloggers who enjoy disseminating red-or-blue opinions and sorting through 300 comments' worth of fallout (You're in league with al-Qaeda! No, you are!), but it's been fascinating to see the caucus process in action up close. People around here take this...
S4 January 2, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 December 27, 2007 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 December 18, 2007 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 December 11, 2007 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 December 10, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- I was looking over the schedule, trying to find some games to go to this week. Maybe you were too. There's hardly anything going on out there in Hoops Nation this week. Virtual bupkis. Not enough nothing to cancel the G!O!T!N! for the week, but all across the land, the "athlete" p...
S4 December 4, 2007 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 November 27, 2007 I know, I know, I promised to do this last week. I didn't. I'm doing it now. Welcome to the first edition of The State Of The Other 22, a weekly look at the best and hottest mids in convenient top-ten form. There is no Week 1. The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses ...
S3 March 2, 2007 Bullet Points No. 6 seed Virginia Military Institute has advanced to the Big South final after defeating the tourney's Nos. 2 and 3 seeds. Furman, the No. 5 seed in the SoCon, advanced to the semifinals by defeating No. 4#North Carolina-Greensboro. The Atlantic Sun quarterfinals played according to ...
S3 February 16, 2007 INDIANAPOLIS -- It's the eve of mid-majordom's national holiday, and for this fifth edition of the event we're getting the whole family involved. Yo dad, those repairs on the car can wait. There are 14 great televised mid-major matchups to watch! It's the perfect time to bring Junior onto the couc...
S3 January 31, 2007 Here, then, are all the pairings for BracketBusters 2007. You can click on a matchup to learn more about the two teams and how they, well, match up. Albany at Boise State (TV) Appalachian State at Wichita State (TV) http://bbstate.com/games/66467>Austin Peay at Akron http://bbstate.com/games/664...
S3 January 25, 2007 BOONE, N.C. -- As of press time, 63 of the available 100 entries in Bally's BracketBusters Racket, the only contest in the world that lets you choose all 51 BB matchups, have been snapped up (the limit is in place 'cause I'll be hand-validating the entries, but call it a "soft cap"). Remember: the d...
S3 January 19, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- No mailbag this week, because quite frankly most of the letters this week were way too personal. Look, I'm a basketball writer, when did my mortgage, my stock portfolio and my "size" suddenly become fair game? Oops, wrong mail folder. Anyway... Every year around this time, we sta...
S3 January 16, 2007 NEW ORLEANS -- We discussed this a little yesterday, but there's a growing drumbeat sounding across Hoops Nation; thunder in the distance, if you will. I'm talking, of course, about the potential fall from grace by the sore thumb in our midst, the eternal oddball, the one voted Most Likely To Succee...
S3 January 11, 2007 NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Let's begin today with dispatches from television's hottest mid-season replacement, "How Weird Was My Valley." Kyle, are the Sycamores really this good? This was a team that I thought would be with Illinois State at the bottom of The Valley, but they have a great RPI, and some ...
S3 January 4, 2007 HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Just a reminder: make sure you get in on the action as The Mid-Majority expands its feature list in 2007 in return for warm, soft cash. We're halfway to unlocking mobile boxscores, a quarter of the way towards the team mileage maps, and we've also a chunk into the Tournament Geni...
S2 April 9, 2006 INDIANAPOLIS, Apr. 2 -- There are huge signs all over town -- on airport walls, strung over streetlights, over the main gate to the RCA Dome. They all read, "The Road Ends Here." There's also a giant logo on the side of the 45,000-seat venue, a green and gold star with zag-zigging trailers that has...
S2 December 22, 2005 No, our crack staff isn't on permanent Indiana State watch, even though their 7-0 start is a great story. (Admittedly, however, keeping the G!O!T!N! satellite truck parked in Terre Haute does save money on gas.) This is the pick-to-click game tonight because it's New Year's 10 days early. As "Voice ...
S1 March 16, 2005 Oakland Seed: 16 1st Round Opponent: North Carolina Record: 13-18 (9-9 Mid-Continent) Big Nonconference Wins: December 30 vs. Bowling Green (77-53); it was their only non-league win over a D1 opponent. Key Players: Pierre Dukes (see below) is the folk hero, but senior forwards Rawle Marshall and Co...
S1 March 6, 2005 Bullet Points Four Dance tickets were punched: Winthrop, Eastern Kentucky, Central Florida and Chattanooga. Despite the two-digit numbers that the Selection Committee will hand them one week from today, all are champions. One-seeds fell like mighty trees. Arkansas-Little Rock, the E1 in the Sun Bel...
S1 March 1, 2005 Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa 67, Wichita State 66 (story) - It's painful watching them keep losing, because it heightens the twin possibilities that the Valley will only get a single bid and the Big East will get (shudder) eight. Six-three Panther guard Ben Jacobsen lit up the scoreboard with 24 p...
S1 February 16, 2005 Shootaround! Mid-American: Two games last night in the East division. In yesterday evening's G!O!T!N!, Buffalo (16-7, 9-6 MAC) kept Kent State in check on their home court, 77-66. Turner Battle had 22 points and helped power a 17-5 second-half run that brought Buffalo back from a nine-point halftim...
S1 February 11, 2005 Big South: Winthrop 69, Liberty 61 (story) - I'd like to introduce you to a young man named Torrell Martin. He's a 6'5" sophomore shooting guard for the Winthrop Eagles who can shoot. During the Winthrop Gauntlet - a six-day, four-game stretch from hell - Martin has been completely lights out: 19 po...
S1 February 6, 2005 Western Athletic: Nevada 76, Louisiana Tech 58 (story) - In the most decisive result of Really, Really Exciting Saturday, Nick Fazekas scored 27 points and Nevada (15-5, 9-2 WAC) dominated the previously surging LTU Bulldogs, who were led by former MMBOW Paul Millsap with his 20 and 8. Insodoing, th...
S1 February 1, 2005 Southern: Davidson 67, Chattanooga 53 (story) - Davidson built a fourteen-point lead going into halftime, and both teams treaded water for the second half. Despite outrebounding their hosts, the Mocs shot themselves in the foot by shooting just 30% from the floor. Davidson (14-7, 10-0 SoCon) tighten...
S1 January 30, 2005 Results from Shakedown Saturday are in! And here they are! Mid-Continent: Missouri-Kansas City 88, Oral Roberts 74 (story) - Okay, UMKC Kangaroos, here's your "for real" tag. Wear it proudly. With four minutes left, they were up by only four and had lost their entire two-man backcourt to foul disqu...
S1 January 28, 2005 Big West: Pacific 66, Cal State Northridge 62 (story) - The Tigers (15-2, 10-0 BWC) proved last night that they are not only Mad, but Beyond Matadome as well. They marched into Northridge and held off a late run by the perennial upstart Matadors (9-9, 7-3 BWC), who sunk further into second place. Li...
S1 January 27, 2005 Missouri Valley: Southwest Missouri State 92, Southern Illinois 77 (story) - The homestanding Bears took a 14-point lead into halftime, and stepped on the gas out of the break with an 11-4 run. Despite what the two teams' records would indicate, this was a classically-styled "romp" - a 57%-38% field...
S1 January 26, 2005 Missouri Valley: Illinois State 77, Evansville 58 (story) - The Redbirds have overachieved this season with explosive offense and discipline - they used a 50-point second half and extreme ball control to sink the Aces. Three-point specialist Trey Guidry scored 25 points in just 21 minutes. So what n...
S1 January 25, 2005 Missouri Valley: Wichita State 65, Northern Iowa 57 (story) - The Shockers went on an early game-breaker of a run, but UNI fought back to take the lead just after halftime. Big Paul Miller hit a shot to make it 31-30, and WSU never looked back. Wichita State (14-2, 7-1 MVC) takes a half-game lead ov...
S1 January 23, 2005 Missouri Valley: Wichita State 58, Southern Illinois 56 (story) - The Shockers had the boards (42-32) and the defense (held SIU to 32% shooting in the second half), but the Salukis had enough streaks and runs to keep it close. WSU's Illinois transfer forward (and possible "evil twin" of your humble ...
S1 December 31, 2004 Missouri Valley: IIlinois State 62, Southwest Missouri State 61 (story) - I apologize in advance if this site goes through January and February stretches where it seems like the All-Valley Blog, but this league is going to be red-hot. Illinois State (8-3, 1-1 MVC) is rising Phoenix-like from a disas...
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