• 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: Siena Saints
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S9 March 9, 2013 "By 'guts', I mean grace under pressure." - Ernest HemingwaySPRINGFIELD, Mass. - When it comes to March, there is a big difference between playing the role of the young underdog as opposed to being handed the role of the favorite. It takes a marvelous actor to be able to play both in back-to-back...
S9 March 8, 2013 "Do not go gentle into that good night" - Dylan ThomasSPRINGFIELD, Mass. - It's hard to put a positive spin on a 7-23 season, even harder to do so when your team used to be the dominant team in your conference in the not so distant past.Siena won the MAAC three straight times from 2008-2010, win...
S9 December 10, 2012 Game #9-145: Siena Saints at Manhattan JaspersDecember 9, 2012 2:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/Recap "In short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only...
S8 March 13, 2012 Game #8-743: Siena Saints vs. Loyola (Md.) GreyhoundsMarch 4, 2012 4:30 pmSpringfield, MABBState Stats/RecapThe concourse around the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, Mass. was still rumbling with Iona’s unexpected loss to Fairfield in the first MAAC semi-final when Siena’s Owen Wignot jumped out o...
S8 March 11, 2012 Game #8-743: Siena Saints vs. Loyola (Md.) GreyhoundsMarch 4, 2012 4:30 pmSpringfield, MABBState Stats/RecapLactic acid has gotten a bad rap over the decades. Long thought to be the source of muscle fatigue, in the past few years it has been shown to be critical to fitness and energy in athletes. O...
S8 March 11, 2012 Game #8-742: Siena Saints vs. Manhattan JaspersMarch 3, 2012 9:30 pmSpringfield, MABBState Stats/Recap“Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o’clock is a scoundrel.” - Samuel Johnson Back in my college days, and probably for a while thereafter, my friends and I would go out on a random...
S8 February 20, 2012 Game #8-590: Siena Saints at Hofstra PrideFebruary 18, 2012 4:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/RecapOver the past several years, I have been a supporter of the BracketBuster series. Yes, it's been mostly a marketing tool for the World Wide Leader to say that they give the mid-major teams a need...
S8 February 7, 2012 Game #8-523: Siena Saints at Fairfield StagsFebruary 5, 2012 3:30 pmArena at Harbor YardBBState Stats/Recap “And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me -– filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before” - Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven I had no plan to hit the Fairf...
S8 January 15, 2012 Game #8-393: Siena Saints at Manhattan JaspersJanuary 14, 2012 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapAnyone who told me I was an idiot for skipping the Saints' game on Saturday is the real idiot. Because I saw the Saints.However, they weren't the Saints who lost to the 49ers in the NFL playoffs....
S8 January 4, 2012 Game #8-343: Siena Saints vs. Iona GaelsJanuary 3, 2012 9:00 pmNew York City, NYBBState Stats/RecapHaving attended many concerts at Madison Square Garden in my lifetime, there is often an opening act before the headliner. The opening act is usually not that good, but the headliner more than makes up...
S8 December 23, 2011 Game #8-287: Princeton Tigers at Siena SaintsDecember 22, 2011 7:00 pmTimes Union CenterBBState Stats/RecapLike most children of the Capital Region, I grew up a Siena basketball fan. I was born at a good time, coming to the age of fandom right at the beginning of five MAAC Tournament championships a...
S8 November 24, 2011 Game #8-111: Siena Saints at Georgia Tech Yellow JacketsNovember 23, 2011 7:00 pmAlexander Memorial ColiseumBBState Stats/RecapMy first game as a contributor to the Eight Hundred Games Project came last night when the Siena Saints visited the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. There were many choices th...
S8 November 20, 2011 Game #8-073: Siena Saints at Mount Saint Mary`s MountaineersNovember 19, 2011 7:00 pmKnott ArenaBBState Stats/RecapSo it was finally here, my first college basketball game of the season. I'd watched quite a few games via the internet and the television, but there is something special about attending...
S7 March 20, 2011 [11] Virginia Commonwealth Rams vs. [3] Purdue BoilermakersMarch 20, 2011 7:10 pmChicago, ILBBState Stats/Recap On Saturday night, we left Cleveland and headed west to Chicago to catch back up with the VCU Rams, the first PIG team to win a Round of 64 game. And we saw them become the first PIG tea...
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 8, 2011 [5] Saint Peter's Peacocks vs. [2] Iona GaelsMarch 7, 2011 7:00 pmBridgeport, CTBBState Stats/Recap It's a title game. Scissors, nets, ladders, and trophies too. Serious ESPN2 airtime for Bally. Memories of MAAC hair: Mike Frensley and the ponytail, and Ricky Soliver Mohawk Night at Iona. The Jour...
S7 March 7, 2011 [4] Saint Peter's Peacocks at [1] Fairfield StagsMarch 6, 2011 2:00 pmBBState Stats/Recap [3] Rider Broncs vs. [2] Iona GaelsMarch 6, 2011 4:00 pmBBState Stats/Recap It's the MAAC semifinals. Anthony Kiedis howls in a cavernous arena. It's a day of Tri-State recollection: we remember the Iona 'ha...
S7 March 6, 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 PointsCongratulation...
S7 March 6, 2011 [5] Stony Brook Seawolves vs. [4] Albany Great DanesMarch 5, 2011 12:05 pmBBState Stats/Recap [9] Binghamton Bearcats vs. [1] Vermont CatamountsMarch 5, 2011 2:15 pmBBState Stats/Recap [7] New Hampshire Wildcats vs. [2] Boston University TerriersMarch 5, 2011 6:05 pmBBState Stats/Recap [6] Hartford...
S7 March 5, 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 PointsNow it's mad, ...
S7 March 5, 2011 Marist Red Foxes vs. Niagara Purple EaglesMarch 4, 2011 7:30 pmBridgeport, CTBBState Stats/RecapManhattan Jaspers vs. Siena SaintsMarch 4, 2011 9:30 pmBridgeport, CTBBState Stats/Recap The time-honored tradition of the MAAC's #PFF, the two games that bring a 10-team league into a more manageable, ...
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 February 28, 2011 Saint Peter`s Peacocks at Rider BroncsFebruary 27, 2011 1:30 pmAlumni GymnasiumBBState Stats/Recap Bronc Bobbleheads, tiebreakers with coin flips, dirty rafters, scoreboard porn, Coach Bingo, I Hate New York, and an 80-foot shot at the final buzzer that nearly went in. Just another final regular s...
S7 February 26, 2011 Columbia Lions at Pennsylvania QuakersFebruary 25, 2011 7:00 pmThe PalestraBBState Stats/Recap 30fps Palestra home shopping, #omgivydunx, the Good Drinks, Ben & Ed & William, golden pants, and Bally's greatest TV moment. Ever. @midmajority Game Tweets18:35 RT @SethHunt105: @midmajority Ooooo an en...
S7 February 25, 2011 PHILADELPHIA -- Earlier this week, Caltech ended a 26-year, 310-game conference losing streak by beating Occidental 46-45. Last night in Shreveport, previously winless Centenary ended a 33-game skid (one away from the Division I record) by beating Western Illinois at home. It sure is tempting to f...
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 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 11, 2011 Cleveland State Vikings at Valparaiso CrusadersJanuary 9, 2011 2:35 pmAthletics-Recreation CenterBBState Stats/Recap Sometimes Our Game is so difficult to understand. Can you wrap your head around the concept of retractable bleachers? Somehow, with hydraulics and sparklepony magic, a wall transfo...
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 January 4, 2011 Kyle, I just returned home from my first college basketball double header not involving a conference tournament. I drove for about six hours today to watch UNCG play in front of a couple hundred fans at Greensboro Coliseum against Richmond at noon. Followed a few hours later by a UNCW game against...
S7 December 23, 2010 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- This is the last Stardate until 52-20101229 (a Wednesday), at which time we'll turn our attention away from Red Line Upsets to conference play. There will be a Chat Block on Christmas Eve at 4 pm Eastern, and if there's anybody around, we'll talk about whatever you want to talk ...
S7 December 22, 2010 Saint Joseph`s Hawks at Boston University TerriersDecember 21, 2010 7:00 pmCase GymBBState Stats/Recap TMM Throwback Night at the Golden Greek. @midmajority Game Tweets 18:22 Boston. Basketball town. http://img.ly/2Fqg18:56 Game 7-031: Saint Joseph's at Boston University. Welcome to TMM THROWBA...
S7 December 20, 2010 Kyle, I remember reading your "Lombardi" piece when you first posted it, but since you referenced it, I re-read it. What strikes me now, is what separates the game you talk about, compared to what's covered by the larger sports media. To them wins and losses adds to the entertainment. Basketball (...
S7 December 14, 2010 Long Island Blackbirds at Northwestern WildcatsDecember 13, 2010 8:00 pmWelsh-Ryan ArenaBBState Stats/Recap I'm not even sure how it happens anymore. Every so often, something like a perfectly normal mid-December guarantee game in a Big Ten arena can be transformed into something bigger, greater, gr...
S7 December 6, 2010 Valparaiso Crusaders at Loyola (Ill.) RamblersDecember 4, 2010 4:00 pmJoseph Gentile CenterBBState Stats/Recap Think of Chicago. Cold city. Dark. Dark in the winter. But not cold and dark enough for a dude in the LU Wolf suit not to walk around slapping high fives with fans arriving for an early ...
S7 December 3, 2010 SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Julien Sorel is an uncompromising cynic, a hyper-intellectual, an iconoclast, a young man too smart for his own good. He doesn't fit in. He is poor but brilliant, caught between the peasant path of basic survival and the high existence of the powerful. Julien tries to bridge this...
S7 November 27, 2010 Bucknell Bison vs. Princeton TigersNovember 23, 2010 4:30 pmHarrisonburg, VABBState Stats/Recap Presbyterian Blue Hose at James Madison DukesNovember 23, 2010 7:00 pmJMU Convocation CenterBBState Stats/Recap Princeton Tigers vs. Presbyterian Blue HoseNovember 24, 2010 4:30 pmHarrisonburg, VABBState ...
S6 March 20, 2010 PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In the big picture, the really big picture, it doesn't mean much at all. It's a basketball show. This is entertainment for rich people, a diversion for any remaining members of the American middle class with disposable time. The performers are judged on whether their effort ple...
S6 March 19, 2010 As is annual NCAA tradition, we're displaying the overall athletic and men's basketball budget numbers in the mid-vs.-major games. Just like money can buy you a better car or house, it can also buy you a better basketball team. Having large resources allows a program to keep its coaches, recruit a 1...
S6 March 10, 2010 One makes for a one-off, but two constitutes a tradition. It's now unthinkable to end Season 6 without having our friends from Storming The Floor over during Championship Fortnight, to discuss one of the most hallowed of all college basketball rituals: the taking of the court. Our First Annual Flo...
S6 March 9, 2010 Mid-Majority protocol dictates that we take a look back at some of the teams that outpaced modest expectations to put together solid seasons, despite not taking it to the big stage of the Big Dance. It's a leading indicator of sorts, a distant warning to current champions that there will be teams to...
S6 March 9, 2010 Bullet Points A might victory whoop! for our four newest Hoops Nation champions. Old Dominion dropped William & Mary in the Colonial, to return to the Dance after three years away. Siena won the Metro Atlantic for the third straight year, but the Saints needed overtime to fight off brave Fairfield....
S6 March 8, 2010 Bullet Points All hail Northern Iowa, repeat winners of the Missouri Valley Conference's Arch Madness. The top-seeded Panthers put on a strong second-half burst to defeat No. 2 Wichita State, 67-52. Four of Sunday's semifinals set up Monday championship games. The Colonial title comes down to a m...
S6 March 6, 2010 NOTE: The Hoops National will only cover regular-season games for the remainder of the week. Big Games Ivy League: Cornell 95, at Brown 76 CORN - 26-4 (12-1) [RPI: 46, State: 50] BRWN - 11-19 (5-8) [RPI: 250, State: 281] Star of the Game: Jon Jaques 20 Pts (7-9 FG), 7 Reb Men's Hoops Claims Thir...
S6 February 27, 2010 Big Games Ivy League: at Cornell 50, Princeton 47 CORN - 24-4 (10-1) [RPI: 48, State: 52] PRIN - 16-8 (7-3) [RPI: 161, State: 120] Star of the Game: Jeff Foote 19 Pts (6-7 FG, 7-8 FT) Men's Basketball Tops Princeton, 50-47 - Cornell fought off a feisty Princeton team to claim its fourth stra...
S6 February 21, 2010 Big Games BracketBusters: at Butler (HL) 70, Siena (MAAC) 53 BUTL - 25-4 (17-0) [RPI: 21, State: 12] SIE - 22-6 (15-1) [RPI: 31, State: 46] Star of the Game: Shelvin Mack 23 Pts (8-14 FG, 4-5 FT), 6 Reb Mack and Hayward lead way to Bracketbuster win on Senior Day - Shelvin Mack scored 23 point...
S6 February 13, 2010 Big Games Metro Atlantic: at Niagara 87, Siena 74 NIAG - 14-13 (7-8) [RPI: 172, State: 184] SIE - 21-5 (14-1) [RPI: 33, State: 50] Star of the Game: Kashief Edwards 20 Pts (9-14 FG, 2-2 FT), 6 Reb, 3 Stl Niagara Halts Siena, Nation's Longest Win Streak - NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y.-The Purple Eagles h...
S6 February 11, 2010 The State of College Basketball is a 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 Four ...
S6 February 10, 2010 Colonial: at George Mason 82, Virginia Commonwealth 77 (OT) GMU - 16-9 (11-3) [RPI: 132, State: 104] VCU - 17-6 (9-5) [RPI: 49, State: 41] Star of the Game: Michael Morrison 18 Pts (8-10 FG, 2-3 FT), 10 Reb Men's Basketball Rallies Late, Downs VCU in Overtime - Cam Long hit a pair of free throws ...
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 8, 2010 Big Games Atlantic 14: at Richmond 71, Temple 54 RICH - 18-6 (7-2) [RPI: 31, State: 41] TU - 19-5 (7-2) [RPI: 17, State: 35] Star of the Game: Kevin Anderson 29 Pts (11-17 FG, 5-5 FT) Richmond Topples Temple, 71-54 (via Richmond) Atlantic 14: at Dayton 90, Xavier 65 UD - 16-6 (5-3) [RPI: 33, S...
S6 February 2, 2010 Rider figured to be one of the teams that would step up challenge Siena's two-year stranglehold on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference -- heck, a single first-place vote for the Broncs was what kept the Saints from being a full-consensus top pick on media day back in October. And Rider, not Siena...
S6 February 1, 2010 TMM Shortattentionspantheater! Siena (19-4, 12-0) has won 13 in a row now, and Butler (18-4, 11-0 Horizon) has a 10-game streak! And they could play each other in the Busters, yeah! (Don't forget, matchups are announced tonight!) Northern Iowa (19-2, 10-1 MVC) remains two games clear in the Valle...
S6 January 4, 2010 ALBANY, N.Y. -- There's a city that's 136 miles south down the Hudson that might be in an "Empire State of Mind," but this is the Empire State of Reality. Most of the laws and budgets that New York City must live with are written up here, in New York's true capital. Albany is one of the most impor...
S5 March 22, 2009 MINNEAPOLIS -- You work in an office. It's a big office with hundreds of people. You all have hard jobs: everyone toils at their stations every day, struggling to put in efforts that will be recognized. When you get a pat on the back and a "good job," it always seems so fleeting... nobody remembers...
S5 March 21, 2009 MINNEAPOLIS -- Just so we're clear, we don't care about your brackets. We know you want to talk about who you "have," about how three of your eight website entries are totally and thoroughly busted, and how you'll never win that $84.50 in the office pool now. We don't want to hear about how you...
S5 March 20, 2009 MINNEAPOLIS -- There's no day more exciting and more highly anticipated than First Round Thursday, and there's no 12 hours quite as difficult to get through. As soon as the games begin, the NCAA Tournament teaches a hard lesson about the perfection that's necessary to compete against enemies with mo...
S5 March 16, 2009 Aside from reality show winners and one-hit wonders, nothing is forgotten quite as quickly as Championship Fortnight when the NCAA Tournament brackets are released. Some of the teams we've been following all season are destined for great and lasting glory, which will be fulfilled and certified once ...
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 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 11, 2009 HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- With our third-to-last GMHN of Season 5, we have a very special treat for you, yes we do. The image you see over and over during Championship Fortnight is students running all willy-nilly onto the floor after their beloved teams win mid-major titles. So it's only fitting that w...
S5 March 10, 2009 Bullet Points Four more champions were crowned last night, teams that will automatically continue on to the NCAA Tournament. Congratulations to Virginia Commonwealth (Colonial), Siena (Metro Atlantic), Chattanooga (SoCon) and Gonzaga (West Coast). Three autobids will be granted tonight: the Su...
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 4, 2009 NASHVILLE -- They're the greatest two weeks in Hoops Nation, these. Conference teams are racked up in brackets according to regular-season performance, we determine a championship for each league on the court, and the ultimate winner gets to go all the way to March Madness, the kind on CBS. League t...
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 27, 2009 INDIANAPOLIS -- Though nobody has time to read them anymore, and the economy's so bad that folks are burning them for heat, writers aren't really considered "writers" until there's a stack of dead tree scrapings covered with their scribblings available for general purchase. Especially since writing ...
S5 February 26, 2009 ATHENS, Ohio -- As was noted in this kind piece by the newspaper I spent my college career wishing I could work for, next week marks the beginning of what we're really here for, what this is really all about. The conference tourneys mark the third of the four seasons within a season in college baske...
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 24, 2009 LYNCHBURG, Va. -- In the late stages of a Sunday flight from Raleigh to Nashville, after the announcement about portable electronic devices, I did what most people in need of an info-fix do: page through the Sky Mall catalog. It's only in those 20 minutes at the end when full-size Lord of the Rings...
S5 February 23, 2009 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- BracketBusters VII is safely in the history books now. It was more fulfilling than a Dave & Buster's appetizer (six chips do not qualify as "nachos"), and fell somewhere between Buster the crash-test dummy and Buster Bluth on the entertainment scale. Longtime readers will r...
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 18, 2009 SAN LUIS OBISPO, Cal. -- Morning really is a relative concept, isn't it? It's always morning somewhere, or 5 p.m., or the night time (a/k/a "the right time"). And it just might be Morning in America all over again, depending on what economic time zone you're in. I write this to you as the a.m. hours...
S5 February 13, 2009 Thursday, 1:05 PM -- I don't know what made me think this, but I went to the Hyatt Regency first and looked for anything that said "Mock Selection." There was an NCAA Life Skills conference on the second and third floor, so I asked somebody at the ballroom reception where it was. "Who are you, and ...
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 12, 2009 Temple vs. Saint Joseph's (Atlantic 10) The Palestra - Philadelphia, PA 7:00 PM EST It's super-exciting in the grand old Atlantic 14 this week, no? Those who tuned into ESPN Classic last night looking for a rerun of the Cheap Seats Superdogs/Superjocks episode were treated to a thrilling ballgame ...
S5 February 12, 2009 INDIANAPOLIS -- Well, here we are. Today is Mock Selection III, and I still have no idea what I did to deserve an invitation -- or why I've been listed as representing Basketball State all along. It's a real thrill, even though we've had to detour from our regularly scheduled travel and will be goin...
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 9, 2009 BATON ROUGE -- When the ax started falling in the SEC last month with midseason firings, the thought around here was that it was kinda cute. Four such severances in four years seemed like another indication that the pressures of BCS basketball were getting to be more in line with those of the pros, ...
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 3, 2009 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- BracketBusters pairings are out, and we're temporarily reunited with our own bed and desktop computer, so it's a good time for a game reset. Who am I? Why am I here? Seventy-five percent of what The Mid-Majority is about during the regular season is analysis. There are check-ins o...
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 February 2, 2009 CHICAGO -- So much of modern life is blocking, filtering, limiting. There is so much information coming at us every day that we must become fighters of information, lest it overwhelm and submerge us completely. We battle back with fast-forward buttons, delete keys, spam-guards, RSS newsreaders, trus...
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 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 23, 2009 Niagara at Siena (Metro Atlantic) Times Union Center - Albany, NY Saturday, 12:00 PM EST One of the most honored traditions on this site is to spread the G!O!T!N! goodness around. Focusing on a small group of teams is what the traditionalists do, but TMM likes to keep things as complicated as poss...
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 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 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 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 15, 2008 CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Let's get this out of the way first: the Atlantic 14 owned this weekend. Pwned it. The A-14 was in yr weekend, steelin yr basketballz. This conference put such a stamp on the last two days that the second weekend in December should be a three-day hoops holiday, by proclamation of...
S5 December 10, 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S5 December 5, 2008 Albany at Siena Times Union Center - Albany, NY 7:00 PM EST When you think great mid-major city games, there are matchups like Loyola and UIC in Chicago (also being contested on Saturday), or maybe the NEC's Battle of Brooklyn between St. Francis and Long Island. But don't forget a pairing with a ...
S5 December 4, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a 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 Four ...
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...
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 29, 2008 When ESPN.com brought me on in the summer of 2005, my good friend Sarah bought me a Ralph Marlin "Just Balls" tie. It was one of those nice timely things that good friends do -- they buy you things having to do with what you're celebrating just as you're celebrating them. Little did I know that it w...
S4 March 22, 2008 Back by popular demand, it's another chart of who's got money and who doesn't. Basing your prognostications on athletic budgets isn't a perfect method -- you would have gone 24-8 in the first round, which seems about average for all those suffering from Tampa Madness (you would have had WKU over Dra...
S4 March 22, 2008 O Saints, you screaming yellow zonkers of a team. We've had our rough spots, y'all and I -- there's ancient history and we did have to report what we saw last month. But we've never hesitated to say nice things about you, we've ranked you, and then we stormed your court. And now we celebrate your fi...
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 19, 2008 We had quite a few mail inquiries and chat questions yesterday about the chat that was published in my weekly blog for the Worldwide Leader. For those of you who are ESPN OutSiders, I listed the top five largest financial disparities in both overall athletic expenses and men's basketball budgets. Pe...
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 14, 2008 ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It's fitting that we're here in Jersey -- just as there were 86 episodes of The Sopranos, there were exactly that many daily weekday posts this year. This right here is the final edition of the season -- this 86th Boubacar, too, was "Made in America." Not that this is the end...
S4 March 13, 2008 ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- I don't know if I'm ripping the cover off some secret clandestine something, or exposing some horrible underbelly of The Business here. But one of the best things about Championship Fortnight is the media gifts. Yes, many conferences bestow presents upon us ink- and pixel-sta...
S4 March 11, 2008 ALBANY, N.Y. -- The thing that people don't get from television is how hot it is inside a court-storming. I mean, it's sweltering and blistering (and a little humid) in there with all the body heat and kinetic energy. Oh, and loud too. Inside a court-storming, you'll find a sound that can never be...
S4 March 11, 2008 Bullet Points Scissors and ladders were indeed used last night, as four mid-major champions ascended to thrones. Davidson streaked to a third consecutive title in the SoCon, George Mason survived the Colonial tourney, Siena is the double-champ in the MAAC, and San Diego stole the WCC title from Gon...
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 6, 2008 Jason Thompson isn't the kind of talent you often find at the mid-major level. Heck, there aren't that many players in the power conferences like him. He's a 6-11 specimen who can shoot mid-range jumpers just as well as he can lay it in, and can muscle his way to any rebound, anywhere. Entering this...
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 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 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- We're all just getting over the thrills of BracketBuster weekend, but there's plenty to get to as the regular season winds down to its electrifying conclusion. Just 19 days until Selection Sunday... Saint Mary's. In last night's G!O!T!N!, the Gaels proved that yes, they can ...
S4 February 25, 2008 There were a lot of great performances over BracketBuster weekend -- Alex Franklin's monster 30-and-18 for Siena in a blowout at Boise State, Kent State Golden Flash Al Fisher's 28 points in a big win at Saint Mary's, Josh Young's 25 points and clutch 8-for-8 free throwing for Drake in their nationa...
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 21, 2008 JACKSONVILLE -- Lots and lots to get to today with a full slate of red-hot mid-major action, but first I wanted to pimp n' plug tomorrow's Gigantic BracketBusters Marathon Chat on ESPN.com. There are always hundreds of people who don't get their questions attended to during the regular Wednesday dea...
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 19, 2008 DELAND, Fla. -- Last night on press row at Florida A&M in Tallahassee, my inbox full of nasty notes from Penn fans (more about that later on), I was reminded once again about the key differences between Ivy League and MEAC basketball. And there are differences, even though both conferences would...
S4 February 18, 2008 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Plenty of folks have the day off for the holiday today, but we have a patriotic duty to provide you with a Supersized Boubacar that takes into account all the action from the weekend that was. We'll get to that in a second, but I wanted to share with you my most recent fantastic...
S4 February 15, 2008   Oral Roberts at IUPUI (Summit League) IUPUI Gym - Indianapolis, IN 7:00 PM EST The sands in the regular-season hourglass are now primarily in the bottom chamber, and so there are plenty of games this weekend full of one-seed implications and general position-jockeying. We're looking forwa...
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 11, 2008 HAMDEN, Conn. -- We have been, and we stand, accused. Accused! Of having too much fun around here, of shifting the focus off basketball and running too many contests, pictures of pretty girls, cartoons and snapshots of pet basketballs. So we're going to put on our super-serious faces, talk in our su...
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 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 VALPARAISO, Ind. -- We're in Day Two of the annual Super Bowl info-moratorium, the first time in seven years we've made it through until Tuesday without knowing any details of the "big game" or who won. It's a combination of old-fashioned obliviousness and modern technology that's making this happen...
S4 February 4, 2008 MEADVILLE, Pa. -- It's a lot of effort trying to live a life free of American-style football, the lengths you have to go to in order to pretend it doesn't exist. It's come to this, it really has, and I can't believe it myself. But I made it through the night, Hoops Nation. I'm shacked out in a litt...
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 28, 2008 HOUSTON -- I was thinking over the weekend, while I wasn't at any games, about all the games I go to. A total of 57 games so far this year, headed for yet another 100-game season. Having done 100 twice now, it's tough to find triple-digit motivation anymore. Need to turn it into some kind of contest...
S4 January 25, 2008 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- I tried to make it simple, I tried to offer the sound-bite answer. I tried to simplify things on the far side of complexity, because 'tis a gift to be simple. But I attempted to shave with Occam's razor, but ended up having to wear a small piece of toilet paper, attached with spit...
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 SAN JOSE -- We were too busy putting the weekend's results into a semi-digestible package, as is Monday tradition, so we're hopelessly late on the latest big coaching news from the WCC. If you haven't heard already, Vance Walberg "resigned" suddenly on Jan. 18. Since then, more of the story's come o...
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 11, 2008   Siena at Niagara (Metro Atlantic) Gallagher Center - Niagara University, NY 9:00 PM EST Playing most of its weekend games on Fridays instead of Saturdays has been a shrewd move for the MAAC -- there are more TV windows (ESPNUUUuuuuu!), and they get the good Big East refs who want to make a...
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 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 31, 2007 MUNCIE, Ind. -- Well, here it is, the last Boubacar of 2007, coming at the beginning of the final broken week of the 2007-08 season. No Boubacar tomorrow, but there will be a few special treats posted here, including our annual New Year's essay. You'll want to stay tuned for that. For now, here are ...
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 27, 2007   Rider (Metro Atlantic) at Drexel (Colonial) Daskalakis Athletic Center - Philadelphia, PA 7:30 PM EST We're in the nonconference home stretch now, with just a few more games to go before everyone gets deep into their real seasons, the ones that happen in parentheses. That's where we'll be ...
S4 December 21, 2007   Holy Cross (Patriot) at Siena (Metro Atlantic) Times Union Center - Albany, NY 1:00 PM EST You may be able to find a more exciting, more meaningful or more televised contest this weekend. And bully for you if you do. This one's for the true hoops geeks, who love watching contrasting styles...
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 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 ...
S4 November 27, 2007   Binghamton (America East) at Cornell (Ivy League) Newman Arena - Ithaca, NY 7:00 PM EST It's a November Tuesday night, which means lots of guarantee games and prefab power-conference challenge matchups. But up in the occasionally snowy wilds of upstate New York, we have an intriguing battl...
S4 November 19, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Wow, what a weekend. So packed with hot mid-major action that I don't have time to tell any jokes here in the intro paragraph. Here we go! Siena's Super Saints. Number 20's been an unlucky spot in the national popularity contest lately. That's where Kentucky sat when Gardner-Web...
S4 November 12, 2007 One of the most common e-mails I received last year was the repeated question about where the Mid-Majority Baller of the Specified-Time-Period went. I can't even remember why I took a year off from doing it, it was always such a fun part of every Monday. It had become such an honor that school SID's...
S3 March 6, 2007 Bullet Points Three championships were settled yesterday. All hail Virginia Commonwealth, double champions of the grand old Colonial, who held off a pesky George Mason team. And congratulations to Niagara, which beat Siena to claim the MAAC tournament championship. Oh yeah, andUnnamed Major Program ...
S3 March 5, 2007 Bullet Points In Sunday's only championship game, Creighton beat Southern Illinois to win the Missouri Valley autobid. Cinderella 2: Electric Boogaloo... George Mason upset Old Dominion in the CAA semis out of the No. 6 seed. Siena upset Marist in a No.5-over-1 job in the Metro Atlantic semis, and S...
S3 March 4, 2007 Bullet Points We have four champions on the busiest day of Championship Fortnight: all hail Winthrop of the Big South and Davidson of the SoCon, double champions both. Second seeds who rose up to claim tourney championships and dance tickets: Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley and Belmont of the At...
S3 March 3, 2007 Bullet Points In the first real shocker of Championship Fortnight, Appalachian State was upset by College of Charleston in the SoCon semifinals. Four leagues crown champions today on the ESPN family of networks. The Big South, Ohio Valley, SoCon and Atlantic Sun seasons will conclude with autobids b...
S3 February 26, 2007 BOZEMAN, Mont. -- That's right, waah-waah. This is the final Daily Paragraph, the last K-Dub's Krazy Fact of the Day of the season. That's because (not-so-Top Five) Tuesday, February 27 is the honorary first day of March. It's tourney time! The Horizon League, Ohio Valley and Big South kick off thei...
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 February 12, 2007 BALTIMORE -- OK, OK, OK, OK. I've read your e-mails, I've received your calls and media inquiries. The big question of the weekend is not what happened in the huge mid-major games these past few days, but what are we to do about this? And this? Let's get the easy punchline out of the way first: Ther...
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 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 15, 2007 LORMAN, Miss. -- BracketBusters season starts in just under two weeks, and that's why we here at the Mid-Majority have put together this little map, so you can start scouting out the home teams (orange) and away teams (grey) and dream about matchups leading into the pairing announcement on Jan. 28. ...
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 8, 2007 JACKSON, Miss. -- Mondays from here on out will be busy times as we continue to track all the hot hot conference action, so let's all take a deep breath and let's get to it. Conference Shootaround! Missouri Valley: Yesterday in lovely Springfield, Missouri State broke both an eight-game losing str...
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 February 26, 2006 When these two MAAC titans met in January, the result was a Manhattan blowout at Iona's house. As expected, both teams are 13-4 heading into their return match -- tonight's game will end up settling the regular season title, the tourney No. 1 seed and a double-bye into the semis. The Jaspers had the...
S2 December 10, 2005 I cringe when pundits on the teevee talk about a team knowing "how to win" or "not knowing how to win." I mean, geez - you play the game and if you do it better than the other team, you win. No special degrees or prior work experience needed.Siena hasn't been better than the other team very much in ...
S2 November 28, 2005 After a run of postseason magic, the Siena Saint (Bernard)s have been off the face of the earth in the last two years, something that's not a good idea when you have a notoriously impatient fanbase and a 15,000-seat soft-drink-branded arena to fill. So Rob Lanier out as coach, Fran McCaffery in.Toni...
S1 March 5, 2005 Game 071: (5) Iona 68, (10) Siena 51 MAAC First Round Friday, March 4, 2005 HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY It doesn't matter what type of measurement apparatus you use, Siena's season has been a complete disaster. When you finish 4-15 in conference and 6-24 overall, when you've lost 17 of your last 20,...
S1 February 28, 2005 Mid-American: Bowling Green 57, Miami (Oh.) 56 (story) - Despite the fact that the game's telecast was cancelled after an hour's delay because BGSU's Mawel Soler shattered a backboard during pregame warmups, Falcon senior forward Josh Almanson's jumper with six seconds remaining was a shot heard 'ro...
S1 February 18, 2005 Atlantic Sun: Gardner-Webb 67, Belmont 58 (OT) (story) - G-Webb (15-9, 12-5 ASun) used a five-minute rally to storm back from a 12-point deficit late in the second. The homestanding Bruins controlled the flow for 35 minutes, and that included a 12-0 run midway through the second half to break the ga...
S1 February 8, 2005 Missouri Valley: Southern Illinois 58, Drake 57 (story) - Faraway, so close. Sure, SIU's RPI is great, but they're really struggling right now. At Drake, they had to be bailed out by bigman Josh Warren's last-minute jumper - they shot 40% and only made two free throws all evening. The Bulldogs' seas...
S1 February 3, 2005 Game 049: at Manhattan 69, Fairfield 61 Sunday, January 30, 2005 Draddy Gymnasium - Bronx, NY Draddy Gymnasium is a proud old barn on top of a hill in the Bronx, nestled alongside the other gold-hued brick buildings of Manhattan College's campus. Inside, just about everything has the same medium gr...
S1 January 18, 2005 Game 036: Canisius 84, at Siena 80 (OT) Monday, January 17, 2005 Pepsi Arena - Albany, NY This is the second part of The Mid-Majority's GameLogg™ coverage of the annual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference M.L.K. Day doubleheader. The first installment can be found here. Our second game featu...
S1 January 18, 2005 Game 035: Rider 89, Loyola (Md.) 69 Monday, January 17, 2005 Pepsi Arena - Albany, NY In the interest of maintaining time-frame, brain-cell and day-job, I'm going to have to institute near-Draconian measures when I attend multiple games in a single day. Luckily for me, there is the "Game Diary&trad...
S1 January 11, 2005 Game 029: at Delaware State 68, Morgan State 53 Monday, January 10, 2005 Memorial Hall - Dover, Delaware On December 18, Delaware State traveled to Michigan State's Breslin Events Center to pick up a routine five-figure guarantee check and a whoopin'. But they had grander aspirations: out of the ga...
S1 December 19, 2004 When I put together the Finals Week quiz, I thought that it would be some nice blog-filler for a light week of hoops. I had no idea that people would actually complete it and send it in, and that I'd find myself "grading" 32 tests despite my total lack of teaching experience. I talked to the Officia...
S1 December 17, 2004 And here it is, the last day of Mid-Majority Finals Week So here's the deal... you have until Saturday at 6:00 PM EST to send in your answer sheets to finalsweek@midmajority.com. Winners will be notified and all answers will be posted sometime on Sunday. Remember, the timestamp on the e-mail contai...
S1 December 15, 2004 Siena 79, Youngstown State 78 (4OT) (story) - The Saints and Penguins were tied at 50 after regulation, and the teams struggled to make baskets in what amounted to a complete third half - Siena barely outshot host YSU 36%-35% for the whole game. Diminutive (5'9") Tay Fisher hit three treys in the fo...
S1 December 7, 2004 Northwestern State 85, Tulane 72 (story) - Northwestern (Louisiana) State is the answer to a trivia question - who won the first NCAA Tournament 65-vs.-64 play-in game? (against Winthrop, 2001). They also beat Kentucky 16 years ago. Not known for their long-range accuracy, the Southland Conference's...
S1 November 27, 2004 Please make sure you check out Yoni's new design over at College Basketball Blog if you haven't already. Clean, fit, functional. I'm now listed in the "pundits" section, although I'm not quite convinced I have pundit-like qualifications. But being listed directly ahead of Mark Cuban is cool. Boo-yah...
S1 November 18, 2004 I'll admit to having snuck a peek at last-minute flights to Raleigh yesterday. I thought that catching the opening quadrupleheader at the BCA Invitational might give me an early boost towards the 100 game mark. Turns out the only real contest worth the airfare was Oregon State's buzzer-beating Houdi...
S1 November 17, 2004 We all know how teams are picked for the postseason National Invitation Tournament. But what's the selection process like for the preseason version, you wonder? The 16 best available teams are based on the following: Projected StrengthReturning StartersReturning LettermenTransfersJunior College Si...
S1 November 9, 2004 One Sunday afternoon in early February, I found myself sitting in a cold, half-empty gymnasium in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. I was watching Rider and Loyola - two of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's perennial doormats - fall all over each other. It was halftime, and the two squads had barely...
S1 November 9, 2004 My earliest basketball memory: it's a cold winter morning in New England, November 1983. I'm eleven years old, and I'm pulling a Greg Ballard Washington Bullets home jersey over my spindly torso (the only one at the sporting goods store that fit me). I'm taller than the other boys in the neighborhoo...
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