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With the exception of the late-starting Ivy League (which will have its first full slate of games next week), action in traditional one-bid conferences is under way all across the country. Everything looked so easy to predict just a month ago, as s...

Blog | Conversation | January 16, 2009

During the 2006-07 season, Butler and Southern Illinois figured prominently in the national polls all season, and each ended up taking a trip to the Sweet 16. Many were flummoxed as to how either could have succeeded. Butler was tragically undersiz...

Blog | Conversation | January 07, 2009

With the last games of nonconference play winding down this week and next, teams are preparing to settle back into the comfortable rhythms of their leagues. Schools will welcome familiar opponents and rivals, and road trips will be planned around the...

Blog | Conversation | December 31, 2008

For many of the smaller conferences in Division I, the season hasn't truly begun yet. Sure, all the teams have played 10 games in non-league play, but none will have any impact whatsoever on league-title aspirations or the double-digit seed that goe...

Blog | Conversation | December 24, 2008

At this time of year, most college sports fans are focused on the football bowl picture. Therefore, hoops news has to be of the big, bold and shocking variety in order to make an impact. Anything short of VMI beating Kentucky, UMass squeaking by nati...

Blog | Conversation | December 18, 2008

Power conferences collect NCAA bids like kids collect Webkinz dolls, but mid-major leagues are defined by a single digit: the number of teams they send to the Big Dance. Regardless of how the participants actually do in the tournament, the number fol...

Blog | Conversation | December 10, 2008

Last season's Dayton Flyers were December's children (and not necessarily everybody's). A team with eight underclassmen made a lot of noise during the holiday season in 2007, knocking off Big East schools Louisville (Dec. 8) and Pitt (Dec. 29) and ma...

Blog | Conversation | December 02, 2008

Looking back one calendar year, we can see that 24 of the AP Top 25 teams on Feast Week 2007 were destined to be thankful all season long. With the exception of North Carolina State, which never did shake off that L-Tryptophan, each squad listed qual...

Blog | Conversation | November 26, 2008

Gardner-Webb, currently a verb that means "to beat Kentucky," left for the Big South over the summer. Belmont's November 2007 wins over Cincinnati and Alabama, as well as its near miss against Duke in the NCAA first round in March, are all yesterday'...

Blog | Conversation | November 20, 2008

After a summer of budget-busting gas prices and thermometer-busting temperatures, it's good to know that the BracketBusters is just five months away. The always cool weekend festival of mid-major college basketball, in its seventh annual incarnatio...

Blog | Conversation | September 05, 2008

Welcome to The Show! On Tuesday, we'll take a break from the big name conferences and talk some mid-major hoops. So to all of you who may not get the attention you want when the big dogs are dominating the chats, now is your chance! Ask Kyle! Kyle...

Chat | June 28, 2008

The term "mid-major" does little to describe the low finances of teams outside the big-time leagues. Smaller colleges with smaller budgets have it harder when trying to maintain winning legacies -- highly successful coaches are routinely lured away b...

Blog | Conversation | March 18, 2008

Welcome to The Show! On Wednesday, we'll take a break from the big name conferences and talk some mid-major hoops. So to all of you who may not get the attention you want when the big dogs are dominating the chats, now is your chance! Ask Kyle! Ky...

Chat | March 17, 2008

NASHVILLE -- Championship Week moves along at a constant and rapid rate of speed, always forward. With new action unfolding on a daily basis, there's little opportunity to reflect on what just happened. That's why it's easy to forget about a team ...

Blog | Conversation | March 11, 2008

Welcome to The Show! On Monday, the voice of mid-majors at ESPN.com, Kyle Whelliston, will be be to chat. That's right, we'll take a break from the big name conferences and talk some mid-major hoops. And the best part about it is that he'll be sticki...

Chat | March 07, 2008

In January, Cleveland State jumped out to an early and surprising lead in the Horizon League regular-season race. Picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches' poll, the Vikings won their first seven conference games on the strength of defensive-o...

Blog | Conversation | March 04, 2008