2006 : The Year of the Mid-Major

It's becoming more and more apparent that this year, more than ever, we'll have an influx of teams from mid-major conferences in the NCAA Tournament. If you look at conferences like the Missouri Valley and the CAA, they're each deserving of more than one bid into the "Big Dance". But is this a good thing? I think so.

People seem to have an endless debate over whether or not it's a good thing to see these smaller schools getting into the tournament. The argument always goes to this question. Would you rather see a 2nd place Missouri Valley team or 6th or 7th place ACC team get in? The question, I think, is an easy one to answer. Bring on the little guy!

Every year, the best moments of the NCAA Tournament come from the first few rounds, the one with all the upsets. Valpo, Gonzaga, Butler, Bucknell. These schools are known to everyone now because of dramatic wins over high powered programs on national television. They are truly what is beautiful about the NCAA Tournament. It tugs at the heart strings when you see a program make a name for themselves by beating a national power. It is the quintessential David vs. Goliath story.

The math is simple. Give us more mid-majors and we'll see more of these upsets. And it appears that this season, we're going to get a boat load of them. This is why I'm looking forward to the first couple of days of this year's tournament, more than the first few days of any other tournament in recent memory. I want to see Wichita State beat someone good. I want to see a Winthrop give some big school a run for their money. I want to see another Bucknell-like story. With more mid-majors in the mix, the chances of that happening are very very good.

Kind of a non-eventful weekend for me, personally. I went to see UNCW-Georgia State yesterday. Kind of a boring game. Lots of fouls called, too many in my opinion. Neither team could really ever get into a flow. But with the win and the help of Hofstra, UNCW clinched the #1 seed in this week's CAA Tournament.

Speaking of the tournament, big time thanks goes out to Seahawk Sports Marketing and Mike Vaccaro, for allowing me to use their broadcast equipment while I'm up in Richmond later this week. Don't worry. We don't break anything!

My fiance is on the couch right now, watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off. That movie never gets old. And who hasn't quoted Ben Stein's character in the movie, saying, "Buueller? Buuuuueeelller?" Great flic that's withstood the test of time.

As always, your comments are welcome. Feel free to leave'em as you see fit. Take care!