Last night marked a historic evening for the Butler Bulldogs. An exciting 63-59 win in the NCAA West Region over #1 seed Syracuse has earned the Bulldogs their first ever trip to the Elite 8. One win away from the school's first ever final four appearance, it seems that everything is going the Bulldog's way. With the final four being held in their hometown of Indianapolis, it looks like a story book ending might be in order.

The Bulldogs relied on relentless defensive play to capture the victory over the Orange last night. Syracuse players were frustrated the entire evening by Butler's persistent man-to-man defense. These efforts were most notable in the clutch. In the 5 minutes preceding the 2^nd half 35 second mark, the Bulldog defense held Orange players scoreless. This facilitated their final run resulting in a marquee victory. Sorry Bear Bryant, it looks like defense wins games and championships.

Continue reading this post »

Taking a 0-28 team to a 15 win season in less than four years is an accomplishment that is pretty hard to miss. This is something Horace Broadnax was able to do with the Savannah State University men’s basketball program. Something even more compelling was Broadnax’s ability to do this with the second lowest basketball budget in all of Division I (339 out of 340)! But what does it really mean in comparison to the rest of college basketball?

Broadnax’s 2009 season produced argubly the best Dollar-Per-Win ratio in modern college basketball. With 15 wins and a budget of $376,968, it came to roughly $25,131 per win. This may sound like a lot, but when you compare Coach Broadnax to his colleagues it is pretty apparent he may be the best bang for your buck in college basketball. Compared to the likes of big names like Howland, Williams, Self, and Donovan, Broadnax’s productivity is astounding. The bottom line is for less than one tenth the cost of the coaches just named, Horace Broadnax can get you a win.

Continue reading this post »

ow that we've passed the mid-way point in the 2009-10 college basketball season and are well into conference play, we will be releasing a bi-weekly ranking of the top 10 Mid-Major teams. Why did we wait so long? Because just like in college football, its rather pointless to rank teams without knowing how they preformed  legitimate number of games. Furthermore, its important to realize that unlike most polls, these are not projections. It is simply an aggregate ranking of the Top 10 teams, as they are playing today, and not how they are projected to finish at the end of the season.

1. Northern Iowa

The Northern Iowa Panthers land at the #1 spot for two reasons. Firstly, they are owners of the best record in Mid-Major college basketball at 15-1, including rattling off 14 straight wins. Secondly, the Missouri Valley has in the past, and certainly is today, the strongest Mid-Major conference in college basketball. So the 6-0 league start definitely adds credibility to the resume, but they will be tested next week with their game at Missouri State.

2.  Gonzaga

The poster child of the successful mid-major, the Gonzaga Bulldogs has not disappointed in the 2009-10 season, currently holding 13-3 record and #14 national record.  With wins over Oklahoma, Illinois, Wisconsin and Cinnci, the Zags  have one of the best non-conference resumes in all of college basketball.

3. Butler

Not surprisingly, the second most tradition rich mid-major program of the last decade, Butler University, follows Gonzaga at the #3 spot. With a record of 12-4, including 6-0 in conference, the Bulldogs are ranked #22 in the national polls. Admittedly, their only solid non-conference wins are against Ohio State and Northwestern, but the Butler Bulldogs should have no problem steam rolling their way through the Horizon League once again.

Continue reading this post »

Mid-Major Madness sits down with Arkansas State University assistant coach Elwyn McRoy this week to get inside the mind of one of the best recruiters in Mid-Major college basketball.

MMM: Recruiting has been one of your specialties. What advice would you give to a young high school basketball player looking to play college basketball?

Elwyn: My advice to a HS athlete would be to do the little things that others aren't willing to do. Such as diving on the floor, being a good teammate, handing the ball to the refs, playing through bad calls with no facial expressions or negative body language, always giving eye contact to his coach when being spoken to and be coachable. In short be uncommon, do things that set your self apart from everyone else.

Continue reading this post »

50. South Carolina: South Carolina must rebound better and avoid the late-season collapse that knocked the Gamecocks out of NCAA tournament contention last season. If they do those two things, the Gamecocks ought to earn an NCAA bid. This team led the league in turnover margin last season and should be producing a lot more steals with Devan Downey and Dominique Archie in the lineup. South Carolina clearly is a rung below Kentucky and Tennessee in the SEC East, but the Gamecocks are talented enough to battle Vanderbilt and Florida for third place in the division

49. Cincinnati: There definitely is a sense of urgency surrounding the Bearcats' program. Vaughn, one of the better players in recent school history, is entering his final college season, and Lance Stephenson is expected to turn pro after his freshman year. If Cincinnati doesn't make the NCAA tournament this year, it may be time to put coach Mick Cronin on the hot seat.

48. Creighton: This is a deep team that knows how to win, especially at home. Coach Dana Altman is an offensive whiz who runs myriad sets; he mixes in a motion offense, set plays, some up-tempo and lots of long-range shooting. His defenses are just as varied, as Creighton is known to employ man, zones and press. Creighton won a share of the Valley crown last season. If some key newcomers emerge and the frontcourt stabilizes, the Bluejays should contend again and extend their MVC-record run of consecutive postseason bids to 13.

Continue reading this post »

Mid-Major Madness sits down with Drake University assistant coach Kareem Richardson this week to get inside the mind of a MVC coaching veteran.

MMM:  What are the expectations for the Drake basketball program heading into the 2009-10 season?

Kareem:  We are trying to cultivate a very high standard for our guys and program here at Drake. We want to strive for perfection to achieve excellence while maintaining the standard of our personal and collective best in everything we do. Our expectation is excellence or at worse case each individual player's best each game.  If we can get that done then at the end of the year, we as a team, will meet our expectations.

Continue reading this post »

101. Rider: It wouldn't be a surprise if Ryan Thompson joined his brother, Jason Thompson, in the NBA next season. Thompson - whose brother had a sterling career at Rider - is one of the best mid-major players in the nation, and he and forward Mike Ringgold are a potent duo. But the Broncs don't look to have enough to be legit challengers for the league title. Rider has postseason hopes because of Thompson, but a CBI or CIT appearance is far more likely than an NCAA bid.

100. Bradley: The Braves have won at least 21 games in four straight seasons, the longest such streak in the MVC. Jim Les has made his alma mater into one of the better programs in the Valley. Bradley is trying to become just the fifth Valley team to win at least 21 games in five consecutive campaigns. The Braves like to employ a rugged man-to-man defense, but expect them to apply more pressure in hopes of forcing turnovers and pushing the action.

99. Evansville:  The Purple Aces went from 10th in the MVC in 2007-08 to fifth last season, but they could finish 10th again this season. Evansville must find a way to replace the top four scorers from last season. The Purple Aces advanced to the postseason (CollegeInsider.com Tournament) for the first time in 10 years last season, but another postseason appearance seems out of reach for coach Marty Simmons. The key this season will be finding guards who can complement what could be a strong frontcourt.

Continue reading this post »

Less than one week after being ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press Poll, Butler earns the top spot in the preseason Mid-Major Top 25.

The Bulldogs, who finished last season with a 26-6 record and a No. 4 ranking in the final Mid-Major poll of the season, received 28 of the 31 first place votes. No. 2 ranked Gonzaga received two first place votes and No. 3 ranked Siena received the other. Rounding out the top five are Northern Iowa and Western Kentucky.

Old Dominion, which won the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, headlines the next five, followed by Creighton, Akron, Wright State and Niagara.

The Horizon League, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Missouri Valley Conference each boast two teams among the top 10, while the Colonial Athletic Association leads all conferences with four teams ranked in the first Top 25 of the season.

Continue reading this post »