Mid-Major Madness Twitter mailbag: March Madness edition

Like us here at the site, you’re probably spending most of the week avoiding real responsibility so you can consume as much NCAA Tournament content as possible. You might have questions about your bracket, who to pick for an upset, or other general college basketball questions.

Luckily, we’re here to help.

Because we love engaging with our readers, we asked for questions on Twitter so we could answer them in our mailbag. You held up your end of the deal, so here’s ours.

Let’s start with an important one.

Yes, a hot dog is in fact a sandwich. I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Thanks.

First of all, hello Grant. As the staff Summit League writer and one of the leaders of the Mike Daum Fan Club, I’m very excited about his matchup with Przemek Karnowski in “The Burly Bowl.” The Jackrabbits’ only chance of winning is if Daum delivers a monster performance, so I’ll go with something like 33 points and eight rebounds on like 25 shots. They’ll still lose though.

As an Indiana fan, I’ve spent a lot of time perusing the coaching carousel lately. Archie Miller and Gregg Marshall are the usual names that get brought up when a major vacancy is open, but I would be surprised if Kevin Keatts doesn’t land a Power 5 job this offseason. Pat Kelsey and Steve Forbes could also be candidates.

Unfortunately, Duke gets ratings and clicks, so the media is going to talk about them just as much as any other team. Don’t think that’s going to change any time soon. But hey: we (the blogger fanboys) talked about it!

I have Nevada in my Sweet 16, but picked Baylor to beat NMSU. Just do the opposite of that and you’ll probably be right.

When the bracket first came out, this game was one that I immediately thought could be a good upset pick. But the more I think about it, the more I think that they’ll struggle with Virginia’s style of play. It’s hard to prepare for, and a team that plays at UNC Wilmington’s pace usually struggles when faced with Bennett ball.

As someone who spent two years hoping he would live up to his potential at Indiana, I would love nothing more than a good performance out of him against Florida. He’s been there before, and he’s obviously capable of making an impact against an athletic team like Florida. They’ll need him if they hope to pull the upset.

Might happen, might not. I’d feel better about Giddy Potts and Co. than Keon’s chances. It would be fun to see though!

NC Central probably shouldn’t be a 16 seed, let alone in a play-in game. Assuming they beat UC Davis, maybe they can keep it close with Kansas. Or maybe Mike Daum and SDSU will miraculously beat Gonzaga and deliver us the hottest Gonzaga takes of all time. Either one would be fun. Neither will happen.

Gonna knock out two questions with one answer here. Middle Tennessee, Vermont, UNC Wilmington, and Rhode Island are all teams I could see pulling off an upset or two. Nevada has a good chance too.

Dayton-Wichita State (duh). I’m extremely excited to see that one in person. I think Iowa State-Nevada could be a lot of fun too if you like a lot of offense and minimal defense.

I think Florida State is one of the high seeds that will be most susceptible to a first-round exit, but they just have so much size and athleticism. It can be done, but FGCU will need some Dunk City magic.

NEVER! (Ed. Note: Peter the Anteater is a well-known aardvark)

The committee made it clear how much they value good wins. The fact of the matter is that there just aren’t as many opportunities for them in conference play, so they have to try to schedule teams from the power conference that can boost their numbers. That’s easier said than done; after all, it take two to tango.

Absolutely. It sucks that they didn’t make the tournament, but I hope they bring the same fire to the NIT that they had all season.

Aaaaaaand there it is. During their National Championship Parade.

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Thanks for playing along everyone. If you have any more questions, hit us up on Twitter and we’ll hit you with some knowledge.