Mid-major basketball: 10 of the biggest mid-major March Madness snubs
By Logan Butts
With conference tournament time just around the corner, let’s take a look at some of the saddest mid-major snubs in recent March Madness history.
When it comes to mid-major schools from one-bid leagues, a single slip-up in the conference tournament can be more costly than for their big league counterparts.
No matter if a team dominates its league all regular season long, defeating each and every intra-conference rival, one bad game or even play can erase all of that success in a moment’s notice.
These are 10 of the biggest mid-major postseason heartbreaks of the past 10 years.
There are countless other examples of the top team in a mid-major league being sent home without an NCAA Tournament bid. Feel free to share other examples in the comments!
2014-15 North Carolina Central (25-8 overall, 16-0 in the MEAC)
The other examples on this list had stronger RPI numbers and flashier non-conference wins, but there’s something to be said for going undefeated in conference play.
No matter the strength of a conference, those are still the teams that know you best. Even the weakest of opponents can pull off an upset when they know your play-style inside and out.
A year after using MEAC Player of the Year Jeremy Ingram, the Eagles used a balanced attack to run the gauntlet in the regular season before falling in the MEAC semifinals 63-57 to Delaware State.
NCCU played games against nationally ranked North Carolina and Maryland, Cincinnati, Creighton, and Memphis, but could not find the marquee non-conference win to boost their tournament resume.