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March Madness: Top 10 mid-major players in the 2019 NCAA Tournament

By Logan Butts

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 21: Sean McDermott #22 of the Butler Bulldogs guards against Anthony Lamb #3 of the Vermont Catamounts in the first half at Hinkle Fieldhouse on December 21, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 21: Sean McDermott #22 of the Butler Bulldogs guards against Anthony Lamb #3 of the Vermont Catamounts in the first half at Hinkle Fieldhouse on December 21, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 21: Rapolas Ivanauskas #25 of the Colgate Raiders and Paschal Chukwu #13 of the Syracuse Orange battle for a loose ball during the first half at the Carrier Dome on November 21, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 21: Rapolas Ivanauskas #25 of the Colgate Raiders and Paschal Chukwu #13 of the Syracuse Orange battle for a loose ball during the first half at the Carrier Dome on November 21, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

The brackets for March Madness are set and it’s time to go dancing. Let’s take a look at the best mid-major players in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

The 2018-19 season has been a strong one for the mid-majors. I’ve been writing a weekly mid-major column all season long, so let me be the (far from) first to tell you there are a number of quality players spread out among all the leagues this year.

Selection Sunday featured some wins for the mid-majors (Belmont! Multiple single-digit seeds!) and some losses (UNC G! Lipscomb! Furman!), but there are a number of stars ready to show out on the big stage.

For the sake of including some lesser-known names, we will be excluding players from Gonzaga, Nevada, Buffalo, and Wofford as well as Ja Morant because you’ve more than likely heard plenty about those players at this point.

These players are ordered alphabetically.

Rapolas Ivanauskas – Colgate

Ivanauskas, the Patriot League Player of the Year, leads Colgate in scoring (16.4) and rebounding (7.9). The big man scored 18, 22, and 14 in the conference tournament to help the Raiders earn their first (and only other) NCAA Tournament appearances since going to consecutive big dances in 1995 and 1996.

If Colgate is going to be able to knock off the 2-seed Tennessee Vols, then Ivanauskas and company will need to crash the boards. Luckily Ivanauskas has 12 double-digit rebound games on the year.

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