Busting Brackets
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Mid-major Basketball power rankings: Rhode Island, New Mexico State make moves

By Tristan Freeman

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 11: The Harvard Crimson huddles during the first half of the Men's Ivy League Championship Tournament at The Palestra on March 11, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 11: The Harvard Crimson huddles during the first half of the Men's Ivy League Championship Tournament at The Palestra on March 11, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /
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Mid-major Basketball
TUCSON, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 14: Corey Kispert #24 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs talks with teammate Joel Ayayi #11  (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

Which Mid-major Basketball teams have started to separate themselves from the others? Here’s a ranking of the 25 that are doing the best right now.

At this point and time, most conferences have played at least half of their games in the regular season. That includes the 20+ in Mid-major Basketball, with a number of teams still unbeaten. With the Ohio Valley Conference teams beating each other this week, there are now just seven teams in the country without a conference loss.

Those teams are Baylor from the Big 12, along with mid-major teams Gonzaga, New Mexico State, San Diego State, Dayton, Princeton and Winthrop from the Big South Conference. Everyone else has already lost, with some more consequential than others. Some were bubble-bursting defeats, while others left teams behind in the standings for the respective regular-season conference titles.

Compared to my last Mid-major Basketball power rankings from two weeks ago, there aren’t many changes in terms of the teams involved. Akron and Western Kentucky have fallen ou due to multiple losses, while Winthrop, Little Rock, Pacific just missed out. Here’s a look at the current top-25 mid-major teams.

25. Merrimack Warriors (16-8, 10-1 in Northeast Conference)

Haven’t heard of the Merrimack Warriors? That’s because it’s their first year as a Division-I program. And they’ve taken the Northeast Conference by storm, winning nine straight games and currently leading the standings. They have no one averaging 11 ppg on the roster and are ranked towards the bottom nationally scoring-wise. However, the Warriors are a top-10 scoring defense at 60.4 ppg.

Unfortunately for Merrimack, they aren’t NCAA Tournament or conference tournament eligible for this and the next three seasons per NCAA rules. But clearly, this is a program that the rest of the league will have to deal with, led by a talented head coach in Joe Gallo.

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