Busting Brackets
Fansided

Mid-major Basketball: Way-too-early top-50 power rankings for 2020-21

By Tristan Freeman

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Fans of San Diego State Aztecs cheer during the first half of a game against the New Mexico Lobos at Viejas Arena on February 11, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Fans of San Diego State Aztecs cheer during the first half of a game against the New Mexico Lobos at Viejas Arena on February 11, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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Mid-major Basketball
DAYTON, OHIO – FEBRUARY 22: Obi Toppin #1 of the Dayton Flyers celebrate with his teammates (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

Which mid-major basketball programs are in position for a great season next year? Here’s an early look at the smaller schools looking to do big things.

It was a very good year overall for Mid-major Basketball teams. Depending on how you classify “mid-majors”, there were a number of programs that were in a position to get an at-large bid in what would’ve been the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Gonzaga had another incredible year, going 30-2 and being ranked either No. 1 or 2 for the majority of the season. But the biggest teams stories of the 2019-20 season belonged to both Dayton and San Diego State, who each had historic campaigns. The Aztecs were the last unbeaten team this season at 26-0, while the flyers went unbeaten through the always tough Atlantic 10 Conference while not losing a single game in regulation time.

New Mexico State was the other mid-major to go unbeaten in league play, surviving all of the injuries to go 16-0 in the WAC. Other notable mid-majors who excelled include BYU, Saint Mary’s, Richmond, East Tennessee State among others. It’s disappointing that the season couldn’t include all of March Madness, as there were quite a few mid-majors who were capable of making a deep run in the Big Dance.

It takes us looking towards the 2020-21 season, where things look a little different in terms of expectations. Due to early NBA Draft entrants and transfers, some mid-major basketball teams have taken dips, while others have improved their standings.

For this piece, I’ll be taking a look at which mid-major teams you should keep an eye on for next season… whenever it takes place. While there are classification disputes in the NCAA Basketball world, I will be including teams from all conferences outside of the P-5, Big East and AAC. So the Atlantic 10, Mountain West and WCC will be involved with this project.

It was incredibly hard to do a standard top-25 list, so I went all the way to 50 for a way-too-early look. Here are teams who have the most talented rosters for 2020-21.

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