NCAA Basketball: Why do mid-majors get less respect than power schools?

Coaches Opinions

Do the coaches think that the discrepancy between mid-majors and power schools is real?  What do they have to say about it?  Two coaches were interviewed for the purposes of this article. These two coaches had two very different views of college basketball. The views are their world view of the sport. The first coach interviewed was from one of those conferences automatically relegated to the bottom two seed lines the Big Sky. Head Coach Danny Sprinkle from the Montana State Bobcats.

Coach Sprinkle must compete with a Big Sky power in his own state in the Montana Grizzlies. The Bobcats have their own unique set of challenges presented to them every year. Raise your hand if you have ever watched a Montana State game on TV? Even to take this a step further did everyone know they were a Division 1 team?  These are limitations along with the difference in facilities and overall lack of money when compared to power schools that Coach Sprinkle must face daily.

It doesn’t change his recruiting tactics, because he knows the caliber of athlete and player, he is able to recruit and wants to recruit. Sprinkle has said he has not seen any negative impact on recruiting. He is going to offer all the kids he thinks can help him win regardless of where they are from or how they are rated. Watching the Bobcats play, it is evident early the types of players that Montana State recruits they like to play defense and are built around their guards.

The one thing that Sprinkle wanted to leave with was, do not think for a second that the playing field is level. From the view of a mid-major, it appears many times that the power schools are playing in a different league with better perks, and the mid-majors are playing in the minor leagues. He gets the feeling when it comes to money, budgets, and overall view within the NCAA. That was an interesting comment and reinforces the entire stigma that mid-majors are not thought of in the same way that any power school is.

The second coach to graciously offer his time for an interview was the head man of Southland powerhouse Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. The Lumberjacks are in a different part of the world than Montana State and they are also coming into this with a different world view. Stephen F. Austin has beaten the goliath and has had success in the NCAA tournament. They have also proven they can get some of the higher talents and rebuild every year.

The Lumberjack head coach Kyle Keller has been a top assistant at a power school and is now a head coach at a smaller school. He agreed with the assessment that TV, exposure, and the power schools have access to a better pool of players has a huge effect on the mid-majors. Many of the smaller schools do not have as many scholarships to hand out for sports as the power schools, again the money factor. That hurts the overall depth and it means that the schools’ may not be able to offer all the kids they truly want to preserve scholarships. As with everything, every coach approach recruiting differently.

He also validated the NCAA selection committee and said it destroys the parity of the game when the same teams and some of them really good teams get selected into the 14-16 seed lines. It also doesn’t make a ton of sense that some of these conferences are automatically one-bid leagues. It is counter-productive for the NCAA to say they want the parity and want the tournament to be the best it can be, and a really good mid-major team is sitting at home because they lost in their conference tournament.

It has happened multiple times and was going to happen again this year when Colgate lost in their conference tournament this year. It would give smaller schools and other mid-majors a lot more faith if the committee would reward a conference for a great year with great teams as opposed to just the blanketed one-bid league.

Those teams who are given the chance to participate in the tournament that does not go on those 14-16 seed lines have a chance. The parity is going to exist in the 13-11 seed lines. Those mid-major schools are not that far behind the power schools. Coach Keller knows from experience as he has been awarded one of those seed lines and has seen first hand that his team can play with those schools. The parity exists in those lines and teams should be given those lines based on accomplishments as a team not based on the conference affiliation.

Much like Coach Sprinkle, Coach Keller provided some closing statements. He wanted everyone to know that he would not trade his years as a mid-major head coach for anything. The job in his eyes is much more rewarding than being an assistant at a power school. Again, every coach has a different situation and a different view, so these are just his opinions. The Lumberjacks sell out their arena every game, they have tremendous fan support and he can take his family with him on road trips. When he says road trips, he means road trips. Most of the schools in the Southland are within driving distance by Bus. The budget is not big enough for plane flights for every road game.

Coach Keller is very family-oriented, and his players are like his sons and he also feels very connected to his staff. He likes the fact that he can keep a smaller staff which leads to better relationships with his staff and his players. One of the main differences he found from being a smaller school as opposed to a bigger school is that the smaller school is not big business, there is more of a commitment to basketball and the fans. The power schools he has been at were a big money-making business and sometimes the basketball suffered because of that. Stephen F. Austin is in good hands with Coach Keller.

The coaches and players just want equality, a level playing field, and the respect they deserve. Until the NCAA and the game make some changes it isn’t going to do much to shrink the gap. Power schools owe a lot to the mid-major schools for helping fill out their schedules as well as fill out their rosters with players transferring up, sometimes helping pad the schedule and also helping fill out rosters. Power schools are notorious for getting small school transfers and turning those kids into stars. The Mid majors are what make the college basketball game so great.