Bracketology 2024: Drake, Grand Canyon among mid-majors under at-large consideration

Grand Canyon Antelopes - 18-2, 8-1 in the WAC

Those of us on the East Coast have had some late nights catching one of the best mid-major teams in the country because they happen to play in the WAC. Not only do the Grand Canyon Antelopes have one of the best venues in college basketball, but the product on the floor is pretty good too.

The Lopes are 18-2 and lead the WAC at 8-1 after taking down Stephen F. Austin last time out. Yes, they stumbled against Seattle for their lone loss in league play, but their other loss is a quad * loss to South Carolina. In the win column, they have solid wins over San Diego State and San Francisco.

Yes, it’s true of Grand Canyon’s 18 wins, 12 of them have come in quad 4. It’s also true that the Antelopes’ strength of schedule has taken a hit because of that with it sitting at 274th. What they also have that a lot of mid-majors don’t have is a 3-2 record in quads 1 and 2 and a signature home win over San Diego State.

The Antelopes metrics look solid as well, overall their average is 53.75 thanks to their KPI and SOR in the top 59 and predictive metrics that average out to 62.5. If Grand Canyon can reach the WAC tournament title game, Bryce Drew and his could have some anxious moments on Selection Sunday if they don’t win the title.