Gordon Engelhardt retweetou
The driver of interest in March Madness are the mid-major programs like High Point, Miami (OH), St. Louis, Prairie View A&M, VCU, McNeese, Siena, South Florida, and others.
These teams make the tournament special.. they maximize their talent, they play together, have elite chemistry, and they show that toughness and execution can level the playing field against programs with 5–15x the resources, recruiting budgets, and NIL/revenue share money. The mid-majors, their stories and their upsets drive viewership and revenue. They are the reason for the early round interest in the tournament.
Why is High Point Coach Flynn Clayman and many others frustrated? It is because the system and selection process treats elite mid-majors like second-class citizens. It should be noted that no one wants to flood the field with potential Cinderellas and dilute the tournament. However, there’s a clear case for a handful more deserving mid-majors earning at-large spots each year. As it stands today, the metrics and criteria create almost no realistic path for 99% of non-power programs unless they win their conference tournament outright.
There are mid-major leagues that are strong enough on a given year that their second-best team (or their best team who gets upset in their conference tournament) would win games if they were in the field. How do we get them in the NCAA tournament in the future?
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