What is a mid-major?

With the N.C.A.A. Tournament down to its final four teams, there has been a lot of talk about Butler, which became the second “mid-major” team in the past four years to reach the Final Four. (The other was George Mason, in 2006.)

Now, if you’ve been asking yourself, what exactly is a Mid-major? Well, you’re in the right place.

Northern Iowa, which upset tournament overall No. 1-seeded Kansas, is considered a mid-major. Photo credit: Greg Nelson/ Sports Illustrated

 

The term is used to describe a program that is in the middle of the pack among Division 1-A schools in terms of athletic spending. (More about the NCAA’s Divisions here.)

According to freelance basketball writer Kyle Whelliston, the term was first uttered in 1977, by Jack Kvancz, former head coach at Division II Catholic University.

Whelliston has devoted an entire website, calledmidmajority.com, to covering “mid-majors”, and hasdefined the term as he sees it.

Simply put, mid-major programs are schools who  do not play in one of the following big-budget basketball conferences: 

ACC

Big East

Big Ten

Big Twelve

Mountain West

Pacific Ten

Southeastern

This leaves a total of 24 conferences, and over 250 teams, which are widely considered “mid-majors”. 

Some schools, however, are not happy with this label.

Xavier University, which has reached the N.C.A.A. Tournament’s Round of 16 in each of the past three seasons, is especially sour about hearing the term related to its team. The Musketeers play in the Atlantic 10, a respected basketball conference, and are perennial contenders for the Final Four.

Xavier falls into "mid-major" discussion despite high-level results. Photo credit: Jeff Hanisch/ US Presswire

 

Maureen Dowd

All right, I've thought about this and.... I'm not gonna lie. I like Maureen Dowd. I like her spunk. I like her attitude. I like how she's not afraid to go after people who do stupid things. 

I also think that if she couldn't pull off the fishnet stockings, I probably wouldn't like her as much. 

....What, I thought we were in the nest of truth..right?  (Sorry, line from Old School.)

I think she's a feminist but she gets away with it. I like the way she mocks society a little bit because I think it gives her more personality. 

I think it's a good thing that there are columnists like her. If she was my mom, I'd be pretty upset. But she's not, so she's entitled to her opinion about men and relationships. 

Google Making One Author Stupid

Nicholas Carr is definately getting stupider because of Google. Or else, he wouldn't have written this article. I understand the notion that the ease with which information can be obtained these days may shorten attention spans, but I don't think it's making us stupid. It's making us smarter.

How can you possibly be worse off for being able to look up anything, at any time, with just a couple clicks of a mouse?  A thought pops into your head, and you can look it up and instantly know more about that topic.

The internet isn't meant for long, drawn-out arguments. Computers aren't books. You can't fold them, crease them, underline something on the screen with your fingernail. It's hard to read long blocks of text online with no break.

That's why I just broke. Read a book, and it's a different story. I can still read books. I just use a little thing called concentration. Come on people.

Alternative News Sources in Connecticut

Note: I wanted to try something different with this blog post, so here are the four news websites I visited and how long I stayed there. 

Ameriborn News: "Connecticut's Independent News Network." The first thing I clicked on was the "Dates that Destroyed America" article written by Chuck Baldwin, who looks like a cross between Bill O'Reilly and some other conservative jerk. His column would be okay if it wasn't COMPLETELY SLANTED TO THE RIGHT. I also couldn't finish it because it was longer than the Bible. 

If you like reading a regurgitated written version of your own conservative thoughts in a large block of uninterrupted text online, Ameriborn news is for you.  GRADE: D+

This is a gratuitous picture to keep your attention. CAN YOU HEAR ME CTMIRROR?!!! It will also upset Matthew Galka, which is a plus.

New Haven Independent: "It's Your Town. Read All About It." This one I liked. I think the Events Calendar on the upper right is great for someone who lives in New Haven. I also thought the layout was great and the number of pictures were engaging. The "Extra! Extra!" thing on the side is good because it takes some of the top headlines and splits them up from the main portion of the page, which is loaded with pictures, links, and YouTube videos. Great layout, excellent local angle.   GRADE: A

                                 

CT News Junkie: It's basically the same thing as above. Lots of pictures, lots of stuff to hold your attention.   GRADE: A

Connecticut Mirror: This site might be good, but I don't know because I honestly couldn't focus on it for more than three seconds. It's just different blocks of uninterrupted text. It's like staring at the sun. The words might as well be in Mongolian; I can't read it.      GRADE: See me after class.

Sweet 16 Breakdown: West Region

WEST REGION BREAKDOWN

1 SYRACUSE vs. 4 BUTLER

Butler advanced to the round of 16 by knocking out potential Cinderellas UTEP and Murray State. Now they face a Syracuse team that eviscerated Gonzaga. The Orange have been dominant in the NCAAs, despite the loss of starting center Arinze Onuaku. Head coach Jim Boeheim isn't optimistic that Onuaku will play in the Regional Semifinals. Still, it's going to take a monumental effort for the Bulldogs to stay with Syracuse.                                                                                                                                                                               

  

Wesley Johnson and the 'Cuse have looked like a No. 1 seed so far.

WINNER: 1 SYRACUSE

2 KANSAS ST. vs. 6 XAVIER

For all the talk about Gonzaga and Butler busting up brackets each March, there is very little mention of the best team from outside the Power Six conferences. Xavier has reached the Sweet 16 in each of the past three seasons, including an Elite Eight trip in 2008. The Musketeers are led by 6-4 guard Jordan Crawford. Crawford is an Indiana transfer whose claim to fame before the tournament had been his much-publicized dunk over LeBron James. Now, Crawford is the go-to guy on an improving Xavier team that has become a March staple. The Musketeers are the more experienced team, and may have the best player in Crawford, but K-State has an outstanding backcourt combo in Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen. The Wildcats will be a tough out in the West. 

WINNER: 6 XAVIER

 

Sweet 16 Breakdown: East Region

EAST REGION BREAKDOWN:

1 KENTUCKY vs. 12 CORNELL

No team in the entire field has played better than Cornell over the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Big Red have been a machine, dominating 5th-seeded Temple and 4th-seeded Wisconsin with deadly sharpshooting, and big-stop defense. Guard Ryan Wittman has proven himself to be one of college basketball's most feared shooters. Now, the challenge for the kids from the Ivy League will be to overcome Kentucky's incredible athleticism. Neither Temple nor Wisconsin had athletes like the Wildcats have, and it will be tough for Cornell to match up on the boards. 

John Wall is the glue that holds Kentucky's offense together. 

WINNER: 1 KENTUCKY

11 WASHINGTON vs. 2 WEST VIRGINIA

Bloodied, but unbowed, Washington and West Virginia have survived. The Huskies managed to claw their way into the tournament after an uninspiring regular season by winning the Pac-10 tournament. They sure haven't taken their NCAA appearance for granted. After beating Marquette on a game-winner by Quincy Pondexter, the Huskies mopped the floor with the 30-4 New Mexico Lobos. West Virginia fell behind 10-0 to 15th-seed Morgan State before rallying to put the Bears away. The Mountaineers also lost starting point guard Darrell "Truck" Bryant for the rest of the tournament, after the sophomore broke his foot in practice yesterday. Without Bryant, Washington may have more depth in the backcourt, but they don't have Da'Sean Butler. He will be the reason why WVU pulls it out in Syracuse.

Butler has made all the big shots for WVU all season long. 

WINNER: 2 WEST VIRGINIA

Sweet 16 Breakdown: Midwest Region

MIDWEST REGION

 9 NORTHERN IOWA vs. 5 MICHIGAN ST.

The college basketball world won't soon forget the Panthers' stunning upset of Tournament overall No. 1 seed Kansas on Saturday. The rest of the world has likely already forgotten the name of the guard that buried the Jayhawks, but only because his name is Ali Faroukmenesh. "The Rouk," as CBS' Set

h Davis dubbed him, led the team with 16 points and one gutsy three that put Missouri Valley champ Northern Iowa into the Sweet 16. 

Now, the Panthers get a Michigan State squad that lost its best player, guard Kalin Lucas, to an achilles' injury in the Spartans' win over Maryland. If UNI can continue to hit open jumpers against Michigan State's ball-pressure defense, the Panthers can continue their magic carpet ride to the Elite 8. 

Northern Iowa sent the 'Hawks home with airtight D and a little help from "The Rouk."

WINNER: 9 NORTHERN IOWA

6 TENNESSEE vs. 2 OHIO STATE

Ohio State has been impressive in eliminating both 15 Cal-Santa Barbara and 10 Georgia Tech. Now, they face a Tennessee squad that can speed them up offensively. If Vols guards Scotty Hopson and J.P. Prince can take National Player of the Year candidate Evan Turner out of his game, Tennessee will advance to the Elite Eight for the first time under head coach Bruce Pearl. 

Do-everything guard Evan Turner has been outstanding for the Bucks.

WINNER: 6 TENNESSEE