MID-Life Crisis

Before I begin this entry I would just like to thank, in no particular order, the following people: Jack Lambert, Mike Schmidt, Ron Harper, Sally Northcroft, Ben Rothliesberger, Randy Moss, Dwight Smith, Troy Brown, Wally Szczerbiak, Brad Maynard, Margo Junker, Earl Boykins, Dan Majerle, Antonio Gates, Chester Taylor, Chad Pennington, John Vanbenschoten, Byron Leftwich and so many more who have brought pride and recognition on both the professional and international levels to schools in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), a conference that is considered a “mid-major conference.”

Here is my perspective on the so-called mid-major athletic conference. When I graduated with my Masters degree in Athletic Administration, I worked for the MAC for 15 months. I grew up in a family full of MAC graduates, including myself (I got both my degrees from Ohio University), so working for the MAC was the opportunity I had been waiting for after college. Working in Division I collegiate athletics is a dream job if you love college sports. Working for the MAC is a dream job if you love Division I college sports AND if you care about the student-athlete. I fell into the latter category. I loved everything about working in college athletics and I think in a conference like the MAC you get the real picture. I will not disagree that the MAC isn’t out to get notoriety or to make money for its member institutions but there is something different in this conference that goes along with those things. There is a familial feeling intertwined with the business. (I can only speak personally of the MAC but I have talked to people who equally enjoyed their time at the Missouri Valley Conference for the same reasons.) There is closeness and familiarity spread throughout the conference from Northern Illinois to Buffalo. The conference and the schools look out for one another and keep tabs as one would in a family and not just because it is their job to do so. Take a look at the compliance issues at these schools compared to other programs in the country. The so-called mid-major programs don’t have the scandals (sans St. Bonaventure in 2003 and the annual investigation at Fresno State) that the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, Alabama, Baylor and Colorado have all gone through the past couple years. In this sense mid-major may not be the worst title in the world when you put it into different terms. The schools in the Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 have had some MAJOR compliance infractions and some MAJOR probation issues to deal with for as far back as I can remember.

I am writing this today because the ESPN Bracket Buster games are coming up next weekend. ESPN has decided to give airtime to mid-major programs which could be on the bubble for an at-large birth into the NCAA Tournament in March by breaking into the tournament bracket. Hence the “Bracket Buster.” For those of you not familiar with the NCAA Tournament, there are 31 automatic bids and 34 at-large bids. An automatic bid is when you win your conference championship outright. An at large bid is when you don’t win your conference championship but several other variables, such as strength of schedule, and for the purpose of this entry, strength of conference, play a part in the committee’s decision. In the top conferences, a team that is 17-9 would have a solid chance to get into the tournament. A team with the same record would have to win its conference championship in the MAC to get into the tournament. This is the way it goes. The ACC will always get at least five teams, The SEC will always get at least four teams in, The Big 10 will always get at least three teams and so on. The MAC hasn’t had two teams make the NCAA for five seasons. While it is great ESPN is giving face time to teams such as Kent State, Western Michigan and Miami this year, in the end it just makes viewers like myself more confused when they play great basketball and still don’t get an at-large bid.

On an extremely positive note, congratulations to Laing Kennedy who will be representing both Kent State University and the Mid-American Conference on the NCAA Division I Selection Committee effective September 2005.

For further reading on the mid-major basketball program breaking into the NCAA tournament, Andy Katz wrote an excellent article in January of 2004 before last year’s tournament began: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=1710512