Two NCAA tournament bids. That's the goal for many low to mid-level college basketball conferences.
In the past the thought of two tournament bids for a conference such as the West Coast Conference or the Ivy League was nothing more than a dream. However, in an era when superstar freshmen and sophomores are more likely to bolt for the big money in the NBA than stay in school, this dream is becoming a reality.
While some schools field almost entirely different teams from year to year, smaller schools have the luxury of not worrying about who will be the next player to jump to the NBA. Indeed, less talented, yet more cohesive, teams are quite often successful in the NCAA tournament, where quality coaching and composure under pressure are often more important than talent.
One need not look far to see instances where this has been the case. In 1996 Princeton toppled defending champion UCLA 43-41 before being eliminated in the second round by eventual Final Four participant Mississippi State.
Then, in 1998, little-known Valparaiso -- led by the equally obscure senior Bryce Drew, the son of the head coach -- shocked Mississippi and Florida State while advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. The most surprising tournament run, however, occurred last year when Gonzaga advanced to the Elite Eight before narrowly losing to the eventual champion, Connecticut.
What do these individual team accomplishments have to do with the rise of the smaller conferences? Most importantly, they give small conferences credibility and name recognition. Princeton became such a fixture in the NCAA tournament in the mid 1990s that when Penn won the Ivy League in 1999, Princeton was widely considered a strong candidate for an at-large bid.
A similar situation could occur in the West Coast Conference this year. Gonzaga is a clear favorite to repeat as conference champions, but should they lose in their conference tournament, and thus not earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the selection committee would surely grant them an at-large bid.
Another conference on the rise is the Mid-American Conference. The MAC currently has four teams -- Kent, Marshall, Ball State, and Miami of Ohio -- in the top 64 of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings, which are based primarily on strength of schedule and figure heavily into the selection of at-large tournament bids.
However, there is also reason to believe that most small conferences, including the Ivy League, will continue to earn only one bid to the NCAA tournament.
While teams such as Kent and St. Bonaventure are presently ranked in the top 10 of the RPI, they will not remain there. Against lesser conference opponents, even wins will prove to be harmful to a team's RPI ranking. Sadly, there is nothing that can be done about this, short of changing the complex RPI formula. It's quite ironic that while these teams earn their conferences much-needed recognition, they are hampered by playing their low-ranked conference foes.
Many lower-level teams are also hurt by the simple fact that they lack name recognition. The sixth best team in the Big Ten is more likely to earn a bid to the tournament than the second best team in the Ohio Valley Conference because less people will notice the absence of the second best team in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Last year, everyone heard about the ACC only getting three bids and Illinois being left out after reaching the Big Ten conference tournament championship game. No one was crying, however, when St. Francis, which finished 20-8 and second in the Northeast Conference, was left out.
Does all of this mean that the improved play of teams in small conferences will go un-rewarded? Probably not.
There will be a day " and it will be sooner rather than later " when the Ivy League places two teams in the NCAA tournament. And although the MAC probably won't get the three or four bids it deserves this year, it will most likely get two. To earn their due respect small conferences will need to draw attention away from the Big Ten, ACC, and other elite conferences. Although not an impossible task, they have their work cut out for them.
