Off-season wish list

[Pakuni]

If Gonzaga were to experience a good buy not great year (like St Mary's) they would not make the tournament. This is the sign of a mid major. Your conference can't help you out so in order to stay on top you cannot afford an average year.

By this definition, the Pac-12 is a mid-major and the AAC is a high-major.

[brewcity77]

This all seems so arbitrary and disconnected from reality.
While you may choose to use "high-major" and "mid-major" only to describe conference, that's not how many, if not the majority, in the sports world views it.
Just Google "Gonzaga mid major" and you'll find numerous articles debating whether Gonzaga is a mid- or high-major program. Those discussions would obviously not exist if, as you say, there were no such thing as mid- or high-major programs. And yet there they are.
I think it's fair to say the terms are used both for conferences and individual programs.

I think it's actually very non-arbitrary. For the most part, the same conferences have been high-major for decades. Team movement has impacted which programs are high vs mid major, but the leagues really haven't changed.

The Big East, Big 12, Big 10, ACC, SEC, & Pac-12 have been the big leagues dating back to the 1980s. Occasionally leagues will try to break in, like C-USA, the Mountain West, or now the AAC, but an inability to sustain has prevented that from happening.

The other factor with those leagues that is a consistent differentiator is money. Teams in the lower tier leagues have never generated the interest or income of the consistent top-6.

The more questionable aspect is mid-major vs low-major. I would think the difference is the ability to earn at large bids. I'd include the AAC, A10, WCC, Mountain West, Missouri Valley, and maybe CUSA. Does anyone else qualify? Not sure.

[Pakuni]

I think it's actually very non-arbitrary. For the most part, the same conferences have been high-major for decades. Team movement has impacted which programs are high vs mid major, but the leagues really haven't changed.

What I'm suggesting is arbitrary is making the terms high-major and mid-major exclusive to conferences and not programs, though we can find dozens of examples of it being used for programs out there in the established sports media (i.e. ESPN, SI, etc.)

[source?]

What I'm suggesting is arbitrary is making the terms high-major and mid-major exclusive to conferences and not programs, though we can find dozens of examples of it being used for programs out there in the established sports media (i.e. ESPN, SI, etc.)

I think "mid-major" programs often get the "high-major" label/treatment when they perform at a high level for a long period of time. However, if they lose their coach and return to poor performances they return to "mid-major" status, therefore proving they never were "high-major." Conversely, no matter how long Rutgers continues to perform at a "low-major" level, they will never be called "low-major" in the media due to conference affiliation.

[MU82]

Semantic silliness.

And nothing to do with the thread title.

My off-season wish list includes less silly arguments over semantics on Scoop. Then again, it's the off-season. So what the hey. Argue away!

[Mr. Nielsen]

So if it's a multiple bid league it's a high major? That would make the A10, MWC, MVC (some years), and WCC high major conferences.

In some cases.
Is the new label rankings power leagues, high major, mid major and low major.

[jesmu84]

A healthy recovery from surgery for Ike.

Do we have ANY info on what type of back/spine surgery he had?

[Newsdreams]

Semantic silliness.

And nothing to do with the thread title.

My off-season wish list includes less silly arguments over semantics on Scoop. Then again, it's the off-season. So what the hey. Argue away!

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