Mid-major - Key Conferences

Key Conferences

So-called major (BCS) basketball programs generally belong to one of the following six conferences:

• Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
• Big 12 Conference
• Big East Conference
• Big Ten Conference
• Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12)
• Southeastern Conference (SEC)

Until the last decade, the Atlantic 10, Conference USA, the Mountain West Conference, and the Western Athletic Conference were widely considered to be above the level of the other mid-major (non-BCS) conferences, but still generally below the level of the six major conferences. However, due to recent changes in membership in some conferences, as well as the sustained success of other mid-major conferences, most no longer consider three of those four conferences to be above the level of other non-BCS conferences in college basketball. This is based on prestige, performance, recent post-season results, and national perception, both because of a weakening of those four conferences and a strengthening of several formerly lower-rated conferences (such as the Missouri Valley Conference).

The term mid-major is sometimes used to describe all of the other 25 conferences not normally considered to be a major conference. Most of the time, though, the term is specifically applied to only the non-BCS conferences that consistently produce quality teams. Often the definition of a basketball mid-major will be of a conference that can put up at least one at-large bid in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament as well as have a team or teams advance fairly regularly, while not garnering the attention and television dollars of a major conference.

So-called mid-major (non-BCS) basketball programs generally belong to one of the following nine conferences, although some of these conferences, including the Mountain West, Conference USA, and the Atlantic 10 may not be considered mid-majors depending on whom one asks.:

• Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10)
• Big West Conference (BWC)
• Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)
• Conference USA (C-USA)
• Horizon League
• Mid-American Conference (MAC)
• Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)
• Mountain West Conference (MWC)
• West Coast Conference (WCC)
• Western Athletic Conference (WAC)

This list is not static from year to year, as many fail to agree which conferences are truly the majors and which are the mid-majors during any given season. (The Ohio Valley Conference was previously included on this list.) Some still refuse to consider the Mountain West to be a major conference, for example, despite outperforming several other "major" (BCS) conferences in recent years. In any case, there are many conferences (besides the six BCS conferences) that have regularly had teams advance to the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen) or beyond, regularly challenge for multiple NCAA Tournament bids, have multiple teams "buy" games from lower-ranked conferences, and have all finished in the top 10 in conference attendance every year for the last decade.

The basketball website Collegeinsider.com created its own definition of "mid-major" in the first part of the 21st century when it introduced a pair of end-of-season awards for outstanding mid-major individuals in college basketball—the Lou Henson Award for players (first presented in 2010) and Hugh Durham Award for coaches (first presented in 2005). As of the 2011–12 season, players and coaches from the following conferences are ineligible for these awards:

• The six BCS automatic qualifying conferences
• Atlantic 10
• Conference USA
• Mountain West
• WAC