Its that time of year when a few mid major teams starting making a major run - teams that you have to watch out for in their conference tourneys or even a couple of teams that have a chance at an large bid. There are a few teams right now that fit the bill.
1) Davidson 20-6, 16-0 Southern. With the exception of Memphis, no team in the nation is hotter than the Wildcats, winners of SIXTEEN in a row since a one point loss at NC State. Bob McKillop deserves a lot of credit for 1) recruiting Stephen Curry - he only averages 25.6 points per game 2) scheduling a killer non conference schedule with road games at UNC, Duke, Western Michigan (don't laugh, second best team in the MAC right now), Charlotte, UCLA and NC State -unfortunately all losses. The Wildcats will be a tough first round opponent for any NCAA team.
2) Wright State 19-6, 11-4 Horizon. The Raiders have won 10 in a row and now have a RPI of 63, which is higher than VCU and Davidson among others. Its not pretty how they do it. In their last six games, Wright State has scored at most 58 points. They do it with defense. They are first in the Horizon in field goal percentage defense, second in scoring defense to Butler. Coach Brad Brownell would not have it any other way. The game at Illinois State on Sunday will give them some national exposure they are lacking.
3) Kent State 22-5, 11-2 MAC. Won 12 out of their last 14 including 5 in a row and now have a very respectable RPI of 43, which is sixth best in what I consider mid major conference teams. Their non conference RPI is 56, which is pretty decent. Cleared their last hurdle before St Mary's by winning at Buffalo by 10 which clinched them a first round bye in the conference tournament. They are second in the MAC in scoring defense and first in the MAC in field goal percentage (and its balanced with four players averaging double digits), a nice combination which explains why they are second in the MAC in scoring margin. They will be a formidable foe for the Gaels at midnight Friday night on ESPN2.
4) Butler 24-2, 13-2 Horizon. Yeah, its kind of funny putting the Bulldogs, the eighth ranked team in the country on this list, considering they only have lost twice all year. But after their second loss in conference to Cleveland State, the Bulldogs were looking up at the Spiders in the Horizon Conference standings. After that loss, Butler has quietly won eight in a row, sped past the Spiders and are back on top of the Horizon. As stated in this blog, Mike Green is one of the best mid major guards in the country. But it is balance that makes the Bulldogs great as Green is joined by AJ Graves, Matt Howard and Pete Campbell in double digit scoring.
5) IUPUI 21-5, 13-2 Summit. The Jaguars have won eight in a row, the latest of which was handing Oral Roberts their first loss in conference this season. Its a combination of offense and defense for the Jaguars as they are second in scoring defense in the Summit and third in scoring offense, which as a result has the Jags leading the Summit in scoring margin at +13.2 points per game. Impressive. Unfortunately for the Jags, they don't have a televised bracketbuster game to show how good this Jags team was in beating UMass earlier in the season.
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