Quality Is Job 1

>Gonzaga. Xavier. Dayton. Villanova. Notre Dame. Yes. >Depaul. Saint Louis. Seton Hall. Georgetown. St. John's. No. Taj, what do you mean by the above statement?

>Then by definition an all-basketball merger with the Big >East Catholic schools would be mid-major. Maybe this isn't >such a great idea after all . . . I've thought about that, too, but I'm not worried. Perhaps the definition of "high-major" and "mid-major" would change in the eyes of the journalists, but even if it doesn't the NCAA would respect the proposed new conference (assuming it ever comes to fruition) like a high-major. It's because of the tradition and history of the conference's members. Also, I may have provided a slightly incorrect definition in my haste to respond. While it's still dependent upon conference membership and may currently be tied to level of football competition, what it really comes down to is legislative representation. The high-major conferences each get multiple representation on some influential governing committee that I don't know the name of right now, and the mid-major conferences each get one representative. Votes is the bottom line. With prominent members in major cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, the proposed new conference would definitely have clout and multiple representation. You can be sure that the conference would annually get four to six NCAA Tournament invitations.

>Was thinking about this in the shower this morning. What >makes a team a major? A mid-major? Etc. > >Here is a starter. A major is a school that has been to the >NCAA Tournament three out of the past five years, or five >out of the past ten. A mid-major would be 2/5, or 4/10, >with two NIT's equalling one NCAA. Half credit for one NIT >doesn't count. Can someone come up with a computer program >to come up with the schools that would qualify under those >criteria? Absolutely wrong. The terms "high-major," "mid-major," and "low-major" have nothing to do with level of success over any given period of time. Instead, they pertain to (1) conference affiliation and (2) the level of competition at which the majority of the football teams in the given conference compete. High-majors are schools in conferences which compete in football at the 1-A level. Mid-majors are schools in conferences which compete in football at the 1-AA level.