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I don't mean to stir up trouble, but I found this article interesting. Well it's more of a column by the "mid-major" reporter from si.com who polled a bunch of various college basketball reporters and asked if the A-10 was a mid-major. The Valley gets represented pretty well, but I thought it highlighted the differing definitions pretty well.
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Is it just me, or is the A-10 getting a whole lot more love and attention from the media than the Valley got?
I know we got a ton of publicity during and after the tournament in 2006, but it's the middle of the season and I'm seeing TONS of A-10 affection.
East coast media bias at work? -
east coast biasOriginally posted by RoyalShockFollow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/Shox_KCfanComment
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I think we all know that answer to both your questions is YES.Originally posted by RoyalShock
However, as MVC fans I think we also have to admit that the A-10 has been successful too. The A-10, relatively recently, did reach a level that the MVC not been too in a long time. So while I think there is an East Coast Media Bias in play here, I don't think it is the only factor.Comment
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Could be, but did the Valley ever have four teams either ranked or receiving votes at the same time? And I think it is a little different simply because at the height of the A-10 in the mid 90's they had a team that was National Title caliber in UMass or Temple and recently sent St. Joe's to the elite 8. It is just going to take a Valley team getting to the elite 8 or even Final 4 and then I think it could be out of the mid-major conversation for awhile.East coast media bias at work?
Of course there will always be an east coast bias simply because that is where most of the population of this country lives and that is where most of media markets are. I get so sick of hearing about Ohio being in the "midwest". That is such crap, has anyone ever looked at a map? If anything they are mid-east, but you never hear that. Sorry I just had to get that off my chest.Comment
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I may be wrong, but I'm thinking that two years ago us, SIU, Creighton, Mo State and Bradley were all receiving votes, but that may have been at different times.
On a slightly different topic, is there a web resource from which one could quickly determine the MVC v. B12 record in hoops over the last 3 -5 years? Stan Webber was on KGSO this morning and was commenting that in B12 country, most people know nothing about the Valley, which may well be true. But I was just wondering if they should know about, because it seems to me we more than hold our own in the head to heads.Wear your seatbelt.Comment
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The only problem with head to heads is that the B12's best teams (Texas, Kansas, e.g.) don't regularly play Valley teams, while the cellar dwellers (Iowa State, Nebraska) get hammered all the time. It wouldn't be a very relevant number to me. But other people might think it was significant?Originally posted by wsu789
It doesn't look like Weber said anything derogatory about the Valley or the talent in the league, it just doesn't get much coverage by major news outlets.Comment
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On the topic of the A-10, if a conference is putting multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament every year, it is a power conference. The A-10 is a power conference, like the MVC and C-USA. It's not a "mid-major," like the MAC, which rarely puts more than one team in the Dance.Comment
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Actually, Ohio technically IS the Midwest. We're not the Midwest, we're the Great Plains. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan are THE Midwest. Everything between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains is the Great Plains. "Midwest" comes from the days when St. Louis really was the western edge of the country. Before the Big 10+1 was the Big 10, they were known as the .... Western Conference.Originally posted by shockcw
Practically, I hear you - it's a lot easier for east-coast media to cover Ohio than Kansas, but the term itself is historically valid.
:clap: :wsu_posters: :yahoo: :clap:Comment
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HockeyShock, I bow to your knowledge my friend. I won't get so bent out of shape anymore about it. I always figured it was just East Coast people being East Cost people. That's what I get for not paying attention in History class. ;-) I can live with being the Great Plains I suppose.Comment
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Here's an idea: Instead of calling conferences like the Valley, A-10 and CUSA "Mid-majors," why don't we just call them "non-BCS conferences" or "non-power conferences." Then we wouldn't have this stupid discussion each year.
:good:"You can observe a lot just by watching."
-- Yogi BerraComment
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I think that suggestion has been made before in the media (albeit to a much lesser degree). It sounds a little less divisive than the high/mid/low-major labels.Originally posted by BA2929Comment
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That's from Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com as mentioned in the artice. So there is at least one guy out there BA who agrees with you.That's why when I write -- or speak -- I never use the term mid-major. Never. Ever. If I want to group conferences, I use BCS-affiliated league or non-BCS affiliated league because then everybody knows exactly what I'm talking aboutComment
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Indy, my point was not to compare the strengths of the conferences but to point out that some Big 12 teams should know about the conference, to the extent they know who is beating them about half the time.
Now that I think about it though, I do seem to remember Kansas bumping into a couple of Valley schools in the Dance the last few years. Seems like one of those didn't turn out the way the Jayhawk faithful had expected and I don't remember SIU being a push over.
I suspect that teams like Nebraska and Iowa State, who routinely get drubbed by Valley opponents, might know a little something about the MVC. I suspect KU might know something about Bradley and SIU.
Webber didn't say anything negative about the Valley's teams, merely that those in the Big 12 don't know much about it. My point is, if that is the case, and it well may be, they aren't paying much attention.
I think Webber's statement was extremely over broad. But, I don't know, maybe Big 12 fans are simply that obtuse.Wear your seatbelt.Comment
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This is a discussion on Valley Talk right now. I define a mid-major solely based on the athletic budget a university has. In the case for us and the rest of the Valley, we are no where near the power conferences. My second opinion is that if a university does not field a FBS (D1) football program, then that university is a mid-major. This narrows the pool down to 119 univerisities, however, this is just a fallback arguement for me. If Western Kentucky is close to transitioning over to FBS football, I still consider them a mid-major so this train of thought has more leeway for debate.Comment
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