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Mid-major
Mid-major conferences in American college sports at the NCAA Division I level are athletic conferences that are not among the power conferences. The grouping is most commonly used in men's college basketball to describe conferences outside of the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big East which have also been referred to as "high majors".
The term "mid-major" was coined in 1977 by Jack Kvancz, the head coach of men's basketball team at Catholic University of America. The NCAA neither acknowledges nor uses the terms "major" or "mid-major" to differentiate between Division I athletic conferences. Some schools and fans consider it offensive and derogatory, while others embrace the term.
Typically, the title of "mid-major" is not used when discussing College Football. Instead, Division I football conferences and teams are grouped into the FCS, the Group of Six, or the Power Four.
In college basketball, the term "mid-major" is used to refer to teams that are members of a conference other than the "power conferences" of the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, and ACC. The Big East Conference does not sponsor football and thus is not considered a power conference in that sport, but is universally considered so in basketball, with the term "Power" sometimes used by media to describe the combination of the power football conferences and Big East. The NCAA has officially recognized this distinction in the selection process for the National Invitation Tournament, as these conferences each receive automatic bids for their two highest-ranked teams not invited to the NCAA Tournament, as ranked by the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).
Beyond that, one men's program outside of these conferences, West Coast Conference member Gonzaga, is now generally considered equivalent to a power program despite its mid-major affiliation. ESPN's Kevin Connors currently defines men's basketball mid-majors as "programs outside the top 7 conferences (Power Five, Big East, AAC) and Gonzaga". Another ESPN journalist, Jeff Borzello, referred to Gonzaga in 2022 as a "power conference" program. ESPN is not the only major media outlet that does not consider Gonzaga men's basketball to be a mid-major program; CBS Sports journalist Matt Norlander, in his 2022–23 season preview of mid-major conferences and programs, explicitly called Gonzaga "not a mid-major". In 2022, Gonzaga was reportedly in preliminary membership talks with three Power Six conferences—the Big East, Big 12, and Pac-12; after the Pac-12 lost all but two of its members (Oregon State and Washington State) in 2024, Gonzaga would accept membership in the reimagined Pac-12 effective in 2026–27.
Given the sustained success of many so-called "mid-major" conferences, and especially that of the Gonzaga program, higher profile conferences find it more difficult to distinguish themselves with the "mid-major" and "major" labels, unless one takes into account the distinction of being in now-defunct BCS football playing conference.[opinion] However, only one team from what is now a mid-major conference has won a national championship since the tournament expanded to 64 teams—UNLV in 1990 as a member of the Big West Conference. (Louisville won national titles in 1980 and 1986 as a member of the Metro Conference, one of the precursors to Conference USA and arguably a major basketball conference of that day.)[citation needed]
Because of the development of the now-defunct Bowl Championship Series in 1998, and the lack of a playoff format for the Football Bowl Subdivision prior to the College Football Playoff, the demarcation line between major and mid-major conferences is much clearer in college football than in other sports. The six conferences of the BCS each had guaranteed appearances in one of the four major bowl games (Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl), whereas mid-majors — the teams that were not in one of those six leagues — relied on an at-large bid or a high ranking to qualify for a major bowl. (The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, an independent, was an exception due to being a member of the ACC in all other sports with the exception of men's hockey in which it is a member of the Big Ten.) It was rare for any mid-major program to receive one of two at-large bids (or only one, if Notre Dame qualified) to one of the four major bowls, even if such a program completed a perfect season. The establishment of the BCS National Championship Game opened two additional at-large berths and mandated invites for mid-major schools above a certain ranking, which led to an increase in mid-major appearances in the four major bowls. Then conference realignment brought about the split of the Big East football conference. Schools that did not join a major conference from the Big East renamed it the American Athletic Conference, now the American Conference (American), while several non-football schools left and founded a new conference, purchasing the "Big East" name from the newly renamed American. With the advent of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the non-Power Five FBS conferences are usually referred to as "Group of Five" conferences rather than mid-majors. No mid-major ever qualified for the BCS title game.
Only one mid-major team has won a national championship: the BYU Cougars, then in the Western Athletic Conference, won the 1984 championship on the strength of their perfect record and win in the 1984 Holiday Bowl. BYU largely won the championship by default, since no other team had held an undefeated record, and there were still lingering doubts about the team deserving the honor because it was in a lesser conference. Since the establishment of the Bowl Alliance (and its successors the Bowl Championship Series and College Football Playoff), no mid-major team had ever been selected for the championship game or tournament until the 2021 Cincinnati Bearcats, then of the American, were selected after an unbeaten regular season, becoming the only mid-major team to play in the CFP during its four-team era. The Bearcats were defeated in the opening (semifinal) round 27–6 by the Alabama Crimson Tide. In the first season of the 12-team CFP in 2024, then-Mountain West Conference member Boise State received a first-round bye as one of the four highest-ranked conference champions in the final CFP rankings.
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Mid-major
Mid-major conferences in American college sports at the NCAA Division I level are athletic conferences that are not among the power conferences. The grouping is most commonly used in men's college basketball to describe conferences outside of the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big East which have also been referred to as "high majors".
The term "mid-major" was coined in 1977 by Jack Kvancz, the head coach of men's basketball team at Catholic University of America. The NCAA neither acknowledges nor uses the terms "major" or "mid-major" to differentiate between Division I athletic conferences. Some schools and fans consider it offensive and derogatory, while others embrace the term.
Typically, the title of "mid-major" is not used when discussing College Football. Instead, Division I football conferences and teams are grouped into the FCS, the Group of Six, or the Power Four.
In college basketball, the term "mid-major" is used to refer to teams that are members of a conference other than the "power conferences" of the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, and ACC. The Big East Conference does not sponsor football and thus is not considered a power conference in that sport, but is universally considered so in basketball, with the term "Power" sometimes used by media to describe the combination of the power football conferences and Big East. The NCAA has officially recognized this distinction in the selection process for the National Invitation Tournament, as these conferences each receive automatic bids for their two highest-ranked teams not invited to the NCAA Tournament, as ranked by the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).
Beyond that, one men's program outside of these conferences, West Coast Conference member Gonzaga, is now generally considered equivalent to a power program despite its mid-major affiliation. ESPN's Kevin Connors currently defines men's basketball mid-majors as "programs outside the top 7 conferences (Power Five, Big East, AAC) and Gonzaga". Another ESPN journalist, Jeff Borzello, referred to Gonzaga in 2022 as a "power conference" program. ESPN is not the only major media outlet that does not consider Gonzaga men's basketball to be a mid-major program; CBS Sports journalist Matt Norlander, in his 2022–23 season preview of mid-major conferences and programs, explicitly called Gonzaga "not a mid-major". In 2022, Gonzaga was reportedly in preliminary membership talks with three Power Six conferences—the Big East, Big 12, and Pac-12; after the Pac-12 lost all but two of its members (Oregon State and Washington State) in 2024, Gonzaga would accept membership in the reimagined Pac-12 effective in 2026–27.
Given the sustained success of many so-called "mid-major" conferences, and especially that of the Gonzaga program, higher profile conferences find it more difficult to distinguish themselves with the "mid-major" and "major" labels, unless one takes into account the distinction of being in now-defunct BCS football playing conference.[opinion] However, only one team from what is now a mid-major conference has won a national championship since the tournament expanded to 64 teams—UNLV in 1990 as a member of the Big West Conference. (Louisville won national titles in 1980 and 1986 as a member of the Metro Conference, one of the precursors to Conference USA and arguably a major basketball conference of that day.)[citation needed]
Because of the development of the now-defunct Bowl Championship Series in 1998, and the lack of a playoff format for the Football Bowl Subdivision prior to the College Football Playoff, the demarcation line between major and mid-major conferences is much clearer in college football than in other sports. The six conferences of the BCS each had guaranteed appearances in one of the four major bowl games (Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl), whereas mid-majors — the teams that were not in one of those six leagues — relied on an at-large bid or a high ranking to qualify for a major bowl. (The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, an independent, was an exception due to being a member of the ACC in all other sports with the exception of men's hockey in which it is a member of the Big Ten.) It was rare for any mid-major program to receive one of two at-large bids (or only one, if Notre Dame qualified) to one of the four major bowls, even if such a program completed a perfect season. The establishment of the BCS National Championship Game opened two additional at-large berths and mandated invites for mid-major schools above a certain ranking, which led to an increase in mid-major appearances in the four major bowls. Then conference realignment brought about the split of the Big East football conference. Schools that did not join a major conference from the Big East renamed it the American Athletic Conference, now the American Conference (American), while several non-football schools left and founded a new conference, purchasing the "Big East" name from the newly renamed American. With the advent of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the non-Power Five FBS conferences are usually referred to as "Group of Five" conferences rather than mid-majors. No mid-major ever qualified for the BCS title game.
Only one mid-major team has won a national championship: the BYU Cougars, then in the Western Athletic Conference, won the 1984 championship on the strength of their perfect record and win in the 1984 Holiday Bowl. BYU largely won the championship by default, since no other team had held an undefeated record, and there were still lingering doubts about the team deserving the honor because it was in a lesser conference. Since the establishment of the Bowl Alliance (and its successors the Bowl Championship Series and College Football Playoff), no mid-major team had ever been selected for the championship game or tournament until the 2021 Cincinnati Bearcats, then of the American, were selected after an unbeaten regular season, becoming the only mid-major team to play in the CFP during its four-team era. The Bearcats were defeated in the opening (semifinal) round 27–6 by the Alabama Crimson Tide. In the first season of the 12-team CFP in 2024, then-Mountain West Conference member Boise State received a first-round bye as one of the four highest-ranked conference champions in the final CFP rankings.