Refer to this post if you don’t know what this is about or to catch up on the rules.
This year, five conferences produced multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament: the MWC, West Coast, A-10, WAC, and C-USA. These conferences are guaranteed one spot each in the Mid-Major Conference.
Three teams reached the Sweet 16, all from different conferences. Of these, Northern Iowa, Cornell, and Butler did not come from a multi-bid conference, while Xavier and St. Mary’s did. From the Mountain West Conference, two teams won their first round game while the other two did not; from the WAC and C-USA, neither team from neither conference won their first round game. New Mexico and BYU both lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament, but New Mexico swept the season series; Utah State split the series with New Mexico State before losing to them in the WAC tournament; ditto for UTEP and Houston before Houston beat them in the conference tournament.
This leaves no spots in the MMC to be determined by my discretion. However, an honorable mention should be given to Washington. The Pac-10 played like a mid-major this year, and Washington would be the conference’s qualifying member if it was considered one, since it made the Sweet 16.
Without further ado, the eight members of the 2010 Mid-Major Conference:
Butler (Horizon League)
St. Mary’s (West Coast Conference)
Xavier (Atlantic 10)
Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley Conference)
Cornell (Ivy League)
New Mexico (Mountain West Conference)
New Mexico State (Western Athletic Conference)
Houston (Conference USA)
Of note: This is the first time in the history of the MMC that Gonzaga and Memphis have not been members. The Mid-Major Conference committee (=me) will meet later this year to determine if modifications to the mid-major conference criteria need to be made if the NCAA tournament expands to 96 teams.