Mid-Major Two Step: Top Dawgs at the Big Dance

Gonzaga Bulldogs

As one of the original bracket busters, Gonzaga now has a seat at the table with the power conferences of college basketball. Mark Few's Bulldogs have made 16 straight NCAA tournaments and have been a top 4 seed in five of those seasons. Gonzaga does not have a signature win this season, but they do have wins over potential tournament teams: Georgia, SMU, St. John’s, and @UCLA. The Bulldogs only loss this season came @Arizona early in the season. The Bulldogs are an offensive juggernaut ranking 1^st in the country in field goal shooting (.527 FG%), 8th in scoring (80 PPG), 9th in assists (17 APG), and 40th in rebounding (38 RPG). Gonzaga currently has a 23 game winning streak. Gonzaga should be guaranteed a 1 or 2 seed.

Northern Iowa Panthers

It has been five years since Northern Iowa's (NIU) last trip to the big dance, but it was quite a memorable one. After losing five straight games in the NCAA tournament, NIU finally broke their losing streak making it into the second round, but the Panthers were not done there. NIU upset #1 ranked Kansas before falling to Michigan St. who would go on to make the Final Four. Here is the scary part: the 2015 Panthers might be better than the 2010 Panthers. NIU beat in-state rival Iowa and reigning MVC champion Wichita St. with ease. The Panthers only losses were a tough road loss to VCU and a slight hiccup to Evansville on the road. NIU is carrying a 16 game winning streak into their rematch with Wichita St, which will decide the MVC regular season championship. Northern Iowa is solidly a 4 seed with the potential to be a 3 seed.

Wichita St Shockers

Gregg Marshall has been nothing short of brilliant since becoming the coach at Wichita St (WSU). In every successive season, Marshall has nearly topped the prior season's achievement.

Season	Record	Achievement
2007-2008	11-20	None
2008-2009	17-17	CBI Second Round
2009-2010	25-10	NIT First Round
2010-2011	29-8	NIT Champions
2011-2012	27-6	NCAA Second Round
2012-2013	30-9	NCAA Final Four
2013-2014	35-1	35-game winning streak, 1 seed
2014-2015	26-3	To be determined

The question is: what will be Wichita St.'s crowning achievement in 2015? So far this season, WSU has lost to Utah, Northern Iowa, and George Washington all in road/neutral games, but the best may still be yet to come for this team. The Shockers leading four scorers (Ron Baker, Fred VanVleet, Darius Carter, and Tekele Cotton) have a great deal of chemistry and experience together making this a dangerous team come tournament time. Wichita St. should be a solid 4 or 5 seed.

Virginia Commonwealth Rams

A string of bad luck has caused Virginia Commonwealth’s (VCU) stock to fall in the last month. VCU was 17-3 with wins over potential tournament teams: @Cincinnati, Davidson, George Washington, Northern Iowa, and @Rhode Island. While facing Richmond at the end of January, VCU’s havoc defense took a major loss when Briante Weber tore his ACL and MCL in the game. Weber was only 12 steals away from being the all-time NCAA career leader in steals. Richmond would go on to win the game setting off a streak of bad luck for VCU. The Rams lost on a buzzer beater @St. Bonaventure and lost in double overtime to LaSalle while losing three of four games. Despite the loss of Weber, this is still a dangerous defensive team. VCU ranks 3rd in the country in turnover margin (+6.7) and 4^th in steals (10 SPG). Although VCU’s seeding has slid somewhat since Weber's injury, they should still solidly be in the tournament as a 5 or 6 seed.

San Diego St. Aztecs

San Diego St. (SDSU) has become a regular representative for mid-major conferences at the big dance. The Aztecs have made five straight NCAA tournaments, but have failed to live up to expectations in three of those seasons losing to lower seeded teams. SDSU is looking to build off of last year's strong performance making it to their second Sweet Sixteen in school history. SDSU has the third best scoring defense in the country, but only the 283rd best scoring offense meaning most of their games are close. The Aztecs have been 1-1 in top tier games defeating Utah by four points, but losing to Arizona by two points. SDSU will likely enter the tournament as a 7 or 8 seed meaning they could face a top tier team in a close game as early as the second round.