Here is a reminder of how we define a mid-major. Eligibility in these rankings are for any team not in a top 10 Major Conference. We define those conferences as so.
Power 6: Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big East, Big 10, Pac 12
Major: AAC, WCC, Atlantic 10, MWC
Mid Major: led by CUSA, MVC, CAA, WAC, MAAC, Big West, Sun Belt, SoCon, Horizon, MAC
There have been pretty distinct tiers in recent years developed both in money and average finish that make a true mid-major. There is a Low Major tier, but for our purposes, they will be included in these rankings.
Unfortunately Mid Major’s took a hit with FAU, UAB, North Texas, Charlotte, Rice, and UTSA moving to the AAC, Loyola Chicago to the A10 last year etc. Their money won’t really ramp up to the original AAC members for about a decade. We have considered defining it by budget which would draw in some of the bottom teams from the AAC, MWC, A10 and WCC.
It’s very clearly reflected in the average of the last 5 years of NET Rankings where the divides are.
Power
NET 5 Year
Avg Finish
1
Big Ten
1.8
1
Big 12
1.8
3
SEC
3.2
4
Big East
3.4
5
ACC
5.6
6
Pac-12
5.8
Major
NET 5 Year
Avg Finish
7
American Athletic
7.2
8
West Coast
8.6
9
Mountain West
9.4
10
Atlantic 10
9.6
Mid-Major
NET 5 Year
Avg Finish
11
Missouri Valley
12.4
12
Conference USA
13
13
Southern
14.2
14
Ivy League
14.6
15
Mid-American
15
17
Sun Belt
16
18
Colonial Athletic
18.2
19
Western Athletic
18.6
20
Big West
18.8
21
Patriot League
21.6
For now, we’ll stick to our previous defining system because those budgets do fluctuate from year to year on the borderline for things such as a coach firing.
Our model, ADJeff ratings, are just a rating of the D1 players and their Adjust Efficiency by strength of schedule.There are other factors we consider in the overall team rankings like coaching, continuity, incoming freshmen, JUCO, team build, fit, etc. ADJeff serves as our guidepost.
