2008 Woodie Awards
Mid-Majors, MAAC ready to shine on national stage
Joe DelGobbo
Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: Sports
Last Thursday night, puffed-up dragon balloons, wavy streamers and brightly decorated masks were instruments of festivity as the Chinese celebrated their new year.
For them, it's the Year of the Rat, but in the world of college basketball, it's the Year of the Mid-Major … again.
This time, however, don't count out the MAAC. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is having an extremely strong 2007-08 campaign. Numerous teams have taken down big-name schools with prestigious track records. Niagara defeated the St. John's, 77-73, and St. Peter's has a win over the Red Storm as well, 65-58. Rider has beaten the Big Ten's Penn State and the Big East's Rutgers. Most impressively, Siena took down Stanford earlier this season, which at the time was ranked 20th in the country. The Cardinal are currently No. 9 in the country, and a MAAC team is one of the few to defeat the Pac-10 powerhouse.
Although most MAAC schools don't enjoy the packed stadiums and full community support that other mid-majors do -- Butler gets 7,000 fans a night and Dayton has been known to climb over the 10,000 mark -- the league is still succeeding.
"Our stadiums aren't that big and our schools aren't that big, but we hold our own," Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos said. "We're a mid-major; we just don't have all of the facilities of a team like Gonzaga."
Patsos credits the success of the MAAC to the quality coaching in the conference. The MAAC has had a tradition of churning out top-notch coaches in power conferences. Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, Providence coach Tim Welsch, and Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez all coached in the MAAC before moving on to larger schools. And let's not forget the late Skip Prosser, who led Loyola to its only NCAA appearance in 1994, before accepting the Wake Forest job.
Combine the superior coaching with all the talent in the conference, and first place in the MAAC is still up for grabs in the latter stages of the season. As of Feb. 9, the top six teams in the league are all within a couple games of each other. Rider is currently in first place, sporting an 11-2 record. Siena is right on their heels at 10-3, while our Hounds are 9-4. Both Niagara and Marist are close behind at 8-5 and Fairfield is a factor at 7-6.
For them, it's the Year of the Rat, but in the world of college basketball, it's the Year of the Mid-Major … again.
This time, however, don't count out the MAAC. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is having an extremely strong 2007-08 campaign. Numerous teams have taken down big-name schools with prestigious track records. Niagara defeated the St. John's, 77-73, and St. Peter's has a win over the Red Storm as well, 65-58. Rider has beaten the Big Ten's Penn State and the Big East's Rutgers. Most impressively, Siena took down Stanford earlier this season, which at the time was ranked 20th in the country. The Cardinal are currently No. 9 in the country, and a MAAC team is one of the few to defeat the Pac-10 powerhouse.
Although most MAAC schools don't enjoy the packed stadiums and full community support that other mid-majors do -- Butler gets 7,000 fans a night and Dayton has been known to climb over the 10,000 mark -- the league is still succeeding.
"Our stadiums aren't that big and our schools aren't that big, but we hold our own," Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos said. "We're a mid-major; we just don't have all of the facilities of a team like Gonzaga."
Patsos credits the success of the MAAC to the quality coaching in the conference. The MAAC has had a tradition of churning out top-notch coaches in power conferences. Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, Providence coach Tim Welsch, and Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez all coached in the MAAC before moving on to larger schools. And let's not forget the late Skip Prosser, who led Loyola to its only NCAA appearance in 1994, before accepting the Wake Forest job.
Combine the superior coaching with all the talent in the conference, and first place in the MAAC is still up for grabs in the latter stages of the season. As of Feb. 9, the top six teams in the league are all within a couple games of each other. Rider is currently in first place, sporting an 11-2 record. Siena is right on their heels at 10-3, while our Hounds are 9-4. Both Niagara and Marist are close behind at 8-5 and Fairfield is a factor at 7-6.
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emily katz
posted 2/12/08 @ 12:23 AM EST
the line " Dayton has been known to climb over the 10,000 mark" is a bit misleading - for years Dayton has averaged over 11,000 a game (most years finishing in the top 25 nationally in attendance) and this season will be closer to 13000
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