Mid-major Madness

We're back! Russ had the flu and of course couldn't trust anyone else to record, so the pod had a brief hiatus. In the meantime, Cam went and saw Obi Toppin in person, the ASUN decided it wants to expand to 20 members, the SoCon got fun again, and CUSA crept closer to flex play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The gang is back, and with conference play heating up, we already know what's on your mind: "Can my favorite team get an at-large bid?" No. But there are interesting tournament-related threads to follow throughout the next couple months. The 1 seed in the West is going to come down to Gonzaga and San Diego State — and we even make the argument for giving them both 1s. Then there's the West Coast Conference as a whole and how many bids it can pull off. Same for the A-10. Most importantly, IS THIS THE YEAR WILLIAM & MARY DANCES??? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Coaches' Show is back as Jared Kotler dives head-first into the Atlantic 10 once again, this time with George Washington head man Jamion Christian. The first-year coach goes into detail about: What it was like playing on an undefeated high school basketball team His style of rebuilding basketball programs His mayhem style of play  This year’s GW team and the future of the program Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a throwback to the Mid-Major Madness podcasts of yore (like 3 years ago), Russ and Greg take on the mid-major world solo. It starts with Delaware, which fell to Villanova this weekend in a close one. Are the Blue Hens for real, and what has been the key to their success? Discussion then turns to Liberty, which has remained undefeated and has played nobody of note. How will that affect the rest of their season? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm lazy, so Jared Kotler is taking over the Coaches' Show for a bit. He starts with a discussion with Richmond head coach Chris Mooney. Mooney has the Spiders off to a strong start with three wins over Power 5 teams and a top-30 offense in all of college basketball. He talks through how his program has developed over the years and the strength of the Atlantic 10 in 2019-20. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our voters had a tough time deciding who should be No. 1 this week. Ultimately, San Diego State edged out Gonzaga and Dayton, but all three have a good case. We dissect the end of Feast Week and everything that came out of it, talk a little Vermont and whether we should be worried, and address the trolls on Twitter who got mad at us not ranking Stephen F. Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a technical difficulty-riddled hiatus, we are back, and it's just in time to make sense of Feast Week. Since we last spoke, Dayton went out to Maui and decided to look like a Final Four team for a bit, Gonzaga beat a really good Oregon team then got smoked by Michigan, and Penn looks like the best 5-3 team in the land. We talk about all that and more this week. And with Kyle on, do we get a solid Pepperdine 2 Minutes? Yes, of course we do. s/o Elijah Campbell for editing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The season is barely a week old and the east coast already has us questioning our own sanity. Northeastern, led by Jordan Roland, appears better than we thought, and Delaware is already 4-0. On the other end of it, we debate what to do with Harvard. The Crimson are short-handed, but that's been the case for a year now. Elsewhere, UTSA has let us down again and THE WAC MINUTE RETURNS! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New Orleans beat Spring Hill 114-58 on Tuesday, but the biggest day of UNO's season so far was on Wednesday when head coach Mark Slessinger joined the Mid-Major Madness podcast. We talked the Privateers' season-opening win, their rough road slate coming up, that state of the Southland, Slessinger's A+ dance moves, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In case you missed it, Mid-Major Madness published 149 (and counting) college basketball coach contracts on Monday. They were all obtained via FOI request from public universities. John Templon, who spearheaded the effort to bring them to you, joins the pod to explain the process, why it matters, and some of the fun things we found along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

College basketball season is upon us! With games tipping off on Tuesday, the gang is here to run you through our preseason All-American picks and EVERY mid-major team we think will make the 2020 NCAA Tournament. Be sure to listen because we have never been wrong once ever. After that, Cam makes us play a dumb game and we spend way too long Remembering Some Guys. It's good stuff! Apologies for the audio issues near the end. You should still be able to hear everything and we'll work on fixing it for the next one! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The preseason AP and Coaches polls were released last week, so we open there with some talk about who we think is over/underrated. We also touch on some America East news, South Alabama, favorites in the MAC, Pepperdine, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cam and Russ make their glorious return to your earholes today as the regular season draws closer. We’ll get the full crew together soon enough to give the 2019-20 season the true preview it deserves, but for now, we touched on some of the key storylines and took your questions about what lies ahead. Here’s what we discussed:Cam’s new home in NMTC heaven and also Cam’s momBelmont and the rest of the OVC because Cam is onThe A-10 is back!UTSA’s dynamic duoTeams in Utah are good. INVESTIGATE???The outlook in the Mountain West#SexyCamThe origins of Maine WeekYour questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oakland has lost four players this offseason to transfer, including Jaevin Cumberland — a guard who averaged 17 points per game last season and, at first, told coaches and fans that he would return to the Grizzlies. The sudden changes have forced coach Greg Kampe to quickly adjust his roster, and when he joined the Coaches' Show, he had some things to say. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An America East school that plays in an old gym with wooden bleachers in the middle of snowy New England should not be nationally competitive. But the Vermont Catamounts are perennial NCAA Tournament contenders and routinely play power conference teams tough. Head coach John Becker talks about the basketball tradition in Burlington and what he expects from his team next season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dana Ford is just 34 years old, but he's on his second head coaching job and has learned from the best in the business, including Wichita State's Gregg Marshall. The head man at Missouri State joins the pod to talk about what to expect from his team, how he's mastered the transfer market, and the challenges that face the Missouri Valley going forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Going into last season, Furman had to replace half of its offensive production. Few could have blamed the Paladins for taking a step back. But instead, head coach Bob Richey led his group to a 12-0 start, complete with a win at Villanova. Richey joins the Coaches Show' to discuss how it happened, what lies ahead for the program, and what he needs to see from his returners in order to reach the NCAA Tournament in 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Casey Alexander has the daunting task of following a coaching legend. The new Belmont head coach played and learned under Rick Byrd, and now takes over one of the most consistent programs in mid-major basketball. He joins the Coaches' Show to talk about the challenges he will face, how he plans to recruit, and what he wishes the NCAA would do to try and clean up the game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're in Dayton for the First Four and will break down our experience so far and preview a little bit of what's to come in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. We have notes and quotes from players and coaches, including how Belmont players feel about people criticizing their inclusion, a suggestion from Levelle Moton to make the tournament better, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Russ, Chris and Cam break down the NCAA Tournament bracket, give their picks for the First Round of games and make their Final Four and National Championship predictions. They also riff on Jeff Boals' name for some reason.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices