College Hoops Knowledge

The five mid-majors that power conference teams fear facing in the NCAATournament

One of the great things about the NCAA Tournament is the chance its offers all of those smaller conference schools who don’t have weekly dates on ESPN to shine. These teams arguably play under more pressure most of the year, since even teams who dominate their respective leagues often need to win their conference tourney to make the Big Dance.

With that in mind, here are five mid-major teams who have been outstanding all season long and have the opportunity to do some damage in the NCAAs. These are the teams college basketball's powers don't want to see on the line next to their school's name on Selection Sunday.

No Murray States or Creightons in this list. These teams haven’t been in the Top 25. A few are bubble teams that will have to sweat it out Sunday evening. Yet they’re all still worthy and dangerous.

BELMONT

The pride of the Atlantic Sun, the Bruins have made four tournament appearances in the last six seasons. Duke fans should know them well. In 2008, 15th-seed Belmont lost by a point to the Blue Devils in the first round of the NCAA, and in the first game of this season, Duke escaped with a one-point win over Rick Byrd's team in Cameron.

Belmont has really hit its stride of late, taking a 14-game winning streak into the Big Dance. Known for shuffling bodies in and out of the game at regular intervals, the Bruins have some legitimate stars this year in point guard Kerron Johnson and 3-point bombers Ian Clark and Drew Hanlen.

IONA

The Gaels have the kind of talent to attack major conference teams at their level, as Maryland found out when Iona drubbed the Terps early in the season. Iona, regular season champs in the MAAC, can light it up, thanks to high-scorers Mike Glover, who nearly averages a double-double, and Lamont “Mo-Mo” Jones, who transferred in from Arizona, where he averaged double figures in the Wildcats run to the Elite Eight last year.

What helps those guys — if the commitee recognizes they deserve an at-large berth — is that they have the nation’s premier assist man delivering them the ball in point guard Scott Machado.

DAVIDSON

Winning in Allen Field House in Lawrence, Kansas is a daunting task for anyone, let alone a team from the Southern Conference. Yet that’s just what the Wildcats did back in December, giving some hope that they can return to the glory years of the recent past when Stephen Curry led them deep into March.

This year’s team went 16-2 in the SoCo, using prolific three-point shooting to lead the way. Then, Davidson survived two overtimes in its conference tournament championship game to nab an automatic spot in the field of 68.

For all of its bombing though, Davidson often looks to the inside strength of De’Mon Brooks, the team’s top scorer and rebounder, when it needs a hoop the most.

NEVADA

When experts talk about the weakness of the Pac 12 this year in college basketball, they often point to the teams in the WCC and Mountain West as the ones that are truly Best of the West. They shouldn’t overlook the Wolf Pack, who dominated the WAC this year and have a win over Pac 12 leader Washington on their resume.

Like many successful mid-majors, Nevada has benefited from transfers from major conference schools. Malik Story and Oleg Czyz started their careers at Indiana and Duke, respectively, and both are averaging double figures.

ORAL ROBERTS

The Golden Eagles headed into conference play in the Summit League on a high note with a thrashing of Xavier, which was in the Top 10 at the time. They dominated league play with a 17-1 record, and had a nice BracketBuster victory over Akron, but a loss in the conference tournament semifinals has put them in serious jeopardy of being left out.

Dominique Morrison is the star here, averaging more than 20 points a game. ORU can explode offensively and buckle down defensively depending on the opponent like the other schools on this list, but the Golden Eagles are also the least likely to have a Big Dance chance.

They'll have to settle for being a dangerous team in the NIT.

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Native Houstonian brings Austin-based climbing gym to the East End

Photo courtesy of Crux Climbing Center

One of the many climbing walls at Crux.

Crux Climbing Center, one of Austin's best indoor bouldering and climbing gyms, opened its first Houston location in September and is hosting a grand opening celebration this weekend.

"As a native Houstonian, bringing Crux to the Bayou City has always been a part of the long-term vision," said native Houstonian, CEO, and co-founder Kevin Goradia. "Crux is a community-oriented climbing gym, and our decision to open our first out-of-market location at The Plant was largely inspired by Concept Neighborhood’s plans to create a walkable neighborhood that truly integrates the local community.”

Goradia — the son of Houston petrochemical billionaire Vijay Goradia — co-founded the first Crux in South Austin in 2016 after being dissatisfied with the offerings at other climbing gyms. Crux has almost everything a climber could want, including bouldering, training boards, a spray wall, strength training, fitness and yoga classes, saunas, locker rooms, a Kids Cave, lounge space and a retail shop.

The gym flourished in the post-COVID physical activity boom as more people looked for both exercise and social interaction following the lockdowns. The community aspect of Crux is very important to Goradia. When he was diagnosed with cancer in January 2023, he credits the support he had through the climbing scene in Austin as a major factor in his eventual recovery.

Now, he's bringing that to Houston, a city where indoor-climbing is booming. The exceptional flat city has few natural climbing spots, which would be arduous even if they existed thanks to the heat. Instead, the last twenty years have seen an explosion of massive, indoor facilities like inSPIRE, Momentum, and now Crux.

The grand opening event will take place at the 21,000-square-foot gym space located at The Plant (3100 Canal St.) on Saturday, October 10 from 2-8 pm. This is more than just a few grab bags and a chance to do some climbing. Native Houstonian, CEO, and co-founder, Kevin Goradia is pulling out all the stops with a full vendor fair offering art, jewelry, and vintage items.

The climbing will be a great way to work off the calories from some of the food partners. Cheaters Creamery and Sinfull Bakery will both be handing out treats, and Miguelitos Grill will be serving fresh-off-the-grill quesadillas that can be washed down with beer from St. Arnold's Brewery for the 21-and-up crowd. There will even be free tattoos from 13 Goats.

And, of course, there will be climbing. Throughout the event Crux is offering BOGO deals and raffles. The event itself is free, so this is a great opportunity to get a look at what made Crux stand out in Austin.

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rock on

Native Houstonian brings Austin-based climbing gym to the East End