Smaller conferences do less dancing in ’09

‘ ‘ ‘ Davidson College is located in North Carolina, George Mason’s nickname is the Patriots,… ‘ ‘ ‘ Davidson College is located in North Carolina, George Mason’s nickname is the Patriots, and Valparaiso is pronounced ‘Val-pah-ray’zo.’ But you might not need this crash course in small schools in 2009, because mid-major schools received just four at-large bids into this year’s NCAA Tournament. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ With major conferences as deep in 2009 as any season in recent memory, smaller schools failed to match up against stronger tournament resumes. The Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast conferences earned 23 of the tournament’s 34 at-large bids. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Bigger conferences do have an advantage receiving at-large bids because of their schedule,’ said Joel Welser of CollegeHoops.net. ‘Many mid-majors have a very difficult time scheduling games against quality opponents, especially at home. The mid-majors just do not have the opportunity to put up good RPI (rating percentage index) numbers.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Both Davidson coach Bob McKillop and Creighton coach Dana Altman said that once the conference tournament ends, making the tournament is beyond their control. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘[My] experience is that the only thing I can control is today’s practice,’ said McKillop, who saw his Davidson team miss out on the NCAA Tournament. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I just don’t believe in politicking,’ said Altman, whose Creighton team also missed out. ‘I don’t believe in making statements.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Missouri Valley Conference, which sent four schools to the Tournament in 2006, has just one representative this year. Northern Iowa ‘mdash; in with an automatic bid ‘mdash; is the conference’s sole Tournament delegate. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Creighton missed the NCAA Tournament after a 24-point loss to Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament hung on the selection committee’s minds. The Bluejays had an 11-game win streak before the upset. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ With the rest of the conference improving, said Welser, top teams are posting less impressive records. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I think there’s more parity in our league than ever before,’ said Doug Elgin, conference commissioner. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Davidson Wildcats began the season ranked No. 20 in the AP Top 25. A loss to Charleston, 59-52, in the Southern Conference tournament, though, and an 0-3 record against ranked opponents cost them a spot in March Madness. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Injuries cost other mid-majors a Tournament bid. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Saint Mary’s dropped from an 18-1, No. 22 squad to a bubble team after a costly hand injury to guard Patrick Mills. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Gaels dropped four of their next five games after losing their leading scorer. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Mills returned in the West Coast Conference tournament but shot 2 for 16 in a championship game loss to Gonzaga. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There were times where I tried to baby [the hand] a little bit,’ said Mills after his return. ‘But I think it is just confidence getting back into the game, knowing that my hand is fine and it is ready to go.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘He needs practice, and we need practice,’ said coach Randy Bennett after the loss to Gonzaga. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Memphis, Xavier and Gonzaga return to March Madness this year, though they are not the Cinderellas often synonymous with ‘mid-major.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 12 Gonzaga has made the tournament 10 straight years, No. 19 Xavier has missed the Tournament once in the last eight years and No. 4 Memphis played in last year’s championship. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Butler and Brigham Young universities are the nation’s two other ranked mid-majors. No. 16 Butler lost to Cleveland State in the Horizon League tournament final but returns to the Tournament with an at-large bid. No. 25 Brigham Young lost out on an automatic bid after San Diego State upset it in the Mountain West tournament semifinals. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘You want to win your league and qualify for the NCAA Tournament,’ said Brigham Young coach Dave Rose. ‘It’s one of the first things we talk about every year.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Dayton and Temple join Xavier as Atlantic 10 tournament-goers with at-large bids. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Temple won the Atlantic 10 tournament. Dayton makes its first March Madness appearance since 2004. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ In comparison, North Dakota State from the Summit League makes its first Tournament appearance. Guard Ben Woodside leads the former Division II team in scoring and is 10th in the nation with 22.8 points per game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s something that we’ve been working so hard for the last five years,’ said senior center Luke Moormann. ‘We put our blood, sweat and tears into this.’