The past couple of years the Missouri Valley Conference has gotten most of the publicity amongst the Mid Major Conferences. HOwever, this year two other leagues are making early season rumblings about becoming a multi-bid league. Watch out Jim Boeheim! Your Syracuse Orangemen might actually have to win a league title to get into the NCAA tournament this year.
The Atlantic 10 is off to a great start. Rhode Island is 10-1 with three wins over Big East schools. Xavier is 8-1 with a pair of wins over Big East opponents. Dayton is 7-1 with a win over Miami, Holy Cross and Louisville. All on the road. UMass and Charlotte are right behind with 6-2 records. Also, Charlotte has a win over S. Illinois.
The most surprising league is the Southland Conference. Sam Houston and Texas-Arlington are both 8-0. Stephen F. Austin is 7-1 while Central Arkansas is off to a 8-2 start. The conference has already beaten Texas Tech and Oklahoma on the road.
The significance of these two leagues performance has been that they have won big games on the road. Unlike the BCS leagues that play 80% of their non-conference games at home and the other 10% on neutral courts.
