If there is one term that gets stokes GW’s collective anger when referring to its basketball team, it is “mid-major.” Last week during the Washington Post college baksetball chat with UMD beat writer Eric Prisbell and college sports editor Matt Remie, Prisbell claimed that “GW is the best mid-major in the country, tied with Northern Iowa.” This caused an eruption of anger from Colonial Nation, claiming the term was used as a means to demean the boys from Foggy Bottom. In a college basketball chat on ESPN.com, a participant asked what mid-major team had a chance to make it to the elite 8, and the answer was “GW, without a question.” Given the emotions involved in such a classification, what exactly constitutes a mid-major, and does GW fit into that designation?

The term mid-major is thrown around haphazardly around the pundit world when discussing college basketball. The ambiguity has something to do with the fact that people have their own criteria when using the term. Some feel it means any team or conference that is not one of the BCS conferences (Big East, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10 and PAC 10). Until this year, such a designation would lump powerhouses like Memphis, Louisville, Cinncinati and others who constituted Conference USA.

Others used the term to refer to small schools who make a big splash. Schools such as Creighton, Northern Iowa, Gonzaga (who has made a strong argument that it is no longer a mid-major), Old Dominion, etc. would all fit in this category.

Is the Atlantic 10 a mid-major conference, and GW a mid-major school by extension? I don’t think so. The Atlantic 10 has been a successful conference for a long time, with established powerhouses such as Dayton, Xavier, Temple and St. Josephs. It routinely gets 3 bids to the NCAA tournamen (last year not-withstanding). While it is certainly not on par with the major conferences, relegating the A-10, and GW as a result, to being a mid major would not be appropriate.

I think you have to look at Conference USA and the A-10 as two conferences without a set designation, but a step above mid major status. Lets get some discussion going on this.