Livescore
Anticipation for the NCAA Tournament has officially set in. We’re less than two weeks out from March and under a month until Selection Sunday, which means it’s time for a scan of mid-majors dotting the radar that could be bracket-busting darlings in a month.
All schools, as of Wednesday, are:
- In traditional one-bid leagues
- Have six losses or fewer
- Ranked in the top 100 at KenPom
That means A-10, AAC, Mountain West and WCC suspects (i.e. multi-bid leagues) don’t apply here. (That said, keep an eye on the likes of New Mexico, Utah State, Saint Mary’s, North Texas, VCU, George Mason and more.)
For the purposes of this story, I’m looking at the programs from traditional single-bid leagues. I’ve included each team’s KenPom ranking and the composite of the three résumé metrics on NCAA team sheets, which are conveniently auto-averaged at BartTorvik.com.
UC San Diego (22-4) | KenPom: 40; résumé avg: 53
Formerly of D-II until 2020, the Tritons are wasting no time in their first year of tournament eligibility. They’re ranked higher than all others from one-bid territory. Eric Olen’s group is 9-2 on the road, including a win at 22-4 Utah State. They rank top-10 on both sides of the turnover battle, only giving it away on 7.4% of possessions while forcing teams to cough it up at more than double that rate (14.5%).
Drake (23-3) | KenPom: 62; résumé avg: 41
No mid-major in this group has a better at-large case as of today than the Bulldogs, who’ve done the near-unthinkable. After losing Darian (coach) and Tucker (player) DeVries to West Virginia — in addition to most of the roster — Ben McCollum immediately steps into Division I and oversees a mid-major power. McCollum won multiple titles at the D-II level and was a well-known commodity before he finally made the jump. This team features Bennett Stirtz, who followed McCollum from Northwest Missouri State and is averaging 18.5 points, 6.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals.
Yale (16-6) | KenPom: 65; résumé avg: 82
The Elis upset Auburn in a 4/13 matchup last year and are still pretty dang good despite losing Danny Wolf to Yale and Matt Knowling to USC. Bez Mbeng and James Poulakidas are still there as key shooters behind an offensive attack that ranks eighth nationally in 3-point accuracy (39.3%). Yale has yet to lose in 2025 and may well run the Ivy League table.
UC Irvine (22-4) | KenPom: 67; résumé avg: 45
This is the most consistently good Big West program over the past 12 seasons yet, surprisingly, UC Irvine hasn’t been in an NCAA Tournament since 2019. The Anteaters couldn’t get a single high-major to play them, but no matter: Russell Turner’s group has built a top-50 tournament dossier to go alongside the No. 11 defense in the sport.
Liberty (21-5) | KenPom: 68; résumé avg: 66
You’ll notice we’re in a run here of a lot of mids clotted together in the 60s. Ritchie McKay has a tournament-worthy group that’s atop CUSA, plus owning wins against Kansas State and the team detailed in the next capsule. The Flames do a better job flustering opponents beyond the 3-point arc than 363 other teams. At 27.2%, it’s the top-ranked 3-point defense in college hoops.
McNeese (21-6) | KenPom: 70; résumé avg: 81
Here’s Liberty’s other noteworthy victim. But the Cowboys play everybody tough. Will Wade’s team lost to No. 4 Alabama and No. 21 Mississippi State by a combined 11 points. It has one loss since Dec. 14. Four players are back from last season’s team that won 30 games and earned a No. 12 seed. McNeese lacks a top-60 win but has a bunch of former high-major players, which makes them a dangerous out.
Bradley (21-6) | KenPom: 91; résumé avg: 64
The Braves won at Drake on Sunday to split the season series and validate their inclusion on this list. BU won’t win enough to seriously be considered as an at-large, but they will be terrifying if they make it in. This is the No. 1 3-point team in college basketball (40.7%).
High Point (23-5) | KenPom: 93; résumé avg: 79
Alan Huss’ team won 25 games before being upset in OT of the Big South tournament last year. He brought back a big chunk of that roster and has a squad that ranks top-30 in offensive efficiency and has scored 76-plus points in every game in 2025. One of two mid-majors that ranks top-50 in 2-point shooting, 3-point shooting and foul shooting (the other being 19-9 North Dakota State).
Akron (21-5/20-6) | KenPom: 95; résumé avg: 74
The keepers of the nation’s longest winning streak (14 games). John Groce’s team takes after its moniker: the Zips are one of the fastest offenses around, ranking 12th in adjusted tempo. As a result, this is one of the deepest teams as well, and they’re five games away from running the MAC table. The MAC hasn’t had an undefeated team since — get this — 1957-58, when Miami University went 12-0 in a seven-team conference.
Grand Canyon (19-6) | KenPom: 99; résumé avg: 91
Made the tourney last year and upset Saint Mary’s in the first round. Bryce Drew is still the coach of the WAC’s best team, led by Tyon Grant-Foster. The Antelopes have a notable win over Stanford and boast among the oldest and most familiar teams in the country. Five of the team’s top seven minutes-getters were on last year’s 30-win club.
This article was a takeout from the Court Report, the weekly college basketball notebook from CBS Sports senior writer/insider Matt Norlander.
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