Top Five Mid-Major Stories of 2025-2026
From Miami Ohio's perfect regular season to Detroit Mercy's remarkable turnaround, here are the five best mid-major stories of the 2026 season.
As we are headed into the Final Four for both the NCAA Tournament and the NIT, I wanted to take some time to put together five of the top stories for the non-power conferences that came to be this season. The news of the transfer portal, the red hot coaching carousel (that’s still going!), and on-going recruitment news means that we need to breakup your timelines and algorithms with some fun recaps.
Let’s dive in!
Miami Ohio & the 2-Bid MAC
It wouldn’t be feasible to make a list of the best stories to come out of the non-power conferences without addressing Miami Ohio’s perfect regular season and the fact that we had a two-bid MAC for the first time since 1999.
The RedHawks finished the regular season a perfect 31-0 after truthfully cruising through the first half of the season. Until January 17th, they had just one overtime game and won by less than 10 points just five times. As the season went on, you could tell that the pressure of remaining perfect was starting to catch up with them. They had back to back narrow overtime wins against Buffalo and Kent State on January 17th and 20th. Then they won by just two to UMass at home in the next game. They won by a combined six points over their last three regular season games, teeing up a first round exit in the MAC Tournament to UMass 87-83.
After the loss, there was shockingly (or maybe not shockingly) controversy around whether or not Miami’s strength of schedule was going to be good enough to reach the Big Dance without winning the MAC. They faced just two top-200 KenPom teams in the non-conference and played Akron just once on the season, so their schedule was weaker than most. However, the committee did the right thing and rewarded them with a bid, but they were going to have to win in Dayton against SMU to reach the Round of 64.
With all eyes on them, they did exactly what they needed to do against the Mustangs, show off that they can compete with better conferences. They won that game 89-79 as they shot an insane 41 three-pointers, knocking down 16 of them as Elan Elmer was the star of the show with 23 points. While their magic ran out against Tennessee who went on to the elite eight, it was still a magical journey. Peter Suder had 27 points against the Volunteers, but they shot just 7-29 from deep as they fell 78-56.
One thing that I think people forget is, they lost their point guard Evan Ipsaro after just 12 games. He was averaging 13.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 57.1% overall and 39.4% from beyond the arc. When he went down, I thought it would be impossible that they would finish perfect, but it showed how deep that team was. It also leaves us with a bit of a what if…if Ipsaro had been healthy, would that have changed any results?
While the RedHawks were the talk of college basketball, the Akron Zips were quietly right behind them as they were one of the best teams outside of the power conference ranks. The Zips finished 71st in KenPom after falling to Texas Tech 91-71 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in a game that was honestly much closer than the final score represented. The Zips started off the year 10-4 with losses to Purdue on the road, Yale and Murray State on neutral courts, and then Miami 76-73 on the road. They fired on all cylinders for the rest of the season, finishing 26-5 and 17-1 in conference, dropping just one game to Troy on the road in the Sun Belt vs MAC challenge in February. They then cruised through the MAC Tournament, taking down Buffalo, Kent State, and Toledo.
In a season that was phenomenal for the MAC, there are now questions around what the conference could look like next season. Will Travis Steele stay at Miami? Will John Groce take the College of Charleston job after Chris Mack left for South Florida? Only time will tell, but don’t let whatever happens put a damper on what an incredible season if was for this conference.
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Navy, Tennessee State, and Idaho finish with their best seasons in decades
As a mid-major publication, there is nothing better than teams that haven’t competed in a long time getting themselves back into the spot light.
Navy hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1998 and while unfortunately, they will continue that drought, that doesn’t mean their season wasn’t incredible. The Midshipmen finished 26-8, which was their best season since 1987 when they went 26-6, reached 9th in the AP Poll, and were led by the legendary David Robinson. Unfortunately, they fell to Boston University by one point in the Patriot League Tournament, then lost to Wake Forest 82-72 in the first round of the NIT. While it was a disappointing end to an incredible season, it was a fun journey to follow.
Tennessee State hadn’t been the NCAA Tournament since 1994, but they broke that drought this season. The Tigers finished 23-10 overall and 15-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference while punching their ticket to the Big Dance as a 15-seed. During that drought, the Tigers had just two 20 win seasons, but Nolan Smith took them to 23 wins in just one year on the job. While they were unfortunately demolished by Iowa State in the first round of the the NCAA Tournament, Coach Smith has said that he has no intention of leaving yet. He now has the opportunity to help elevate Tennessee State to a consistently competitive status while also helping the Ohio Valley continue to increase it’s stock.
Idaho is another team that snapped a long dancing drought as the Vandals hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1990. It was a rollercoaster year as the Vandals finished 17-14 overall and 9-9 in the Big Sky during the regular season, but they ripped off four games in a row to win the Big Sky Conference Tournament and punch their ticket to the Big Dance. Ultimately, they were tasked to go up against Houston in the first round where they were rolled over 78-47, but it was exciting to see Idaho be able to make a run late in the season to get themselves back into the Tournament field.
McNeese Wins the Southland Conference Tournament Three Years in a Row
Before Will Wade took over as head coach of the McNeese Cowboys in 2023, the Cowboys hadn’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2002. During that span of time, they finished above .500 just three times. Now, they’ve turned into one of the premier teams outside of the non-power conferences as the Southland continues to grow in strength. McNeese went 30-4 in year one, then 28-7 with an NCAA Tournament win to head to the Round of 32 in year two.
After Will Wade left for NC State (erm…this is awkward) and now LSU, Bill Armstrong took over as head coach. They didn’t miss a step in year one as they finished the season 28-6, winning the Southland Conference Tournament for the third year in a row and three-peating a trip to the NCAA Tournament. They had a tough job against a strong Vanderbilt team, ultimately falling by ten points after going toe-to-toe for the majority of the game.
What’s been fascinating has been their ability to maintain players that are easily power conference level talent. Look at Larry Johnson for example. He finished the season averaging 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 49.2% overall. His 30.5% possession usage was 42nd overall in the country as just a freshman.
With the resources that the Cowboys have in NIL, they’ll continue to compete at the top of the conference and towards the top of the non-power conference programs for a while to come. With Stephen F. Austin on the rise again, the Southland is going to be a blast to watch next season.
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Penn Upsets Yale in the Ivy League Championship
Penn made headlines during the offseason last year after bringing in former Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery to take over the program. They started off well, going 5-2 with wins over Saint Joseph’s and Merrimack, but they skidded to just a 9-10 record and 2-4 in the Ivy League. They rebounded strongly, finishing 7-1 over the last eight games of the regular season.
The Quakers were led by a two headed monster in Ethan Roberts and TJ Power. Roberts averaged 16.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and one steal per game while shooting 40.1% overall and 40.4% from beyond the arc. Unfortunately, he battled injuries this season, appearing in just 23 games. The Quakers record in those games that he missed was just 2-3. during the regular season.
TJ Power was the hero of the Ivy League tournament. On the season, he averaged 16.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 45.1% from the floor and 43.2% from three-point. Roberts was forced to miss the conference tournament, but Power stepped up. In their overtime win against Harvard, he finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, four steals, and on block. Against Yale in the Championship, he put on a show that sent ripples throughout college basketball. He finished with a whopping 44 points on 7-14 shooting from deep with 14 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block He scored half of the team’s points as they went on to upset the Bulldogs 88-84.
While they ultimately fell to Illinois 105-70 in the NCAA Tournament, it marked Fran McCaffery’s fifth team that he’s brought to the Big Dance. With two players bursting out to increase their brand recognition, it’ll be exciting to see how the Ivy League shapes up next season.
Detroit Mercy’s Rebound
This was an underrated story that wasn’t talked about nearly as much as it should have. Two seasons ago, Detroit Mercy finished the season just 1-31 after picking up their lone win over IUPUI (now IU Indy) 81-66 at home. I can still remember watching that game because it became a phenomenon across college basketball social media given that both teams were two of the worst five teams in college basketball.
Following that disastrous season, Mark Montgomery took over as head coach. In year one, he finished 8-24 with some signs of the potential to turn things around. They had seven wins against Division I teams, took some close losses to Wake Forest and Rhode Island in the non-conference, and for the most part were far more competitive in the Horizon League.
In year two, things really turned around. The Titans finished 17-15 on the season and took down Milwaukee and Robert Morris in the Horizon League tournament to reach the Championship game for the first time since 2012 when they took down Valparaiso. They finished the season as winners of nine of their last twelve games to build some real momentum heading into next season.
Unfortunately, they’ve lost their best player in Orlando Lovejoy (15.8 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.6 rebounds) due to lack of eligibility, and rising Sophomore TJ Nadeau has announced his intent to enter the transfer portal. Nadeau averaged 13.8 points and 3.2 rebounds. Junior Ayden Carter who averaged 12.2 points and 4.3 rebounds has yet to announce whether he’ll be staying or leaving, but he did originally cite that he committed to Detroit Mercy to be closer to home, so maybe there is hope that he stays.
Regardless, Mark Montgomery has shown already in just two-years of what he’s capable of building. This season was a huge step in the right direction and this is someone that should be on your radar on the coaching carousel over the next few years.
Navy was incredible. Was really bummed they couldn’t win the conference tournament; a service academy hasn’t gone to March Madness since 2006.
Glad to see Detroit getting some shine. I remember seeing early February they were right in the mix in the Horizon and being shocked.