Top Mid-Major Games of the Week in College Basketball

Best Games of the Week

There are plenty of mid-major showdowns going down in college basketball this week. Sure, most people are going to be watching the powerhouse teams play, but what about the underdogs, if you will. Let’s take a look at the best matchups this weekend in terms of mid-majors.

Games like the New Mexico Lobos against the Boise State Broncos don’t even make this list. With a victory in that game, Boise State can show that it is not only a good football team, but a basketball team as well.

The Mountain West Conference will be hosting a lot of great matchups this week, including two of the top mid-major games of the week. The MWC is filled with NCAA tournament teams this year and could possibly sneak four teams or more into the dance.

Matthew Dellavedova and Saint Mary’s will take the court this week against a very good BYU team. Both of these teams have made their fair share of NCAA tournaments in the past couple of years.

There are two games this week that could possibly be the games of the week, but you will just have to wait and see which matchups those are.

In a year where the mid-major could make a lot of noise, let’s forget about the powerhouse teams for one week and enjoy what these little guys have to offer, however, there is nothing little about their games.

Read on to see the top four mid-major matchups of the week in college basketball.

UNLV Rebels at No. 15 San Diego State Aztecs on Jan. 16

Just like year’s in the past, the MWC will likely be decided between the UNLV Rebels and the San Diego State Aztecs. Both of these teams got a lot of hype coming into the season, but no mid-major team got more hype than UNLV.

That is largely in part of Mike Moser returning and incoming freshman Anthony Bennett joining the team. Well, Moser has had a disappointing year so far, thanks to injuries and Bennett is not only proving to be one of the best freshman in the country, but one of the best players as well.

The kid is only averaging 19.6 points per game on the year and all.

Enough with the Rebels, San Diego State is the only ranked team at the moment in the MWC at No. 15 in the nation. There is nothing mid-major about either of these teams because they are both good enough to make a deep run in this year’s big dance.

UNLV Rebels at Colorado State Rams on Jan. 19

Just in case if you did not hear enough about the Rebels, they will take on the Colorado State Rams this weekend.

Talk about luck of the draw. UNLV will have to take on two very good opponents in back-to-back games on the road.

CSU will enter this game as one of the best teams in the conference, but believe me, there is plenty of great teams in the MWC. The Rams made the tournament last season and they are in position to do the same thing this year.

No. 12 Creighton Bluejays at Wichita State Shockers on Jan. 19

Before this week, Wichita State was ranked in the top 25. The Creighton Bluejays are currently ranked No. 12 in the country, which is the second highest out of any mid-major team.

The Missouri Valley Conference does not get a lot of bids for the NCAA tournament, but these are two teams that will definitely punch their tickets this year.

All eyes will be on Doug McDermott in this game, since he is averaging 23.6 points per game on the year and is a Wooden Award finalist.

No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs at No. 13 Butler Bulldogs Jan. 19

The only disappointing thing about this matchup is that Rotnei Clarke will likely not play due to an injury.

However, this is the mid-major game that everyone has been waiting for this year.

Butler has beaten some great teams this year, including the No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels at the time. Butler has also beaten the Indiana Hoosiers. No big deal, considering that Indiana was the No. 1 team in the nation at the time.

Gonzaga has been playing some pretty good ball as well, beating Baylor and Oklahoma State on the season. Its only loss of the year so far came against the No. 13 Illinois Fighting Illini at the time.

Gonzaga lost by nine points against them and Butler lost by 17 points against Illinois. That really has nothing to do with this matchup, but it is interesting to note.

Butler will be at home in this game, but it will dearly miss its leading scorer. Clarke not suiting up definitely hurts Butler’s chances in this contest.

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