So, not counting this past week, Aggie fans were pretty upset about not cracking the Top 25. Reasonably so! Prior to the last two games, they only had three losses, as well as a win over the #6 team in the country at the time. What more does a mid-major program have to do to get some love in the polls?
The other school I follow in college sports, Middle Tennessee State, just made the Top 25 for the first time in program history. If you haven't heard of the Blue Raiders, well... no one else had prior to about five years ago. Kermit Davis came in and basically maintained the status quo... they were in the upper half of their conference (at the beginning of his tenure, the Sun Belt) but always choked in the conference tournament. Finally, they got into Conference USA (when most CUSA teams bolted for the newly formed American Athletic Conference), and had some better competition. Their RPI went up, strength of schedule became more impressive, and the program got a bit more exposure.
During last year's March Madness coverage, the Raiders went from being an unknown team to one that people actually expected to make a moderate run (Charles Barkley had them as his "lock" for the Sweet 16). They lost in the round of 32, but had a respectable showing along with a decent seeding. They've now won a tournament game each of the last two seasons. Not bad for a team no one had ever really heard of a few years ago.
The point of this story? NMSU is close to getting some love in the polls. They had several votes, but apparently it just takes a bit more exposure to get there. Beating Miami in Hawaii this year on national TV was a great opportunity! I hope the Aggies can win their first game in the tournament. While previous years' success really shouldn't have any bearing on the current year's rankings, I think all of us can attest to the "big name" teams getting ranked over more deserving mid-majors. Sometimes familiarity and history get stuck in the voters' heads. Hopefully the Aggies become a household name during the Big Dance.
http://wkrn.com/2018/02/19/middle-tennes...ap-top-25/
