The 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament has been a major bummer for college basketball’s mid-majors.
On Saturday, Midwest Region 12-seed McNeese (28-7, 19-1 in Southland) suffered a 76-62 Round of 32 loss to 4-seed Purdue (24-11, 13-7 in Big Ten).
The game was nowhere near as close as the final score indicated, with the Boilermakers leading by as many as 26 points in the second half.
Purdue outrebounded McNeese 41-24 and was 19-of-23 from the foul line, compared to 5-of-13 for the Cowboys.
The defeat is another blow to smaller conferences this March Madness. Power conferences (ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC) are 21-5 against mid-majors, with an average margin of victory of 15.4 points. Of their 21 wins, 18 have come by double digits.
While one tournament is far too limited a sample size to make grand declarations, it is a concerning snapshot of where mid-majors stand this season.
As power conferences continue to gobble up more resources in the name, image and likeness (NIL) and transfer portal era, the situation could still get worse.
It wasn’t long ago that 15-seed Oral Roberts reached the Elite Eight (2021). In 2022, 15-seed St. Peter’s reached the Elite Eight. Only two years ago, 13-seed Furman reached the second round after shocking 4-seed Virginia in the first round. That same season, Florida Atlantic and San Diego State made the Final Four.
With Gonzaga (26-8, 14-4 in WCC), Drake (31-3, 17-3 in Missouri Valley), St. Mary’s (29-5, 17-1 in WCC), Colorado State (26-9, 16-4 in Mountain West) and New Mexico (27-7, 17-3 in Mountain West) still dancing, mid-majors might still have something to stay about how this year’s NCAA Tournament unfolds. But through the tourney’s first 33 games, things aren’t looking promising.
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