You have to really have a little bit of pity for a mid-major regular season champion.  Because in the cruel world of March supremacy – for these teams, it only matters what you do in 3 games in March – if you are lucky enough to get that far.

Saturday was the perfect example.  In the Missouri Valley conference, last year’s final four darling Loyola-Chicago found themselves the #1 seed in the conference tournament semi-finals.  But #5 seed Bradley did not care about the fact that the Ramblers were going to try to repeat their magical run.  The Braves’ Nate Kannell hit a three pointer to put Bradley up 53-51, and unlike last March, Loyola-Chicago could not hit the three pointer before the buzzer.  So, Bradley advances to the tourney final and Loyola-Chicago will have to bring their act to the NIT.

Of course, the Missouri Valley was ultra-cruel.  That is because #2 seed Drake was actually the regular-season co-champions with the Ramblers.  With the bracket opened up, Drake found themselves in a tight game with #6 seed Northern Iowa.  And after Drake’s Tremell Murphy hit a layup to tie the game at 58 with 8 seconds left, the Panther’s Wyatt Lohaus hit a layup before the buzzer to give Northern Iowa the 2 point victory.

The Summit conference also watched their top seed go down as South Dakota State was upset in the quarterfinals by Western Illinois 79-76.  And so the 24-8 team heads to the NIT and the 10-20 team advances.

If Duke and Virginia play each other for the ACC Tournament Championship next weekend, both teams – win or lose – might still be #1 seeds when the Selection Committee announces the tournament brackets.  But today, in the Atlantic Sun, if top seed Lipscomb (who is 25-6 and won at TCU earlier this season and only lost by 4 at Louisville) loses to second seed and regular-season co-champ Liberty (who is 27-6 but doesn’t have as good of a non-conference profile as Lipscomb), they will be hoping that the Selection Committee gives them a chance as one of the last teams in – while they know they will likely be heading to the NIT.

It is the cruel world that a mid-major champion lives in.  If you are in the ACC or Big 10, or Big 12 or SEC, you can lose in your conference tournament, and it is viewed as you ran up against a desparate bubble team who upset you in a crazy tough conference.  But in a mid-major conference, you are expected to win your tournament – you are not often afforded a second chance – even if your loss is to a 27-6 team.

So, enjoy the mid-major tournaments – these teams are much better than everyone realizes, and there is some really good basketball that is being played when you get two good teams on the court and both of them realize that this might be the last 40 minutes of their season.