Those Wacky Conferences And Their Wacky Schools

The good old Denver Hawk Pioneers, located in the Sun Belt

The Madness is hitting full stride, and for us lucky ones with a flexible schedule, we're staring at two 4-day weekends. Tomorrow until Sunday we have the major conference tournaments, which leads nicely into St. Patty's Day on Monday. Four day weekend numero dos begins on Thursday with the first tip of the NCAA Tournament. Life is good.

At The Legend, we like to think that the work ditching, the boozing, and the gambling are only part of the joy package that March Madness brings to the table. In addition to those things (which we love a lot), we also love the yearly reminder of how many wacky conferences, wacky schools, and wacky mascots there are in Division I basketball.

Take for instance The Sun Belt. I take it that if your team is in the conference, then you are located in the Sun Belt. Who knew that the Sun Belt spanned all the way from Miami(Florida International) to Denver(University of Denver)? Ahhh, the Sunshine State, beautiful. When I think of the Sun Belt, Western Kentucky(conference champs) always jumps to mind. Was I the only one who thought Troy University was in Troy, NY? It's in Alabama! Isn't Florida International stealing some of the Atlantic Sun Conference's rays?

The Summit League has wacky school mascots and three school names that are acronyms: the Thunderbirds, Leathernecks, Gentlemen, Jackrabbits, IPFW Mastadons, UMKC Kangaroos, and IUPUI. Does Summit League indicate that all the schools are on top of mountains, or is it like a Peace Summit? The NCAA representative from the Summit League is Oral Roberts for the third straight year. I don't know much about Oral Roberts, but I think it was founded by a televangelist faith healer named, Oral Roberts. I think I read in a college book that the favorite alcoholic drink at Oral Roberts is orange juice. At least their mascot got into a fight during the Summit League championship game.


It's about time that the MAC, MAAC, and MEAC merge to form a Super Mid-Major (and by the way, can somebody come up with a better, more derisive term than Mid-Major?) Conference. Sienna is the only team in so far from the MAEAAAC.

We know about the WAC from its run and gun football, but what's up with the SWAC? Since when are Alabama and Mississippi considered the Southwest? Alabama State is the top seed and will play second seeded Mississippi Valley State in the semifinal round of the SWAC tournament this afternoon. Alabama State has a center named Chief Kickingstallionsims, who averages 8 points per game. They must go to the Big Dance. We're dealing with a potential NCAA tournament All-Name Hall of Famer here.

Thank you wacky conferences. You make this time of year that much better. Big Sky, Big South, and Big West, you guys stay.... Big. Horizon League, where did you come up with your name? And to the ten Independents out there, you know you can't get an automatic tournament bid unless you're in a conference, right? What's the point?

**Editor's Note -- Chief Kickingstallionsims and Alabama State are actually playing Jackson State in the SWAC semis tonight. The worldwide leader gave me the wrong info.