Mid-Major Men’s Basketball 2021 Season Preview

Story posted November 8, 2021 in CommRadio, Sports by Adam Sheetz

The Mid-Major conferences truly make college basketball what it is. They always bring excitement to the sport, as well as producing some of the best teams in the nation.

The mid-majors are led by the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who are one of the top teams in the nation. The Zags are led by Mark Few, who has consistently shown he is one of the best coaches in all of basketball.

The Zags will be led by star junior Drew Timme, who has had a phenomenal career in Spokane. Timme is a preseason All-American, and is looking to lead this Gonzaga team back to the national title game this year.

A huge question in the West Coast Conference is if anyone can challenge the Zags this year, and it might be Saint Mary’s. The Gaels have been very competitive over the last few seasons with Gonzaga and have recruited well, making it possible for the Gaels to give the Zags some competition this season.

The story of the 2021 NCAA Tournament was the run by Oral Roberts, who made a great run before falling in the round of 16 to Arkansas. Oral Roberts hopes to make another run this season, and will be led by star guard Max Abmas.

Abmas was great in the tournament run a season ago, and will have to step up even more after Kevin Obanor transferred to Texas Tech this offseason. Abmas is being praised as one of the top guards in all of college basketball, and hopes to lead this Golden Eagles team to new heights this year.

A conference to watch this season is the Missouri Valley Conference, which could have a wild race to the finish this year. The preseason favorite in the conference is Drake, but Loyola-Chicago is another team that is generating a lot of buzz.

Loyola-Chicago reportedly defeated Wisconsin in a scrimmage in the preseason, and is coming into this year after another NCAA Tournament run including an upset over one-seeded Illinois.

Drake returns all five of their starters from a year ago where it won more than 20 games, leading to high expectations for the Bulldogs for this season.

St. Bonaventure is also looking to make a run this year. The Bonnies are the favorite in the Atlantic 10, and have really emerged as a great program over the last few seasons.

The Bonnies return all of their starters from last year, as well as adding two transfers from the ACC to a team that was in the NCAA Tournament last year. The Bonnies are getting a lot of buzz as a potential bracket buster in March, and they have all the tools to make another run this year.

The mid-major teams are always bringing excitement to the game of college basketball, and this year will be no different with the question being, is it Gonzaga’s time in the spotlight?

 

Adam Sheetz is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ads360@psu.edu.

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Adam Sheetz

Junior / Broadcast Journalism

Adam Sheetz is a third year student from Reedsville, Pennsylvania majoring in broadcast journalism. He has been a broadcaster for WCHX 105.5 FM in Mifflin County covering high school sports. He has also been a member of CommRadio since his first semester at Penn State, being involved in both the Arts and Sports departments. Adam has extensive experience in a play-by-play setting within CommRadio, covering football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer and volleyball for the station. He has done written content for CommRadio ranging from Penn State football articles all the way to discussing Disney Channel movies. To contact Adam, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).