Middle Tennessee State Basketball

In his four years as a starter for Billy Donovan's Florida Gators, All-SEC guard Kenny Boynton has seen his share of battles.

Nine NCAA tournament games. Six of them decided by 10 points or less. Three of those in overtime.

Yet it was a victory earlier this year over one of those anonymous-sounding mid-majors that left the 6'2" dynamo gasping for air.

"This," Boynton told the press afterward, "is one of the most physical teams I've played against in a long time."

Even in a 66-45 defeat, the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders left an impression.

MTSU went on to finish one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, with victories over Vanderbilt, Central Florida (on the road) and Ole Miss. And although AP voters have been slow to embrace the Blue Raiders, multiple computer models place MTSU firmly within the nation's Top 40.

That resume has experts like CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein taking notice:

Middle Tennessee State has won 11 of 12 and 7 in a row. The Blue Raiders have also beaten Vandy + Ole Miss. Put em in BOLD.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 29, 2013

Amid a swirl of anecdotal and statistical evidence, Kermit Davis Jr.'s team has emerged as one with enticing postseason potential.

Why They're Dangerous

1. The Blue Raiders Get After It on D

Davis may not have contrived a catchy buzzword for his team's strategic preferences, but Middle Tennessee's defense shares a lot in common with the "Havoc" system installed by Shaka Smart at VCU.

The Blue Raiders, like the Rams, are deep and aggressive, with a relentless style of on-ball defending designed to create turnovers. Through the season's first 27 games, MTSU ranked 19th nationally in turnover percentage and 17th in adjusted defensive efficiency.

And unlike VCU—a team whose lust for turnovers tends to compromise its field-goal defense—the Blue Raiders are equally adept at contesting shots. Through the first 16 games of league play, MTSU led the Sun Belt Conference in effective field-goal-percentage against and defensive efficiency, both by gaping margins.

The key to Davis' defense is numbers, and MTSU's rotation runs 10 men deep. According to KenPom.com, the Blue Raiders rank 15th nationally in percentage of bench minutes used.

That combination of personnel and tactics produced some remarkable numbers during MTSU's non-conference schedule.

Over 11 games, the Blue Raiders allowed just three opponents to shoot better than 45 percent from the field, forced at least 10 turnovers in every single contest and had just two games where a player logged more than 30 minutes.

Davis explained his strategy to ESPN's Jason King:

We're trying to pressure people all over the court. We've got good depth. We play 10 guys double-figure minutes. It allows us to absorb foul trouble and stay fresh. That's probably our biggest strength right now.

By the time the Blue Raiders were set to face rival Western Kentucky on Jan. 26, opponents were well aware of MTSU's defensive hallmarks. Still, there was little the Hilltoppers could do to neutralize the Blue Raiders' aggression.

David Climer of The Tennessean reports:

“They’re 10-1 in this league for a reason,” Western coach Ray Harper said.

And the biggest reason is MTSU’s backcourt. With quick, aggressive guards setting the tempo, the Blue Raiders rattled Western into 18 turnovers and 39 percent shooting.

“For half-court defense, they’re the best we’ve played,” said Harper, whose Hilltoppers have faced such teams as Louisville, VCU and Iowa this season. “Their guards are the strength of their team.”

Havoc it is not, but according to one coach, what the Blue Raiders do is even more vexing.

2. Middle Tennessee's Backcourt Will Make You Sweat

What the Middle Tennessee State backcourt lacks in star power, it more than makes up for in quantity. The Blue Raiders have five guards receiving regular rotation minutes: Marcos Knight, Raymond Cintron, Bruce Massey, Tweety Knight and James Gallman.

Marcos Knight, a junior college transfer now in his second year with the program, is the leader of the bunch. No MTSU player averages more points or minutes.

Knight has been joined this season by brother Tweety, also a JUCO transfer. Marcos' usage and efficiency rates are up from last year, a spike ESPN's Myron Medcalf attributes to the sibling rivalry.

The duo practices with an intensity that's defined the entire Blue Raiders program. The goal, years later, remains the same: Prove that one is better than the other while pursuing their collective goals.

And while Tweety isn't quite his brother's equal as a scorer, the 6'1" junior plays a vital role in MTSU's pressure defense. In comments to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, Coach Davis labeled Tweety and senior Bruce Massey as his defensive catalysts.

Kermit Davis on Tweety Knight + Bruce Massey "I can't think of a better pair defensively to use on an opponent's back court."

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 29, 2013

But to focus on one guard over the others obscures this group's greatest strength: its depth. The Blue Raiders play a kinetic brand of basketball made possible by their capacity to distribute minutes and fouls.

Not surprisingly, teams that play two guards exclusively struggle to keep pace.

3. The Blue Raiders Are Experienced, with a History of Beating Good Teams

According to KenPom.com, Middle Tennessee State is the second-most experienced team in college basketball. As ESPN's Miles Simon explains, not all of that time together has been rosy, but at the very least, it's kept this group motivated.

Simon writes:

This is a team not many people are going to want to play come tourney time. After dominating the Sun Belt last year with 25 wins, they got upset in the first round of their conference tourney and were left out of the Big Dance. The Blue Raiders returned four starters and eight of their top nine scorers, making for a very hungry group of players that wanted to create some noise in March. 

Last year's Blue Raiders ended up in the NIT, where they scored wins over Marshall and Tennessee before suffering a six-point loss to eventual runner-up Minnesota.

Tournament success included, this particular group of MTSU players has built an impressive resume against schools from the Power Six.

Here's a closer look at how the Blue Raiders have fared against high-major competition over the past two seasons.

Year	School	Outcome	Score
2011-12	UCLA	W	86-66
2011-12	Ole Miss	W	68-56
2011-12	Vanderbilt	L	77-84
2011-12	Tennessee	W	71-64
2011-12	Minnesota	L	72-78
2012-13	Florida	L	45-66
2012-13	Ole Miss	W	65-62
2012-13	Vanderbilt	W	56-52

That's a .625 winning percentage against Power Six teams over the last two seasons. And even that seemingly lopsided loss against Florida was a three-point game at halftime.

Perhaps more than anything in this team's profile, it's MTSU's track record against quality opponents that augurs best for postseason play.

Oftentimes, we wonder whether a mid-major's statistical dominance will translate against tournament-level competition. With the Blue Raiders, there are no such hang-ups.

Teams Middle Tennessee State Could Beat in the NCAA Tournament

1. Maryland

If Middle Tennessee State ends up with a No. 12 seed, it could draw a high-major bubble team in the first round. The Terps have been a mess in the backcourt all season, making them one of Division I's most turnover-prone teams. The Blue Raiders are well-designed to exploit that weakness. 

2. Oregon

If MTSU can avoid the pseudo play-in game, it could see a team like Oregon in the second round. The Ducks have been thin at point guard since losing freshman Dominic Artis to a foot injury. If Artis doesn't make a full recovery, Oregon could fall victim to MTSU's attacking style.

Note: All statistics courtesy of KenPom.com unless otherwise noted.

After Washington and UMass advanced on Tuesday, there are two more matchups to decide who will battle in the semifinals of the NIT tournament.

Middle Tennessee and Minnesota kick off the action on Wednesday night, while Stanford and Nevada follow.

Here's a look at how I see the games shaking out.

Middle Tennessee (No. 4 Seed, Region 2) vs. Minnesota (No. 6 Seed)

Middle Tennessee has been very efficient shooting the basketball this season. The Blue Raiders shot 49.6 percent in the regular season, fourth in the nation.

Led by LaRon Dendy, Marcos Knight and JT Sulton, the Blue Raiders have the firepower to create havoc, as they did against No. 1 seed Tennessee in the second round.

Minnesota has a big body in Rodney Williams to slow the Middle Tennessee offense down, as well as a good supporting cast on offense. The Golden Gophers have 10 players averaging 14 minutes per game or more.

In the end, I see Middle Tennessee coming away with the victory. The Blue Raiders have a good player in Dendy and I think the offense will be too efficient for the Golden Gophers down the stretch.

Stanford (No. 3 Seed, Region 4) vs. Nevada (No. 5 Seed)

Every time I look at the Stanford Cardinal, I wonder how they keep winning games. Their biggest strength is their rebounding (50th in the nation during the regular season), but they were outrebounded by Cleveland State and Illinois State in the NIT tournament and still came away with victories.

The reason for Stanford's recent success has been its shooting. The Cardinal shot 49 percent against Cleveland State and 52 percent against Illinois State. That impressive shooting percentage is a marked contrast from the regular season when Stanford shot only 44 percent from the field, good for 147th in the nation.

I tend to have more faith in Nevada. The Wolf Pack can outrebound the Cardinal (45th in the nation during the regular season), and they are a better shooting team overall. Nevada shot 50 percent against Bucknell in the second round and attacked the rim, getting to the free-throw line 32 times.

Multiple players have also been stepping up for the Wolf Pack. Dario Hunt has been a rebounding and blocking machine all season long, Olek Czyz and Malik Story just dropped 24 points and 18 points, respectively, on Bucknell, and leading scorer Deonte Burton has been known to hit some timely shots.

The only concern for the Wolf Pack is that they aren't very deep beyond these players, so if they get into foul trouble, momentum could shift to Stanford.

But if the Wolf Pack stay out of foul trouble, I see them upsetting Stanford.

Follow me on Twitter. We can talk about the NIT tournament.

As a college student, you become very conscious of being in a sea of strangers. As a member of today's if-it-bleeds-it-leads society, you're bred to feel like anyone around you is capable of anything at any time. As a sports fan, you're bred to feel that a torn ACL is the worst thing that can happen to an athlete.

And then a story like Tina Stewart's happens.

Tina was a junior guard for Middle Tennessee State's women's basketball team, and she was murdered last night, allegedly by her freshman roommate.

The story led the news on all four Nashville TV stations, and eventually made its way to ESPN.

The story's important to me, both as a student at MTSU and a member of the sports media, but to those who are not interested in basketball, it may be a question of, "If she wasn't an athlete, would this be the first story I see on my 10 o'clock news?"

Maybe not, but there's no doubt that the story deserves extra traction because of who Tina Stewart was.

I make jokes on the radio all the time about athletes "pretending" to go to class. At some schools, predominantly NFL factories and places that recruit one-and-done NBA prospects, maybe that's prevalent. For the student-athletes who don't have multiple millions dangling in front of them, however, screwing around with a free education is hard to justify.

Student-athletes are supposed to be the best of us. They're the college students who have their priorities together. Between classes, homework, practices, games, travel and workouts, they don't have too much time to get into trouble. Some manage it, anyway.

A dedicated student-athlete, however, could teach classes in time management. They can't have a part-time job. They don't usually get to play Call of Duty for six hours a night. Going out to get drunk and stupid at campus bars is difficult, both from a time standpoint and the risk of a public situation.

Our athletes are often the ones who "get it right." Priorities are in order, and when they are, results often seem effortless. Among non-athletes, a sense of envy can set in.

We know nothing about the motive that drove Tina's roommate to her tragic actions. What we do know is that a family lost a daughter, a team lost a friend and a school lost someone that it could look up to.

People that we can look up to appear to be a rare commodity these days, so when we lose one, you're damn right it should be the lead story.

I want to freely admit this is an entirely speculative editorial fueled by a very interesting article I came across this morning. 

Eastern Michigan's AD Derrick Gragg dropped the following bomb.

“I think the MAC is going to try to extend invitations to one or two institutions in the next year or two,”  Gragg told the EMU Board of Regents Athletic Affairs Committee.

From Oct. 11 to 13 the MAC will meet.  Among other things they will reportedly discuss realignment strategies.

Gregg also speculated that Temple University will likely leave the MAC for another conference at the end of their current two year football-only contract.

I mentioned specifically this chain of events as a scenario that could hobble the Sun Belt in a previous article.

The MAC is generally pretty travel cost conscious.  Their member schools recognize they are working with a limited budget as members of one of the lower level FBS conferences, so they tend to stay within a region.  (Temple, as a football only add, was deemed enough of a value to allow in.)

Would the MAC add Louisiana Tech as an all-sport member? 

I am going to say probably not.  LA Tech adds a lot of travel and little market or esteem at this point, after years of bleeding in the WAC.  Their basketball program is very disappointing in terms of fan support.

Who else does that leave?

Maybe the MAC would consider an FCS upgrade like Youngstown State, but in general FBS conferences don't like adding FCS schools unless conditions are dictating realignment terms to them (as is happening in the WAC today).

AD Gragg is suggesting up to two teams are on the MAC radar...Who else is out there? 

I think the obvious choices are Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky.  Both were rumored to have initiated talks with the MAC in the past. (If you look at the geography and stability of both conferences it is pretty clear why they would be interested.)

Both are strong basketball programs - Middle Tennessee draws about 4,000 a game, while W. Kentucky draws about 5,000 - and Middle Tennessee is an emerging football power.  Both schools look like MAC schools in terms of their athletic programs.

If such an invitation were to be offered and accepted, where does that leave the Sun Belt?

There is certainly a lot to consider for schools like Arkansas State and UL-Lafayette.

The WAC Could Figure in To This

It also could make some sense out of the WAC expansion strategy.   The teams being mentioned most often frequently seem to add up to a niggling 10 football members with two non-football members in Seattle and Denver. 

It has been bothering me for weeks that the numbers do not seem to add up to a division-allowing 12 members in all sports.

Well, the WAC could go to 10 in football, add two basketball only schools and have their division play-fueled travel cost savings in all the other sports. 

That would give the WAC some flexibility to wait for schools with a little more immediate football credibility  (ie. current FBS members) that the current WAC members may want more, instead of going whole hog with the FCS additions now.

Is it possible that the WAC is making moves in anticipation of stealing ULL and Arkansas State a couple years down the road?  After years of unrequited love for North Texas, is the WAC putting together a strategy to bypass the Mean Green and stabilize the WAC's central front?

It is certainly an interesting comment open to a number of interpretations.

When you think of dynasties in women's college basketball teams like Tennessee and Connecticut are the first teams to come to mind.

However, the Sun Belt Conference has a dynasty of its own in the making, and they reside in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The Middle Tennessee State women's basketball team is currently undefeated in Sun Belt conference play and are on the brink of the national top 25 rankings.

The Blue Raiders have dominated the Sun Belt conference in recent years winning 54 of their last 60 regular season conference games.

Before last season's loss in the Sun Belt championship to rival Western Kentucky, the Blue Raiders had won four straight conference titles.

Even some of the most passionate women's college basketball fans no little about this powerhouse team.

This team just doesn't dominate inside the Sun Belt, but also plays great against other power conferences like the SEC.

The Blue Raiders have already taken two of three from the SEC this season, including a 79-75 win at LSU earlier in the season.

They have also tallied up convincing wins over Arizona and Indiana by total margin of 26 points.

Some were skeptical about how the Blue Raiders season would unfold after losing national star Amber Holt to the WNBA last season, but someone was quick to step into her place.

The new star of the team has become Junior forward Alysha Clark who is averaging 24 points per game and just under 10 rebounds per game.

The Blue Raiders will definitely make the NCAA Tournament in March, but just how far they go is still a big hurdle this team is trying to jump.

This team will most likely be seeded anywhere from the 10th to 13th seed come NCAA Tournament time, so look for a huge upset alert for whoever their first-round matchup ends up being.

Another undefeated season in conference play is very likely, so don't let this team fly too far under your radar.

This team means business, and 12 Sun Belt victims can already attest to that.