In six days CBS and ESPN will broadcast their annual “Field of 65” selection show. When all 65 teams are announced many fans will have pen or pencil in hand ready to make their picks from the first round to the Final Four in Indianapolis. Winning your office pool always comes down to picking the first round upsets. We all know a 16 has never beaten a one seed, but could this be the year? Do not worry everyone I am not about to predict the Patriot league champ to beat Kansas or anything, I am just simply emphasizing the fact that upsets will happen, that is why experts call it March Madness.
With a rather weak pool of at large candidates this year, mid-majors are licking their chops hoping they can grab a game or two over power conference foes. Could there be a 2010 George Mason in this years bracket? It is tough to say, but there are definitely a number of mid-majors poised to make a run and send Big East, ACC, or even Big 12 teams packing.
"I think you're going to see a very, very strong comeback this year — if things hold," Missouri Valley Conference commissioner Doug Elgin said. "You do see some very, very strong what most people call mid-major teams that are in position to command consideration."
With the Mountain West projected to get near four teams in the field and with the Atlantic 10 looking at a good possibility of getting 3 or more teams in there seems to be a good chance one of these teams will be good enough to reach the promise land. Teams such as, BYU, Xavier, Temple, Gonzaga, Richmond, UNLV, UTEP, and the routine customer, the Butler Bulldogs, all look to nab high seeds on selection Sunday and have favorable first round match-ups.
How can I forget New Mexico? The Lobos who are coached by former Iowa coach and Indiana great Steve Alford have ran through competition this year, only dropping two games and beating the likes of California, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and in conference rival BYU twice. New Mexico who could land as high as a 2 seed could be destined for greatness this March, but only time will tell.
"We've played a demanding schedule and we've been able to win, and those are always two combinations that are pretty impressive," said coach Steve Alford, who left Iowa three years ago.
While last March brought a dose of reality to the country’s mid-majors, this year’s outlook shows that the upset buzz is in the air once again. A total of six mid-major programs are in this week’s top 25 with 5 more knocking on the door.
"The competitive equity in Division I men's basketball continues to rise every year," Atlantic-10 commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade said. "I think this parity is going to continue as long as people stay committed to their programs."
We will know more about the favorable match-ups for mid-majors come Sunday night, but I believe that there are at least 5 teams that I can call the “real deal” and that have the ability to make in to the round of sixteen of even further.

My possible contenders are as follows (in order from best to worst):
1. New Mexico – 28-3
2. BYU – 28-4
3. Butler – 27-4
4. Gonzaga – 26-5
5. Temple – 26-5

What do you think? Who are your favorite mid-majors this year?