Traveling in style a major perk for college hoops teams

I am not quite sure who popularized the term midmajor as it relates to college basketball teams. Clearly, there is a gap between whatever a midmajor really is and the high majors. Or Butler, George Mason and Davidson would have not been such huge NCAA Tournament stories over the last 5 years.

Still, I think the term is misused far too often. Many seem to think any school outside the Big Six conferences must be a midmajor. Seriously, how could programs with the tradition, resources, attendance and accomplishments of Xavier and Memphis possibly be considered midmajor?

So, I have developed a formula to tell the difference. It is not complicated. If a team charters to most or all of its road games, it can't be a midmajor.

I don't know this, but I think just about every team in the BCS leagues charters. I know more than a few teams outside those leagues also charter.

In this town, Villanova and Temple take charters. No other school does, except on special occasions.

And, if you don't think that is a huge competitive edge, you just don't understand the realities of travel, especially in the winter months.

Let's say your team is taking a charter to a city 300 miles away. The team leaves after class one evening, buses right next to the plane, does not deal with security and does not have to deal with baggage claim (bags go off the bus and then back on the bus in the next town). From school to hotel is usually less than 2 hours.

After the game the next night, the same things happen in reverse. If the game ends at 9 p.m., the team can be back on the plane by 10 and on campus a little more than an hour after that, ready for the next day at school.

Contrast that with the team that flies commercial. That team must leave campus at least 2 hours before the plane is going to depart, deal with all the vagaries of airports, including bags, security, delays and cancellations. There is more waiting for bags at the other end, if your plane actually leaves.

After the game is played, the team has to stay over, get a real early wakeup call, miss early classes and, if they are lucky, actually get out of town on time and arrive back on campus nearly 48 hours after they left in the middle of the day after the game.

Because of airport issues, many schools going 300 miles or so often just take a bus for the whole trip. So we're talking 5 hours on the road each way and a return trip that will get a team back in the middle of the night.

While he was explaining the travel in the Colonial Athletic Association, a classic bus league, Drexel coach Bruiser Flint mentioned last week how his good friend John Calipari said what an edge it was for him at Memphis to charter when few, if any, of his Conference USA rivals flew that way.

There is no list out there of which schools charter, but you can get a hint by attendance. If a school has a significant revenue stream, it is more likely to charter.

So, the next time you hear the term midmajor, think airplane. And, if you are not sure, check out a team's home attendance.

BYU, obviously, is not in a BCS league. There were 22,700 at the Marriott Center last Wednesday for the game with San Diego State. That is major, in every way.

JIMMER MANIA

Steve Lappas was in Provo, Utah, last Wednesday when BYU senior Jimmer Fredette went off for 43 points against San Diego State. Lappas, the former Villanova coach and now a television analyst for CBS College Sports, has seen Fredette for 4 years. He is a believer.

"I've seen this kid grow from the beginning," Lappas said. "I think he's a tremendous player. He's not only a shooter, but he can do whatever he wants to do with the dribble. He knows how to get in the lane, he gets fouled. I think he's a great, great player."

NBA?

"No question in my mind," Lappas said. "I've seen him do too many things. When you see guys do things that you have to have a knack for, you can't explain. How did he do that? Did he do it because he's fast; did he do it because he's quick? He just does things. He's able to score in the lane in ways that you can't really describe."

NBA guys, Lappas said, ask about Fredette's speed, athleticism, etc.

Lappas tells them: "Do you understand this is a game? And this guy plays the game. It ain't about trying to cut him apart and decipher what he is. This guy can play."

Fredette had 49 against Arizona last year. He had 37 in an NCAA win last year against Florida. He had 47 this season at Utah and 42 at Colorado State.

Lappas points out that nobody is setting Jimmer up and almost all of his shots are off the dribble. BYU does not have anybody who penetrates the lane and kicks it out to a wide-open Fredette.

When Fredette played at home in the Glens Falls, N.Y., Civic Center in December against Vermont, the local paper had special sections 2 straight days. And 6,300 turned out to see the hometown hero.

By the way, Fredette's AAU backcourt mate in Albany, N.Y., was Penn State's terrific senior, Talor Battle, who is closing fast on 2,000 points. Must have been a pretty nice squad.

WHEN DOES HE SLEEP?

Most teams have played around 22 games at this stage of the season. Official Mike Kitts has visited 22 states, working 67 games, most in college hoops, according to statsheet.com.

Check out this schedule last month. Florida at Tennessee (Jan. 11), Ohio State at Michigan (Jan. 12), Rhode Island at Richmond (Jan. 13), Fairfield at Loyola (Jan. 14), Illinois at Wisconsin (Jan 15), St. Bonaventure at Rhode Island (Jan. 16), Canisius at Siena (Jan. 17), Kentucky at Alabama (Jan. 18), Mississippi at Vanderbilt (Jan. 19) and Marist at Rider (Jan. 20).

So, it was Knoxville, Tenn.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Richmond, Va.; Baltimore, Md.; Madison, Wis.; Kingston, R.I.; Albany, N.Y., Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Lawrenceville, N.J., on successive days.

George Clooney, star of "Up in the Air," must be envious.

THIS AND THAT

-- How would you like a team with recent records like this, starting last season - 27-8, 30-5, 24-11, 23-12, 23-9, 24-8, 25-4, 24-9 and 23-8. This season, the team is 20-2. The mystery team is Utah State, the most unknown good team in America. The Aggies have not been able to break through in the postseason because they have not had the athletes to compete with the big boys. Maybe this is the year.

-- Saint Joseph's freshman C.J. Aiken is far from a finished product on offense. But, on a team looking for some identity, he could eventually give it to them. Aiken is second nationally in blocked shots (3.95 per game). He already has 83 blocks in just 21 games. The school record? Rodney Blake's 419 from 1984-88.

-- There is the usual questioning the legitimacy of BYU and San Diego State because neither plays in a BCS conference. Well, the RPI suggests they are quite legit. BYU is No. 1 while San Diego State is No. 4.

-- The Big East is No. 1 in conference RPI, followed by the Big Ten and Big 12. The Mountain West is fourth, ahead of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference and Pac-10, which are fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Locally, through Sunday, Villanova is No. 9, Temple No. 36 and Drexel No. 64. La Salle is 161, followed by Penn at 190 and St. Joe's at 214.

-- While Mike Kitts leads all officials with 67 games refereed, other refs with 60 or more games worked include Bryan Kersey (65), Roger Ayers (64), Mike Eades (60), Jamie Luckey (60) and Brian Dorsey (60). Most of these men are among the top officials in the country, but you really do wonder how effective they can be with all these games and all that travel.