Few would have seen it coming last season when Robert Morris busted down the door to the NCAA Tournament just one year after finishing 10-22. The Colonials turned their fortunes in a hurry, as they won the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles, earning a No. 15 seed in the Big Dance.
In their first March Madness appearance since 2015, Robert Morris pushed No. 2 seed Alabama late into the second half before the Crimson Tide escaped with a stressful victory. Though it didn’t win a game in the tournament, Robert Morris was absolutely an example of a mid-major program that popped.
As the 2025-26 season creeps closer, we are on the hunt for mid-major teams that could do the same this season. To fit the bill of a mid-major team that “pops,” you don’t necessarily have to increase your win total by 16. But we are searching for teams from outside the high-major realm with juice to be dangerous and/or significantly better than in recent years.
Projecting top 25 college basketball programs of next 25 years: Teams set for most long-term success
Kyle Boone
As with most of our Dribble Handoffs, our writers are free to massage the criteria however they see fit. But there will certainly be bonus points awarded if anyone picks a mid-major team that proceeds to pull a turnaround like what Robert Morris did last season.
Here are our picks for the mid-major teams that will pop in 2025-26.
…..
