Hawking Headlines: Is Monmouth Nation's Premier Mid-Major This Season?

UCLA, boasting 11 NCAA championships, is the ultimate measuring stick for success. Using the Bruins as a barometer, has Gonzaga passed the baton to Monmouth, at least this season, as the nation's premier mid-major program? Comparative scores can be misleading, but UCLA lost at home against the Hawks before winning at Gonzaga.

Monmouth's boisterous bench antics generated headlines across the country but the Hawks established a benchmark of mid-major success on the court by winning five regular-season games away from home against different power-league members (including USC, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Rutgers).

Monmouth's sizzling start under coach King Rice escalates in impressiveness when stacked up against non-league achievements in regular-season competition by the most dynamic mid-major schools thus far in the 21st Century. Consider:

• Gonzaga has averaged 2 1/2 regular-season victories annually away from home against 28 different power-conference members under coach Mark Few since 1999-00 with a high of six in 2008-09 (Indiana, Maryland, Oklahoma State, Tennessee twice and Washington State).

• Memphis averaged two regular-season triumphs annually away from home against power-conference members during coach John Calipari's nine-year tenure from 2000-01 through 2008-09 with a high of five in 2005-06 (Alabama, Cincinnati, Ole Miss, Providence and UCLA).

• Wichita State had a total of only eight regular-season successes away from home against power-conference members under coach Gregg Marshall the previous five years when the Shockers averaged 30 wins annually.