Mid-Management Level: Certainly Not Middle-of-the-Road Talent This Year

Mid-major schools, featuring an abundance of gifted guards, could have a banner season in 2012-13. This is the first time in 40 years that mid-level schools managed to boast two returnees who were NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans (Murray State guard Isaiah Canaan and Creighton forward Doug McDermott). There were three such mid-major returnees in 1972-73 - Southwestern Louisiana's Dwight "Bo" Lamar (36.3 ppg) and Oral Roberts' Richie Fuqua (35.9) were the nation's top two scorers in 1971-72 and Long Beach State's Ed Ratleff (21.4) was the leading scorer for the nation's fifth-ranked team.

Last season, McDermott became only the eighth mid-major player in the last 21 years to earn NCAA consensus first-team All-American status. He and second-teamer Canaan could be joined at A-A status by a couple of the following mid-level candidates:

Backcourt - Deonte Burton (Nevada), Will Cherry (Montana), Rotnei Clarke (Butler), D.J. Cooper (Ohio University), Matthew Dellavedova (Saint Mary's), Kevin Dillard (Dayton), Jamaal Franklin (San Diego State), Shane Gibson (Sacred Heart), Tyler Haws (Brigham Young), Lamont "Momo" Jones (Iona), Frantz Massenat (Drexel), Ray McCallum (Detroit), C.J. McCollum (Lehigh), Kevin Pangos (Gonzaga), Colt Ryan (Evansville), Chase Tapley (San Diego State), Chaz Williams (Massachusetts) and Nate Wolters (South Dakota State).

Frontcourt - Anthony Bennett (UNLV), De'Mon Brooks (Davidson), Keith Clanton (UCF), Brandon Davies (Brigham Young), Erik Etherly (Loyola, MD), Elias Harris (Gonzaga), Alex Kirk (New Mexico), Tony Mitchell (North Texas), Mike Moser (UNLV), Mike Muscala (Bucknell), Kelly Olynyk (Gonzaga), Chris Udofia (Denver) and Leonard Washington (Wyoming).

Could the mid-majors manage as many as six NCAA consensus All-Americans for the first time since 1955-56? Following is a chronological list of mid-level NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans who played for a school never to be a member of a power conference (Houston, Memphis, SMU and Temple moving up to Big East) since the ACC was introduced in 1953-54:

1954 - La Salle's Tom Gola (1st), Western Kentucky's Tom Marshall (2nd), Furman's Frank Selvy (1st) and Duquesne's Dick Ricketts (2nd)

1955 - Furman's Darrell Floyd (2nd), La Salle's Tom Gola (1st), Duquesne's Sihugo Green (1st), Duquesne's Dick Ricketts (1st) and San Francisco's Bill Russell (1st)

1956 - Furman's Darrell Floyd (2nd), Duquesne's Sihugo Green (1st), Holy Cross' Tom Heinsohn (1st), San Francisco's K.C. Jones (2nd), San Francisco's Bill Russell (1st) and Dayton's Bill Uhl (2nd)

1957 - Seattle's Elgin Baylor (2nd) and Columbia's Chet Forte (1st)

1958 - Seattle's Elgin Baylor (1st) and San Francisco's Mike Farmer (2nd)

1959 - Marshall's Leo Byrd (2nd)

1960 - St. Bonaventure's Tom Stith (1st)

1961 - Gonzaga's Frank Burgess (2nd), St. Bonaventure's Tom Stith (1st) and Bradley's Chet Walker (1st)

1962 - Holy Cross' Jack Foley (2nd) and Bradley's Chet Walker (1st)

1963 - Colorado State's Bill Green (2nd), Loyola of Chicago's Jerry Harkness (1st), NYU's Barry Kramer (1st) and Bowling Green State's Nate Thurmond (2nd)

1964 - Princeton's Bill Bradley (1st), Davidson's Fred Hetzel (2nd) and Wichita State's Dave Stallworth (1st)

1965 - Princeton's Bill Bradley (1st), Utah State's Wayne Estes (2nd), Davidson's Fred Hetzel (1st) and Wichita State's Dave Stallworth (2nd)

1966 - St. Joseph's Matt Guokas (2nd) and Davidson's Dick Snyder (2nd)

1967 - New Mexico's Mel Daniels (2nd), Western Kentucky's Clem Haskins (1st) and Dayton's Don May (2nd)

1968 - St. Bonaventure's Bob Lanier (2nd), Dayton's Don May (2nd) and Niagara's Calvin Murphy (2nd)

1969 - Detroit's Spencer Haywood (1st), Davidson's Mike Maloy (2nd), Niagara's Calvin Murphy (1st) and Santa Clara's Bud Ogden (2nd)

1970 - New Mexico State's Jimmy Collins (2nd), St. Bonaventure's Bob Lanier (1st) and Niagara's Calvin Murphy (1st)

1971 - La Salle's Ken Durrett (2nd), Jacksonville's Artis Gilmore (1st) and Western Kentucky's Jim McDaniels (1st)

1972 - Oral Roberts' Richie Fuqua (2nd), Southwestern Louisiana's Dwight "Bo" Lamar (1st) and Long Beach State's Ed Ratleff (1st)

1973 - Illinois State's Doug Collins (1st), Southwestern Louisiana's Dwight "Bo" Lamar (1st), Long Beach State's Ed Ratleff (1st) and American University's Kermit Washington (2nd)

1974 - Canisius' Larry Fogle (2nd)

1975 - none

1976 - none

1977 - San Francisco's Bill Cartwright (2nd)

1978 - Indiana State's Larry Bird (1st) and Portland State's Freeman Williams (2nd)

1979 - Indiana State's Larry Bird (1st), San Francisco's Bill Cartwright (2nd), Northeast Louisiana's Calvin Natt (2nd), Dayton's Jim Paxson (2nd) and Rhode Island's Sly Williams (2nd)

1980 - La Salle's Michael Brooks (1st)

1981 - Brigham Young's Danny Ainge (1st)

1982 - San Francisco's Quintin Dailey (1st), UC Irvine's Kevin Magee (2nd) and Tulsa's Paul Pressey (2nd)

1983 - UNLV's Sidney Green (2nd)

1984 - San Diego State's Michael Cage (2nd), Brigham Young's Devin Durrant (2nd) and Cal State Fullerton's Leon Wood (2nd)

1985 - Wichita State's Xavier McDaniel (1st)

1986 - Miami of Ohio's Ron Harper (2nd) and Navy's David Robinson (2nd)

1987 - UNLV's Armon Gilliam (2nd) and Navy's David Robinson (1st)

1988 - Bradley's Hersey Hawkins (1st) and Brigham Young's Michael Smith (2nd)

1989 - La Salle's Lionel Simmons (2nd)

1990 - Loyola Marymount's Hank Gathers (2nd), UNLV's Larry Johnson (1st), Loyola Marymount's Bo Kimble (2nd) and La Salle's Lionel Simmons (1st)

1991 - UNLV's Stacey Augmon (2nd), East Tennessee State's Keith "Mister" Jennings (2nd) and UNLV's Larry Johnson (1st)

1992 - none

1993 - UNLV's J.R. Rider (2nd)

1994 - none

1995 - Massachusetts' Lou Roe (2nd)

1996 - Massachusetts' Marcus Camby (1st)

1997 - none

1998 - none

1999 - Miami (Ohio)'s Wally Szczerbiak (2nd)

2000 - Fresno State's Courtney Alexander (2nd)

2001 - none

2002 - Gonzaga's Dan Dickau (1st) and Xavier's David West (2nd)

2003 - Creighton's Kyle Korver (2nd) and Xavier's David West (1st)

2004 - St. Joseph's Jameer Nelson (1st) and Gonzaga's Blake Stepp (2nd)

2005 - none

2006 - Gonzaga's Adam Morrison (1st)

2007 - Nevada's Nick Fazekas (2nd)

2008 - Davidson's Stephen Curry (2nd)

2009 - Davidson's Stephen Curry (1st)

2010 - none

2011 - Morehead State's Kenneth Faried (2nd), Brigham Young's Jimmer Fredette (1st) and San Diego State's Kawhi Leonard (2nd)

2012 - Murray State's Isaiah Canaan (2nd) and Creighton's Doug McDermott (1st)