Zigging and Zagging: Gonzaga Among Nine Mid-Majors Entering Tourney #1

A weekly ritual began on January 18, 1949, when the Associated Press announced the results of the first weekly basketball poll. Cliff Clavin might be the only individual who knows that St. Louis was ranked atop the initial poll. The Billikens, who have never been a member of a power league, placed third in the final rankings that season. SLU was the first of eight different mid-major institutions in the first eight seasons of rankings to be atop the national pedestal.

Well, we've traversed from one mid-level school all the way to another (Gonzaga). The Zags, who became the ninth mid-major school entering the NCAA playoffs ranked #1 (2013), has been the only mid-major atop the national poll in the last 10 seasons (achieving feat third time in last seven years this campaign). Despite losing to Tennessee on a neutral court, the Zags have a legitimate shot at being ranked #1 entering the 2019 NCAA playoffs.

The term "mid-major" annoys some loyalists. But following is a chronological list assessing what happened to nationally top-ranked teams that haven't been members of one of the generally-accepted power conferences since AP national rankings were introduced in the late 1940s: