I think maybe they'll accept mid-major teams who have done everything they can do, to the best of their ability. You'd like to think these teams will get an extra look, that they won't just be summarily dismissed in favor of high-profile programs.

I think the two best teams are playing in the Eastern Maine championship.

It's maybe that mid-afternoon snack attack or maybe you want that call before lunch.

I don?t think it takes away from the luster of the conference. It?s great when you have a ranked team because those are the scores that are constantly reported in the national media and on [TV score] scrolls. It helps get face time on TV, but it?s not necessarily bad. Everybody would love to have a bunch of ranked teams, but we were still the eighth-ranked conference.

These aren't hollow, computer-generated numbers. They're there. They're real, I think. This could be a defining year with the conference, if things play out. You need to get over the hump, and once you do, you have a better chance to continue to build on it.

I can't consider them a mid-major team. I don't look at them that way. They're a really good team.