NCAA Tournament 2012: Ranking Top Tournament-Bound Mid-Major Teams

Come March Madness time in the basketball world, the talk constantly seems to surround the No. 1 seeds, the All-Americans, and which team has the best chance to take home a national title.

Yet its the underdogs, the mid-major teams that shock the field and win games come tournament time, that make the NCAA tournament all the more special for fans of the game of basketball.

It's teams like Butler of the last two seasons and VCU of 2011 that give the tournament a special place of its own among all other sports spectacles.

These are the top three tournament-bound mid-major teams heading into the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday.

No. 3: Creighton (28-5, 14-4 MVC)

The Creighton Bluejays have had themselves a season of ups and down, featuring several lengthy win streaks and a three-game losing streak midway through the season.

What makes this Bluejays team such an intriguing team to watch is just how explosive they are offensively. Creighton is the No. 1 team in the country in field goal percentage (50.9 percent), No. 2 in assists per game (17.9 apg) and No. 7 in points per game with 80 a contest.

Talk about a special offensive group.

Come tournament time, the MVC champions will be quite the team to watch.

No. 2: Drexel (27-6, 16-2 CAA)

If there's a team to watch out for come tournament time, Drexel is that team.

The Dragons are winners of a whopping 25 of the their last 27 games. The team's most recent loss came in their last outing, in a CAA championship game where VCU put together a tremendous first-half performance.

Drexel has the ability to make a deep run in this tournament, boasting one of the better teams in the country this season when it comes to winning games late in the year.

No. 1: Murray State (30-1, 15-1 OVC)

Who else could it be?

Murray State is not only one of the top mid-major teams, but one of the top teams in the entire country.

The Racers have just one loss all season, losing to the Tennessee State Tigers by four points in a game the team had won.

One of the more solid teams in the country offensively, expect this ball club to make a deep run in the 2012 NCAA tournament.