When applied to the bubble, however, even the very term "mid-major" most often refers to leagues that inhabit the top third of D-I alongside the major conferences. In addition to the Mountain West's seven bids the past three years, at-large invites have been extended to the West Coast Conference (three bids), American, Atlantic 10 (two each) and Missouri Valley (one bid). The other 21 D-I leagues and their 220 teams are still seeking their first at-large bid of the 2020s.

Naturally, the committee's charge is to select the 36 strongest at-large teams, period. The picture can be less clear-cut, however, with respect to the last at-large spots on the Nos. 11 or 12 lines. These two seed lines alone account for two-thirds of the at-large bids earned by mid-majors over the past three selections.

Contenders for these last at-large bids are often drawn from the 40s, 50s and 60s in the NET rankings. This range also marks the point at which major-conference programs, while still a majority, become less predominant in number relative to mid-majors.