St. Joe’s still ended up as a 1-seed that year, despite losing to Xavier in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. Miami’s loss to UMass should not come as large a surprise as fans across the country should think. In two previous matchups, Miami won by a combined 11 points (86-84 in Miami on January 27, and 86-77 at UMass on February 17).
Miami last won the Mid American Conference (MAC) tournament in 2007, and this was their first regular season MAC title since 2006.
The primary difference between Miami (OH), St. Joe’s in 2004, and Wichita State in 2014 all being mid-major schools to go into Championship Week undefeated was that St. Joe’s and Wichita State were both primed to be on the first two lines, regardless of how their conference tournament unfolded. Miami, despite having the fourth highest scoring offense in the country, was never projected to be higher than a 6-seed by most outlets.
This loss will have them lucky to have a single digit next to their name when the committee announces the pairings for the NCAA Tournament live on CBS this Sunday night at 6 PM eastern time.
Miami would have been just the seventh team since Indiana’s undefeated season in 1976 to enter the Big Dance without a blemish on their record. Only one of those teams did not make the Final Four. That honor belongs to Wichita State going out in the second round during that 2014 tournament.
This leaves the door wide open for Akron, Kent State, or Toledo (who defeated UMass on Friday night in the first MAC semifinal) to earn an automatic berth by winning the MAC title on Saturday night in Cleveland, while Miami has to be thought of as getting an at-large bid. This would be the first time since 1999 when the MAC got two teams into the NCAA Tournament…Kent State was an 11-seed and lost in the first round to John Chaney’s Temple Owls, while Miami advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before falling to Kentucky.
Miami was led by future longtime NBA player Wally Szczerbiak, who is now an analyst for CBS Sports and the New York Knicks.
What makes the loss even worse on Miami’s resume goes beyond losing in the first round of their conference tournament. UMass had won their regular season finale against Ohio University, but dropped six straight previously, including three of those games going to overtime. The Redhawks may have been the last undefeated team left in the country, but their strength of schedule would put them on the outside looking in should the committee decide to split hairs.
Only eight of the MAC’s 13 schools qualify for their postseason tournament. Even the four superpowers (Big 10, ACC, SEC, and Big 12) have first round game opportunities for all of their members to advance on, not just the top four or six to get a bye onto the quarterfinals.
Miami does deserve a spot in the field of 68, but so will the winner of the MAC. The issue then becomes that that you have guys like Bruce Pearl campaigning that Auburn deserves the spot more, if it comes down to Miami now being a bubble team. Auburn would present a better chance of advancing in the tournament than Miami, as Auburn advanced to the Final Four in 2025, before losing to the eventual National Champion Florida Gators. Pearl has made some pretty disparaging comments about Miami over the past few weeks, while still campaigning for his former Auburn squad.
The tournament needs more opportunity for mid-majors, not an eighth or ninth team from the SEC, so go back to being an analyst Bruce. We can talk when the field eventaully balloons to 96 teams, When your Auburn homerism makes Charles Barkley look impartial, you need to check yourself and your comments.
Is Miami going to the Sweet 16 or Elite EIght…probably not.
Does Miami deserve one of those fringe 7-10, 6-11, or 5-12 matchups…certainly.
You cannot overlook 31-1, and the committee knows better than to slam the door on one of the bigger focal point stories in college basketball over the past two months. This would include sending Miami to Dayton for a First Four matchup on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
-JC24