Wait Until Selection Sunday will be Brutal for Miami (Ohio) but Should be Rewarded

The RedHawks perfect season has come to an end and its NCAA Tournament resume will be scrutinized

Miami RedHawks head coach Travis Steele watches his offense in the second half of Mid-American Conference Tournament first round game between the Miami RedHawks and the UMass Minutemen at Rocket Arena in Cleveland on Thursday, March 12, 2026. Top-seeded Miami was eliminated from the tournament with an 87-82 loss to the Minutemen. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If you like chaos, it was your dream scenario and a near-March guarantee.

One of the most polarizing teams in the sport has lost and done so at such an unfortunate time.

Miami (OH) blew a 11-point lead in the MAC Tournament to UMass, wrecking its perfect season and generating a fire storm of bubble talk about the RedHawks and its candidacy for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Currently, Miami (OH) has a non-conference strength of schedule at No. 307 in the country, according to KenPom and has not played a Quad 1 game. They are 2-0 in Quad 1, 11-0 in Quad 3, and 15-1 in Quad 4 – which is its biggest blemish.

The loss to the Minutemen wasn’t any typical loss, it was a dreaded Quad 4 loss that keep teams out of the NCAA Tournament. But those teams aren’t undefeated, they have other glaring issues with its resume.

The RedHawks are in a class of its own in terms of its resume. It hasn’t played anybody but, until Thursday, it hadn’t lost to anybody. Other teams on the fringe of the NCAA Tournament have proven to not deserve a bid.

"It'd be an embarrassment – a complete embarrassment if this league doesn't get two teams in [the NCAA Tournament],” UMass head coach Frank Martin said about the MAC’s postseason chances.

It’ll certainly get one team in the field that wasn’t expecting to make it, but the conversation will be hot surrounding Miami (OH) and it won’t bother head coach Travis Steele.

"When you've been fired before, listen, you don't care anymore,” he said on Thursday when asked what life will be like until Sunday night.

Regardless of what the RedHawks head coach says, it will be a nerve-racking few days for him and his players. They likely deserve a bid but it could be in the First Four in Dayton.