Why 7th-Seeded Miami Should Be Thrilled About Drawing the West Region
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The weakest region with the best upset ability. As they say, "anything can happen in March." The Miami Hurricanes have landed the 7th seed, ending up in the West Region, the weakest of the bunch, with many teams that have been up and down all season.
It's a region Jai Lucas and the Canes should be thrilled about because of the inconsistencies of the teams they would have to face, even before they sniff No. 1 Arizona. It first starts with the Mizzou Tigers, and if they get past them, then a Big 10 foe who looked to be invincible early in the season.
The First Steps of the Journey
“For us, it’s business as usual," Lucas said. "We’ll play road games, and this would be a road game. We’ve been in environments before like this, so we’ll just go and do what we do.”
The Hurricanes have to battle a home-court disadvantage in the first round against Missouri. The University of Missouri's campus is 20 minutes away from the arena, and it will clearly be in favor of the home crowd.
“They’re going to be competitive, they’re going to play hard, they’re going to fight every possession, they’re going to crash [toward basket for rebounds]. He’s one of the coaches that sends all five to the glass,” Jai Lucas said about the Tigers. “And then just defensively, they’ll pick up kind of extended pressure; some of the stuff we’ve seen before. So we’ll kind of see, but I know it’s going to be more of a defensive-minded battle.”
After the Canes would battle the Big 10 Champions, Purdue, who have had an inconsistent season of their own. There is a route to a Sweet 16 Appearance, and it would be a statement of what Lucas could do in one single year as the head coach of the Hurricanes.
“My message to the guys is just to stay poised,” Ernest Udeh said. “Apart from me, Malik and Tre, the rest of our guys are fairly young. And again, just being in that leadership role, the one thing that we can showcase them and display to them is just that essence of being poised.
"No matter if we’re up or down, no matter if the game’s getting out of hand, no matter if the other team goes on a run, just staying composed and sticking to what we know, sticking to what we practice, sticking to what we do and understand that basketball is a game of runs.”
The Tigers defeated the Florida Gators earlier in the season, while the Canes fell short to the same foe.
It's a fun first and second round possibility for the Canes, and a Sweet 16 appearance is right in front of them.
2026 NCAA tournament schedule, dates
Here is the schedule:
- Selection Sunday: 6 p.m. ET Sunday, March 15 on CBS
- First Four: Tuesday, March 17 and Wednesday, March 18
- First round: Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20
- Second round: Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22
- Sweet 16: Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27
- Elite Eight: Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29
- Final Four: Saturday, April 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
- NCAA championship game: Monday, April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.
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