Miami (Ohio)’s historic 31-game unbeaten streak and perfect regular season came to a stunning end at the hands of UMass in the MAC tournament quarterfinals. Now, the 20th-ranked RedHawks face a nervous wait for March Madness selection, with their weak schedule threatening to turn a legend-making season into a What-If scenario.
CLEVELAND — Travis Steele went 31 games and 363 days before addressing a losing locker room. That streak, and Miami (Ohio)’s perfect regular season, ended in dramatic fashion Thursday as UMass rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to win 87-83 in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
For the 20th-ranked RedHawks, the loss wasn’t just about ending an historic run. It immediately threw their NCAA Tournament at-large hopes into chaos, creating one of the most compelling Selection Sunday storylines in recent memory. Their resume features an undefeated record in league play, but it’s weighed down by a schedule that ranks a staggering 344th out of 365 Division I teams according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool.
Historical Precedent: Unbeaten but Not Untouchable
Miami became only the fifth team this century to go undefeated in the regular season, joining a fraternity that includes Saint Joseph’s (2003-04) and Gonzaga (2020-21). The parallels for Miami are both encouraging and terrifying:
- Saint Joseph’s lost to Xavier in the 2004 Atlantic 10 quarterfinals but still earned a No. 1 seed and advanced to the Sweet 16.
- Gonzaga lost in the West Coast Conference tournament in 2021 but received an at-large bid.
- Alcorn State (1978-79) remains the cautionary tale—the last team to go undefeated in the regular season and miss the NCAA Tournament entirely, due to their conference’s transitional status.
The historical data suggests an undefeated regular season is almost always enough. But Miami’s case is unique because of their non-conference weakness: they faced no Tier 1 opponents and were just 2-0 against Tier 2 squads.
The Schedule That Could Spoil Everything
The NCAA Tournament selection committee values strength of schedule as a core metric. Miami’s rank of 344th is not just bad—it’s historically poor for a team with national title aspirations. Compare that to Auburn, a team currently on the bubble according to some bracketologists: the Tigers’ schedule ranks in the top 50.
“Undefeated means something, and so my hope is that they would make it,” said Grant Hill, who will call the NCAA Tournament for CBS and TNT Sports. “They’ve got a chip on their shoulder. I think to see them get into the tournament, they want to prove themselves against some of the bigger teams.”
Hill’s sentiment is widely shared, but the committee’s metrics don’t lie. A perfect record against a weak slate creates a résumé deficit that may be impossible to overcome without a MAC tournament title.
The MAC’s March Madness Drought
The Mid-American Conference hasn’t had two teams in the NCAA Tournament since 1999. That year, Miami earned an at-large bid after losing to Kent State in the conference tournament final—and famously advanced to the Sweet 16.
UMass coach Frank Martin, who led South Carolina to the Final Four in 2017, believes Miami deserves the same fate. “It’d be an embarrassment. A complete embarrassment if this league doesn’t get two teams in,” Martin said after his team’s historic first MAC tournament win.
That win was a stunner: UMass, in its first season after 43 years in the Atlantic 10, controlled the glass (41-24 rebounding edge) and turned 17 offensive boards into 23 second-chance points. Their game-tying run after trailing by 11 with under nine minutes left showcased the poise that could carry them to the MAC title.
Inside the Locker Room: From Shock to Resolve
Steele, still reeling from the loss, made it clear he’s not concerned with the broader MAC implications. “I couldn’t care less about the MAC getting multi bids,” he said. “It’s more about just putting ourselves in the best position, which I think we’ve done.”
His senior leader and MAC Player of the Year Peter Suder echoed a team-first approach: “I think we proved during the regular season that we earned a spot, but I can just control what I can control. We’re going to still get better every day.”
Miami athletic director David Sayler offered a diplomatic but confident take: “It was a legendary accomplishment and one game today doesn’t change that in my mind. I believe the committee will get it.”
Steele, who was fired at Xavier in 2021, revealed a hardened perspective: “When you’ve been fired before, you don’t care anymore. You don’t care what people think. I’m just telling you, I’m going to live life the way I live it unapologetically.”
Bracketology: Still In, But For How Long?
Despite the loss, major bracketologists still project Miami in the field. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the RedHawks supplanting Auburn, while Fox Sports’ Mike DeCourcy also keeps them in. Neither sends them to the First Four in Dayton.
That consensus could shift after Selection Sunday’s final deliberations. The committee will weigh the obvious—31 wins, a MAC title—against the daunting schedule numbers. Miami’s path is now simple: they must win the MAC tournament to remove all doubt. A loss in any round would send them to the committee’s room, where history is on their side but metrics are not.
The Longest Three Days in College Basketball
Steele and his players now face an excruciating wait. If they lose in the MAC tournament final or semifinal, their fate will be debated on every selection show. The pressure will be immense, but the alternative—winning three games in three days—is the only way to silence the skeptics.
For now, the RedHawks are still unbeaten in the public’s mind, but not in the record books. Their story has shifted from “America’s last unbeaten team” to “the team with the best record that might not make the tournament.” That narrative alone makes this one of the most captivating finishes to any conference season in recent memory.
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