Respect the RedHawks

With a thrilling overtime win at Ohio on Saturday, Miami (Ohio) completed a perfect 31-0 regular season.  The RedHawks are the only undefeated team in the country.  They have been for weeks.  They're ranked in the Top 20.  Yet there are some who believe that Miami (Ohio) has to win the MAC Tournament to guarantee an NCAA Tournament bid.  Because apparently having their only loss of the season come in the conference tournament won't be enough.  Which is simply an asinine sentence to even type!

Bruce Pearl made himself look like a fool last week when he tried to argue on TNT that, despite being undefeated, Miami (Ohio) didn't "deserve" to be an NCAA Tournament team if they didn't win the MAC Tournament.  The crux of his argument was that, if they don't get the MAC's auto bid, they aren't one of the 37 "best" teams in the mix for an at-large bid.  He even said that he mid-major teams "recognize they're only going to be a one-bid league" and added that he thought Miami (Ohio) would finish last if they played in the Big East.

Not surprisingly, Miami (OH) Athletic Director David Salyer fired back.  He had a very pointed response to Pearl.  Salyer called Pearl out for his comments, saying it was "disgusting" how much disrespect he was showing the RedHawks.  He was also quick to note the blatant bias Pearl was displaying regarding the team he thought should in over Miami (OH).  Auburn.

Pearl took Auburn to the Final Four in 2019 and again last season.  He abruptly quit as the Tigers' head coach just before this season began and handed the reins over to his son, Seven.  So, to say he has a vested interest in Auburn's success would be an understatement.  It may not be Auburn grad Charles Barkley hugging a stuffed tiger on the set, but it's close.  Pearl might as well be painting his face orange and blue and chanting "War Eagle."  He even slipped a "we" into the discussion when talking about Auburn!

TV commentators are supposed to be unbiased.  Bruce Pearl clearly is not, which completely destroyed his credibility.  He claims his opinions on Auburn and Miami (OH) have nothing to do with him being Auburn's former coach or his son currently occupying the position, but come on now!  It got to the point where Pearl (no doubt in response to the controversy that he created and brought upon himself) tried to course correct and make light of his role as antagonist in an interview with Miami (OH)'s head coach...which only made him look that much worse!

Steven Pearl isn't exactly helping his father's cause, either.  Auburn lost its regular season finale on Saturday to fall to 16-15 overall and 7-11 in the SEC.  Yet, there was the younger Pearl in his press conference touting his team's tournament resume.  It was basically the same argument Bruce made.  Auburn has one of the best wins in the country at Florida.  That's the crux of their argument.  Oh, and strength of schedule, which is an inherent advantage Power 5 teams have because they, you know, play each other!

Miami (OH) doesn't have the strength of schedule of an Auburn (or any SEC team for that matter).  That isn't exactly their fault.  As their AD said in his response to Pearl, good teams didn't want to play the RedHawks, especially in Oxford, because they knew they might lose.  It's the same plight Gonzaga had to deal with for years.  It's also not Miami (OH)'s fault that the MAC is a mid-major league.  I'm sure they'd like to play better opponents if they could, but they can't control who's on their conference schedule or how good their conference is that particular year.

The "strength of schedule" argument has been a popular one for the talking heads advocating the tournament cases of specific teams for years now.  Not surprisingly, those strength of schedule advocates tend to be making a case for SEC or Big Ten teams.  Meanwhile, it's the same argument every year!  Of course SEC and Big Ten teams will have a better strength of schedule than mid-major schools! 

According to KenPom, the top 13 strengths of schedule and 28 of the 30 are from either the SEC, Big Ten or Big 12.  That's not a coincidence.  Once conference play starts, they're only playing each other and nobody else!  Which is true about all teams in every conference.  So, Power 5 teams are being rewarded for playing conference games.  Whether they win them or not is irrelevant.  Meanwhile, mid-major teams are essentially being penalized for playing conference games and having every loss held against them.  How does that make any sense?!  That's why strength of schedule can't be this end-all, be-all metric some would like it to be.

So, like all other mid-majors, Miami (Ohio), through no fault of their own, already has factors working against their at-large case.  The only thing the RedHawks can control is whether or not they win.  Which they've done.  Every time they've taken the floor this season.  They're the only team in the nation who can say that.  Now you're saying that's not enough, either?  What kind of a message does that send?

That's something the committee really needs to consider.  Mid-major teams already feel like the deck is stacked against them.  Even more so now that the Power 5 conferences have become supersized and extended their grip on college sports.  The number of mid-major berths for non-Power 5 programs has already been shrinking year-to-year.  Last year, there were only three.  If Miami (OH) can go the entire season undefeated and is still being talked about as only a bubble team if their first blemish comes in the conference tournament, what does that say?  If perfection isn't enough, mid-majors might as well not even bother, then.

Consider the optics of it, too.  We're talking about an Auburn team that's .500 overall and four games under .500 in conference play.  If they lose their SEC Tournament opener, they'll be 16-16.  The fact that we're even talking about a 16-16 team as being in the discussion for an at-large bid, frankly, is a joke!  Meanwhile, we're also saying that a team whose record entering the Tournament is, at worst, 31-1, is on the bubble if they don't win their conference tournament.  What are we even doing here if the .500 team gets the nod? 

Winning matters.  At least it should.  That's all Miami (Ohio) has done this season.  Meanwhile, Auburn hasn't done it nearly enough.  Yes, they have some very good wins.  The victory at Florida most prominent among them.  But are we supposed to just ignore the fact that they also lost half their games (including a 30-point drubbing against Michigan) and went 2-8 to end the regular season?  Sorry, but I'm not buying that.

This isn't intended to be a Miami (Ohio) vs. Auburn argument.  It's simply designed to highlight the absurdity of comparing a mediocre team from a Power 5 conference to a very good mid-major team.  Strength of schedule can't be the only factor considered.  Because it's an inherently unfair comparison (which may be the entire point).

It's also not an argument about whether Miami (Ohio) is a better team than Auburn.  It's about whether they deserve an at-large bid.  Which they most certainly do.  If that's at Auburn's expense, them's the berries.  Nobody is trying to make the case that Miami (Ohio) deserves a No. 1 seed or is even a contender for the National Championship.  Everyone understands that the RedHawks will most likely end the season with a loss.  That loss should come in the NCAA Tournament.  That's the point.

Of course, Miami (Ohio) could just win the MAC Tournament and make everybody's lives easier.  But it shouldn't even need to come to that.  Because the RedHawks deserve to hear their name called on Selection Sunday whether they have one loss or none.  It would be an absolute travesty if they don't.