The Real Miami

Miami Ohio’s Path to March Madness

Photo by Ben Hershley on Unsplash

The Miami Ohio RedHawks this year have been undefeated. Naturally, fans would expect that the team would be ranked number one as the only undefeated team. This, however, is not true. The team is ranked 19th in the country and have received zero first-place votes even though the team have not lost a game. 

The reason why people have low expectations on Miami Ohio is because of its strength of schedule, as the team has not been playing the most competitive opponents. Accordingly, many writers think that the team will not even make March Madness because of factors like this. In ESPN’s daily updated article regarding the tournament, Miami Ohio is still listed as a team with “work to do.” 

Though many analysts are skeptical of the team, they still have a chance to clinch the tournament without earning an at-large bid if the team wins the Mid-American Conference (MAC). However, if it does not win the conference, the team might still receive a bid. In the past, the NCAA has never left a team with less than four losses in a year miss the tournament. So the RedHawks have a great shot to make the tournament and be this year’s “Cinderella” team.