Bruce Pearl says Miami (OH) doesn’t deserve NCAA Tournament at-large bid
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Miami (OH) has been the talk of college basketball. The RedHawks are the lone undefeated team in Division I at 29-0 after Trey Perry’s last-second bucket helped them avoid an upset at Western Michigan.
That should make them an NCAA Tournament team. But the RedHawks play in the MAC. That has created a debate about whether or not they should receive an at-large bid should they fail to win their conference tournament.
On Saturday, Bruce Pearl made the argument against Miami (OH) getting into the field as an at-large.
“Are we going to select the 68 most deserving teams? Or are we going to select the 68 best teams?” Pearl said on TNT Sports. “If we’re selecting the 68 best teams, then Miami of Ohio is going to have to win their tournament to qualify as a champion. Because as an at-large, they are not one of the best teams in the country. And that’s going to be a difficult choice for the committee to make.”
While Pearl’s position is clear, a look at Kalshi shows plenty of disagreement. The RedHawks are being shown as having a 76% chance of getting into the field
Miami (OH) has two regular-season games remaining. On Wednesday, it will wrap up its home schedule with a game against Toledo. It then visits Ohio on Friday.
The MAC Tournament runs March 12-14 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
