Really makes you think a bit about the conventional wisdom that its better to schedule tough games in a world where a MAC at-large is off the table. Why?
We have literally the most cupcake schedule in the entire country (ranked dead last in almost every SOS metric).
And yet: best NET ever for Miami hoops (in the years its been around), first AP top 25 votes in god knows how many years, tons of mentions of reddit and X in various undefeated graphics, a still respectable 119 KenPom (3rd in the MAC, just barely behind BG who beat Kansas St this year), a win away from tying the best undefeated start in program history.
Anecdotally, a small number of friends and acquaintances who know I’m a huge Miami fan have made mention of it to me. Would never happen in a usual year.
I don’t think aiming for the actual dead last SOS is the best strategy going forward, but I also think the conventional wisdom of scheduling a whole bunch of tough/competitive games isn’t helpful as well if the goal is trying to rebuild some sort of buzz and fanbase.
Latest CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top 25 (the coaches poll, which is the most real of all these fake mid-major polls) has us now #4 behind Gonzaga, St Mary’s, and Yale.
CUPCAKE PLAN WORKS!
I still can’t believe they list Gonzaga as a mid-major after all these years.
Had to scroll down a bit (and click Show More) to find sUCks - coming in at 129 and SOS at 268. No wonder they didn’t want to play us.
I’ve wondered about this type of scheduling for a while. What if the whole MAC scheduled this way and we all start conference play somewhere between 7-3 and 10-0. Then SOS just keeps going up as all these teams with gaudy records “beat up on each other.”
This is pretty much how the NET is setup. Everyone plays a bunch of quad 4 games, gets some quad 1 games, then any quad 1 losses are “quality”
Miami received votes in the AP Top 25 poll. Only 2 but you gotta start somewhere
4 MAC teams in top 25
..and now projected at #11 seed in NCAA tourney by Lunardi in his latest bracket. To me, that might indicate a possible shot for us for an at large berth w one loss.