Miami is good. Definitely better than us. But they aren't unbeatable. They aren't even the best team in the MAC (that would be Akron). I'm not saying they dont beat us. They likely do. I'm just saying its not like were playing Duke here.
We could legit beat them in Athens or Cleveland.
They're really living high on the hog right now. Their weak schedule built so much confidence, that we definitely don't have, and in-turn has helped them build an insane amount of self-confidence in close games, teams are on edge playing them, they get weak calls at the end of games, they take chances while teams play stiff. Buffalo nearly knocked them off, twice. We beat the brakes off Buffalo. Theres no reason we can't beat them. They're not invincible. They struggled with teams we beat. The difference is they're cruising. We're playing with our heads down. They can brush off so much, because their living on cloud nine. Every problem we have is magnified and exacerbated. I'm jealous of them, and I don't like it, and it's really gone to show how much that team belives in themselves. And they built that belief crapping on D3 teams while we got hammered by Louisville. We're not a great team, we're an average team. But we're playing with our heads low, we're stuck in quicksand. They're not a great team either, they're a good, solid team. But they're playing with the confidence of the 2016 Cavs. Which elevates them so much. I've shifted from jealousy and dismissal into hey man, this is kinda cool - they play so well as a TEAM. A team that will lose in Athens come March.
If they survive a play-in game 30 miles away in Dayton and have to play one of the middle-of-the-pack SEC teams like Alabama,Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Missouri in the real first round...fiami will get beat like a rented mule. I for one will laugh at that after they didn't play a single decent team out of conference.
Or they could end up in the NIT vs SF Austin or Belmont or some other mid who dodged playing any real competition in the pre-conference.
I'm not sure why you are so sure about that. This team can shoot it from anywhere on the floor. Last I checked, putting ball in basket is pretty important in "basket" ball.
Non-anecdotal unbiased rankings....
Torvik ranks fiami #79 in the nation/ KenPom #83 / TeamRankings.com #86
Torvik ranks Vandy/Tenn./Bama at #11/17/19
KenPom at 13/17/18
TeamRankings at 13/15/17 (plus Arkansas at 16)
That is why I am so sure that I'm sure. Those teams can also shoot...and play D.**
**at a very different higher level than what fiami is used to playing against.
https://www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2026/net-conference Don't think for a minute that a guy like Nate Oats or Calipari won't run the score up.
Last Edited: 2/13/2026 3:59:46 PM by greencat