I don't disagree but it's worth noting that fortunes change quickly in the MAC. Not long ago that Miami posted three consecutive losing seasons and was probably outdrawn by Hamilton High School. It's also a massive $250 million+ gamble for any mid-major school to make in the middle of seismic changes in college athletics. No one knows what the landscape will look like next year - let alone with this arena is completed or worse yet when it's finally paid off. I think we're likely to see an official bifurcation of the haves and have-nots and it'll lead to even less student interest.

As a fan, I'm jealous of their progress. As a rational person, I would hate to see Ohio University pour more than a quarter billion dollars into an unprofitable athletic department for a program where many students remain at best ambivalent about sports.

So many of us on this board are old and gray, and we remember what it was like when we were in school. A loud and exciting Ozone, going toe-to-toe with high majors on a regular basis... I don't see any of that coming back longterm. Even Miami's historic season is bound to end in a thud with an early NCAA tournament exit (or worse), then they'll be picked clean by graduations, transfers and coaching defections. Sustainable excellence was really hard back in the olden days and it is nearly impossible now.

Put another way, remember when some people here were jealous of Akron's new football stadium? Not saying Miami's arena will be as big of a fiscal disaster, but I guarantee it will take millions of budget dollars away every year from other areas of the university. Not jealous of that.

Steele will be OSU's coach in 2027, mark my words

Looks like the new joint (for hoops) sits 6,500?

I would be a fan of some sort of pipe dream upgrade to the Convo and tighten up the seating to 7-8K. It would be nice to see some new paint on The Roundhouse and get rid of the 3-4K seats that rarely see action.

NIL and athletic facility upgrades may only be affordable but the rich kids.

Akron and Kent both played at Purdue.

Guess who is a two hour bus ride from Purdue and didn't play them?
Guess who is a two hour bus ride from Louisville and didn't play them?

Hell would freeze over before fiami plays a ranked team out of conference again.

They should change their name to the chicken hawks.

By the way, Steele's base salary is $300k.

I never said they weren't lapping our program in terms of this year. I said nothing negative about the quality of their team this year. I just think it's profoundly risky at best and likely stupid to pour more than a quarter billion dollars into a new arena in an era where mid-majors are already becoming less relevant in a trend that's likely to continue.

They're vying for the crown of tallest midget in a MAC that's increasingly irrelevant. They have yet to win the MAC Tournament, an NCAA game, or demonstrate in any way that this run is sustainable and you're talking like they've solved the riddle of sustained excellence that is nearly impossible for a mid-major, especially one that has to feed the maws of football AND hockey.

Our program is mired in mediocrity but like any other program it's one good hire and/or a few of the right NIL hits away from contending. It's not about who has the newest arena. If it was, BG would have been the undisputed leader of the MAC for the last 15 years. That might be one reason 89% of Miami alumni, students and faculty oppose the project.

https://www.miamistudent.net/article/2026/01/survey-findi...

If you read the link and embedded articles, the opposition was to the site and larger concept and not the arena

Miami will rue the day they took on this debt. I read elsewhere that they have raised a whopping $450K in donations for the project. The debt service will be paralyzing. Just consider the difficulty OU had paying off the Convo bill ($8MM!) after the program's trajectory (and enrollment) flattened out in the mid-70s. Malpractice by MU's board, IMO.

The dollar is being debased so quickly now that I do not think those two situations are comparable

I mean, don't let me stop you from your irrational shitposting, but we pay like we're a top program in the conference because we are indeed a top program in the conference. And thats where we want to position ourselves. One mediocre year doesn't mean Boals wasn't worth the contract after leading us to the NCAA Tournament...? I mean, what are we doin here? Comparing Boals contract after winning the MAC title and an NCAA tournament game vs Steele after getting fired and taking a job at a school that didn't go .500 for the previous several decades is an absolutely atrocious attempt at an apples to oranges. You're better than this.

And Ohio’s former AD made the Bobcat mens basketball coach the top paid coach in the conference a few years ago. Several fifth seed performances and occasional third seed finish does not justify rewarding a coach as the top paid coach in the league.

But no not similar. 24-25 in particular was a long list of solid opponents. Without looking, I would bet we played 5-6 teams with much higher computer rankings than any of the teams Miami played this year. It wasn't just the lack of P4 for Miami it was the low quality of the mid-majors. And 2 of their toughest opponents were dictated to them from the Sun Belt challenge.