I had given up.
Whenever I’d wear one of my Miami University shirts since moving to Florida four years ago, people would see the name and hit me with “Go ’Canes” or something relating to the University of Miami near the beach rather than my lesser-known alma mater in Oxford, Ohio.
I just accepted it and repeated their cheer back. No point in correcting them in Publix or at the gas station.
But then something funny happened.
My Miami — the school alumni won’t hesitate to tell you was a university before Florida was a state — became the talk of college basketball.
And for at least another day, it will continue to be.
After remaining undefeated in the regular season and cracking the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007, the RedHawks of the Mid-American Conference blitzed SMU with a 3-point barrage in the First Four on March 18. They stunned the Mustangs 89-79 to set up a showdown against sixth-seeded Tennessee in the Round of 64 (4:25 p.m. March 20, TBS).
It feels weird to even type that.
Last two decades of Miami (Ohio) basketball history weren’t great
When I got to campus as a student in 2017, Miami (Ohio) hadn’t finished above .500 in nine years. It slogged through 14 losing campaigns in 15 seasons before last winter.
Other than a few blips — quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leading the football team to 10th in the AP Poll in 2003, and the hockey team advancing to the Frozen Four in 2009 and 2010 — the RedHawks hadn’t appeared on the national radar since 1999.
Wally Szczerbiak carried that Cinderella of a men’s basketball squad to the Sweet 16, earning a Sports Illustrated cover in the process. That Miami team was eliminated days before I was born.
But this current climb began four years ago with the hiring of Xavier castoff Travis Steele as head coach. He looks like a miracle worker now.
Following two losing seasons to kick off his tenure, Steele’s RedHawks sped to the finals of the 2025 MAC Tournament. A victory would’ve pushed them into March Madness. Instead, they fell to Akron by two points.
They pulled an NIL-era rarity by retaining the majority of their roster ahead of this winter, though. They also maintained their momentum with 10 straight wins to open this season, then 20. That’s around the time folks caught on.
People, notably Bruce Pearl, debated Miami’s strength of schedule
Eventually, little Miami (Ohio) extended its record to 31-0, wrapping up the regular season as the nation’s only unbeaten program.
Sure, the strength of schedule became a debate. It’s bad. KenPom ranked it 269th among the 365 Division I teams heading into last weekend’s Selection Sunday. That was after the RedHawks suffered an upset loss vs. UMass in the league tournament.
But that only added to it all.
For the first time I can remember, people around the country couldn’t get enough of the school of approximately 19,000 students on the picturesque grounds poet Robert Frost called “the most beautiful campus that ever there was.” Everyone had an opinion.
Even as analysts like Bruce Pearl bashed the RedHawks, they kept prevailing on and off the court. Steele developed into a candidate for bigger jobs, and the institution’s board of trustees approved plans for a new arena to replace 58-year-old Millett Hall.
All of this publicity is good publicity. Capitalize while the victories are flowing and the chatter is buzzing.
It’s buzzing, all right.
Travis Steele, Miami changed program’s fortunes in recent months, and fans noticed
Millett Hall struggled to eclipse 1,000 fans per game when I was in school. It sounded like a library regularly and a morgue on the worst of occasions.
The apathy seeped into this year. Through its first 10 home games, Miami (Ohio) averaged 1,860 fans. That’s after reaching the MAC championship last season.
But as the club stacked wins and vaulted into the top 25, it tallied four consecutive sellouts and established new attendance records, surpassing 10,000 spectators in a building with an official listed capacity of 9,200.
I returned to campus for an event at the end of February. In the student union and uptown bars, the basketball team is all people wanted to chat about.
It appeared on national TV as much during the final month of the season as my four years as a student combined. Ditto for stories by SI, ESPN and USA TODAY, as well as endless social media threads.
Strangers stopped me, as I donned my red and white garb, in the Orlando and Cincinnati airports with a quick, “Hey, I watched them the other night.”
It was odd and exciting.
And it’s not over yet.
Nearly 48 hours of Miami (Ohio) praise will precede the RedHawks’ tipoff with the Volunteers in Philadelphia. The former will be underdogs once again.
You’ve seen it before.
Surprising teams — a Butler, a VCU, a Florida Gulf Coast — enjoy magic carpet rides during the NCAA Tournament. Suddenly, student application numbers skyrocket, especially from out-of-state kids. With a reenergized alumni base, donations rise. University endowments also increase, according to a CNBC report.
Success often begets further success.
But regardless of this tournament’s outcome, what a pleasant surprise the season has been.
At the very least, a few random humans now recognize my shirt at the grocery store.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: My Miami (no, not that one) is already the talk of March Madness
Reporting by Chris Vinel, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
