First Four opponent defends Miami of Ohio’s NCAA Tournament bid

The Miami of Ohio RedHawks snagged one of the final at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.

The RedHawks finished their regular season 31-0 before falling to the UMass Minutemen in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

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Some college basketball analysts said Miami of Ohio didn’t belong in the 68-team NCAA field because its strength of schedule ranked 298th out of 365 Division I teams, per ESPN rankings. The Akron Zips won the MAC Tournament to seize the conference’s automatic bid.

MORE: March Madness TV schedule for First Four of 2026 NCAA Tournament

Don’t count SMU Mustangs head coach Andy Enfield among those detractors. The Mustangs will meet the RedHawks in a battle of 11 seeds in the Midwest Region in the NCAA First Four at 9:15 p.m. ET Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.

“Some people just need to be quiet on air sometimes. I think Miami of Ohio deserves to be there. They’re an outstanding team. They share the basketball; they shoot 3s. To go 31-0 in the regular season, that’s incredible,” Enfield said, per SMU reporter Dean Ralsky.

SMU finished 20-13, 8-10 in the ACC. The Mustangs fell to Louisville in the second round of the conference tournament. This will be SMU’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017.

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Enfield began his head coaching career with the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, a mid-major that plays in the Atlantic Sun conference. In 2012-13, Enfield’s second season there, FGCU enjoyed a Cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 15 seed Eagles made it to the Sweet Sixteen, knocking off the No. 2 seed Georgetown Hoyas on the way.

So SMU and Enfield won’t be taking Miami of Ohio lightly when the teams meet Wednesday on truTV.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/first-four-opponent-defends-miami-142606436.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-16 14:26:00

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