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PHILADELPHIA, PA — If there is one thing about March Madness that is consistent on a yearly basis, it is the rallying love from men’s college basketball fans for the mid-major programs that are included in the 68-team field.
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The Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, VCU Rams and High Point Panthers are examples of that this season. All three programs recorded upsets over Power 5 Conference programs in their first respective games of the Men’s NCAA Tournament, with the RedHawks’ win coming in the First Four against SMU.
But it isn’t necessarily love from the high-level programs when it comes to non-conference scheduling. It’s something that fourth-year Miami (Ohio) head coach Travis Steele said needs to change from an analytical standpoint.
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“A lot of it’s analytically driven. There needs to be adjustments made,” Steele said after Miami (Ohio) fell to 6-seed Tennessee on Friday at Xfinity Mobile Arena in the first round of the Midwest Region. “… I don’t know when’s the last time that they made an adjustment to it or if they have. But fans want to see those games. Our fans do. Their fans do. They want to see brands. It stinks.”
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RedHawks senior guard Peter Suder agrees with his coach on why high-major programs won’t schedule mid-majors.
“I wouldn’t say they’re afraid. It’s a numbers thing, an analytical thing,” said Suder, who scored a team-high 27 points on Friday against the Volunteers. “We would like to play them. It’s a great opportunity for the mid-majors to go out there and prove they’re just as good. It’s more of an analytical thing.
REQUIRED READING: Miami (Ohio) vs Tennessee highlights: Vols end RedHawks’ March Madness run
Steele and Studer’s comments come less than 24 hours after High Point coach Flynn Clayman spoke on the matter after his team knocked off 5-seed Wisconsin in Portland on Thursday. Clayman’s emotion in his postgame interview came a few days after Miami (Ohio)’s metrics were once…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/travis-steele-advocates-analytic-scheduling-003424458.html
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Publish date : 2026-03-21 00:34:00
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