The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 131 is Miami Ohio basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Miami Ohio basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 4
- NCAA wins: 7
- Bids: 18
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 12.5
- Bids per season: 0.15
- AP Polls: 15
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 2
- NBA players drafted & played: 6
- Conference Players of the Year: 7
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 19
- Conference tournament titles: 4
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Miami Ohio basketball
America’s darling from last season, Miami (OH), comes in at No. 130! The RedHawks put together a 32-2 season, were the last remaining undefeated team in college basketball, and won their First Four game over SMU. Head coach Travis Steele took them from 12-20 to 32 wins in a four-year span, thanks to a star-studded roster led by MAC Player of the Year Peter Suder. He was the latest RedHawk to win that award.
But he still isn’t the most famous. That would be Wally Szczerbiak, who was a Consensus AA in 1999 and guided Miami to the Sweet 16 as a 10-seed. To this date, that season remains the best in RedHawks history.
But Miami is certainly no stranger to March Madness or making runs when they get there. They’ve made it 18 times and won seven games, making the Sweet 16 four times.
The first run happened in the 1950s, with head coach Bill Rohr taking them dancing in 1953, 1955, and 1957. But in year one of Richard Shrider in 1958, they went back to the tourney and took down Pitt, falling in the Sweet 16 to Kentucky. Senior big man Wayne Embry averaged a wild 24.9 and 18.1 rebounds per game that season.
The next Sweet 16 run would happen in 1969, as a very balanced and defensive Miami Ohio basketball team got past Notre Dame in the first round. In 1978, they beat Marquette for their third Sweet 16 appearance in school history, 21 years prior to Wally’s run.
In the 1990s, Miami also had a very good run under head coach Herb Sendek, who took them to the second round in 1995. Sendek got his 600th career win this past season.
From 1984 to 1986, Miami actually made three straight tourney appearances. While they lost in the first round all three times, they were led by Ron Harper, who was a Consensus All-American in his own right in 1985-86, averaging 24.4 PPG and 11.7 RPG as a senior.
Interestingly enough, while Harper and Wally had notable NBA careers, Embry was the Hall of Fame player to come out of Miami. He was drafted in 1958 and was a 5x All-Star in the Association.
Miami is a program with a history that runs deep, and every so often, they seem to become America’s team. We’ll see if Steele can keep them at the top of the MAC and mid-major hoops for recent years to come.