While no one outside the Mile Square expected the Miami University men's basketball team to be a disappointing 2-4 in Mid-American Conference play to start the season, all is not lost.
Actually, I'm not worried one bit.
Not to be a downer, but it's not like Miami was going to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament anyway. That shipped sailed a long time ago. The only thing these remaining games truly count for are seeding in the MAC Tournament and last year proved how non-vital those are.
Although Miami's tough non-conference schedule did provide the team with an opportunity to make a run toward an at-large bid, the odds were still stacked against them. The 'Hawks exciting win over Xavier University was a great start toward making a postseason run (I was out there rushing the court with everyone else even though it truly wasn't that monumental of an upset). But the truth is, if Miami were going to throw its hat in the ring trying to get an at-large bid, the RedHawks would have had to hold on to beat Dayton and probably win at least two of their games between the University of Louisville, USC or University of Kansas. The 'Hawks put up good fights, but unfortunately there are no "good efforts" awarded in this case.
I give them credit for beating Xavier and Illinois despite the odds, but those two wins won't impress any bracketologist.
While the 2-4 start isn't desirable, there is more beyond these numbers. Associate Head Coach Jermaine Henderson admitted Wednesday night that the schedule makers didn't give Miami any slack. Miami had tough games against the top teams in the MAC to start off conference play. At least they're now out of the way. Sure, a few more wins would have been nice, but most of these games were on the road without standout forward Michael Bramos.
Miami has not been a good road team in recent years either; last year Miami went 8-0 at home in conference and just 2-6 on the road. So far the RedHawks aren't far off; they're 2-1 at home and 0-3 on the road in conference play. The road-heavy start to the schedule only make the numbers look worse than they are.
The RedHawks will also get a giant boost when Bramos returns to the lineup, whenever that could be. The Red and White have played well without Bramos, winning two and narrowly losing one road contest without its second-leading scorer.
The news gets better. Miami's upcoming schedule gets easier than spotting a sorority girl at a tanning salon. The 'Hawks don't play a team with a winning record until right before Valentine's Day. The next four games are reasonable victories against the bottom-feeders of the MAC and could realistically make the disappointing 2-4 conference record into a respectable 6-4 record heading down the stretch.
It might be tough to snatch one of the top seeds in the MAC Tournament after this slow start, but we all know what happened last year when Miami was just the fourth seed.
Miami's run last year has given them a great deal of experience about what it takes to get to the Big Dance, and with Bramos and Tim Pollitz, the RedHawks will have the star power to get back there.
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