MAC commissioner confident his league will get 2 bids to NCAA Tournament after Miami (Ohio) upset
CLEVELAND (AP) — Mid-American Conference commissioner Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher is hoping the success of Miami (Ohio) this season pays off on Sunday and in the future.
Steinbrecher is confident his conference would get two teams into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 27 years despite the RedHawks losing to UMass 87-83 in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday after going 31-0 in the regular season.
“I believe Miami’s in the tournament,” Steinbrecher said Friday before the start of the tournament semifinals. “I had communication with the committee chair and committee liaisons yesterday and just passed along some information. They’re not going to tell me for sure, but I just feel that they’re in. They’ve done the things they need to do to get into the tournament. I think history has shown that until we’re shown otherwise.”
The MAC has received multiple bids five times since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The last time was in 1999 when Kent State won the conference tournament to earn its first NCAA trip while Miami got in with an at-large berth after winning the regular-season title.
Miami made the committee look good by making it to the Sweet 16.
The RedHawks were the fifth team this century to go through the regular season undefeated but were the second to get tripped up in their conference tournament.
Miami’s detractors have pointed out its low strength of schedule — 344th out of 365 Division I teams, according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool — as a reason why it should not be in the field of 68 teams. Steinbrecher and many of his mid-major brethren point out, though, that Tier 1 teams do not want to schedule Tier 2 and 3 schools.
The RedHawks faced no Tier 1 teams and were 2-0 against Tier 2 squads.
“We’ve allowed metrics to become the story as opposed to wins and losses. Well, the metrics don’t work real well when you have different schools who go out of their way not to schedule and that’s what’s occurring,” Steinbrecher said. “We have a number of schools that have trouble getting quality games, so people aren’t willing to play them.
“For those schools that are traditionally Tier 1, what the metrics are driving them to do is continue to play other Tier 1’s or play Tier 4’s and then beat the daylights out of them. That’s their secret sauce. Anywhere in that Tier 2 or Tier 3, they’re shying away from it.”
The last team to go through the regular season unbeaten and not make the NCAA Tournament was Alcorn State in 1978-79. That was because the Southwest Athletic Conference was in a transition period to Division I and did not have an automatic bid. The tournament field then also had only 40 teams.
Miami’s success put it in the national spotlight the past two months with some games on ESPN2 and CBS Sports Network. Steinbrecher said the conference has one year remaining on its current television deals and has started its exclusive negotiating period with ESPN.
The MAC plays some of its conference basketball games on Friday nights, which could be attractive because that is a light night for college games.
Expansion matters
Steinbrecher said he was pleased with UMass’ first season as a full member of the conference. The Minutemen, the eighth seed in the conference tournament, lost to fourth-seeded Toledo 77-67 in Friday’s first semifinal.
The MAC admitted Sacramento State in February as a football-only member for a five-year term beginning this year. Athletic director Mark Orr is in Cleveland this week for meetings, and Steinbrecher said he is hoping that a revised conference football schedule will be completed within the next two weeks.
Sacramento State is paying for the chartered flights for teams that will be have to make the trip to face the Hornets.
Looking to the future
The conference has had preliminary discussions with the Haslam Sports Group about opportunities to bring events to the Cleveland Browns new stadium in Brookpark, Ohio, which is slated to open in 2029.
The domed stadium should put Cleveland in the mix for Men’s Final Four’s as well as possibly hosting the MAC Football Championship down the line.
The MAC was the host for the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four, last year’s first-and second-round of the men’s tournament and next week’s NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena in downtown Cleveland.
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