How Miami (OH) has become college basketball’s best-kept secret this season
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Four words describe the Miami RedHawks men’s basketball team.
- Miami is ranked. The Associated Press publishes its college basketball Top 25 rankings every Monday. Miami cracked the rankings for the first time since 1999.
- Miami is undefeated. Tuesday’s overtime road win over Kent State moved the RedHawks to a record of 20-0. Along with No. 1 Arizona (19-0) and No. 7 Nebraska (19-0), they’re the country’s three remaining undefeated teams.
- Miami can score. The RedHawks rank second nationally in points (94.6) and are the nation’s most efficient team (54.0%).
- Miami is unsatisfied.
“I told our guys, listen, it’s good to have recognition,” head coach Travis Steele said. “But at the same time, we all didn’t come here just to be ranked. We came here for bigger goals than that and actually get to the NCAA Tournament.”
The RedHawks are hungry. The eyes alone tell you that.
They share a strong bond visible in their resilient play. Stemming from enduring heartbreak, encountering doubters, and fighting for a second chance.
The nucleus
Miami isn’t undefeated by accident.
It takes foundation. It doesn’t matter what the team lacks; they find a way to succeed through their strengths.
It’s a vision Travis Steele had when arriving in Oxford in 2022, coming off a 13-year tenure on Xavier’s coaching staff, including the final four years as head coach.
“When I first came here three and a half years ago… we were one of the worst teams in college basketball,” Steele said speaking of their 12-win season in 2022-23. ”And does show that we’re building, and we’re still building.”
Progressing from a 12-win season to breaking the Mid-American Conference record for consecutive wins to start a season (20) is impressive.
Dating back to last season, Miami has set program records in consecutive home games won (26) and consecutive road wins (9).
The nucleus of this historic season starts with Peter Suder.
The senior guard and team captain spent two seasons at Bellarmine before transferring to Miami for his final two seasons.
Suder does what it takes to win, from draining his game-winning 3-pointer and scoring his 37th point in an overtime win over Buffalo last Saturday, to logging 10 rebounds and eight assists in the win over Kent State this past Tuesday.
“I’m just going to let the game come to me,” Suder said. “Whether we need a bucket, we need a shot or I make an advantage for our offense. I’m always just going to make the right play.”
There’s Brant Byers, the redshirt sophomore forward who’s stepped up significantly after winning MAC Rookie of the Year.
The RedHawks lost guard Kam Craft, last season’s second-leading scorer, to the transfer portal. They also lost junior guard Evan Ipsaro 12 games into this season, due to an ACL tear.
That left a void that’s been filled by Byers and his team-high 15.3 points.
“I knew there was going to be a lot of opportunity for me this year,” Byers said. “I knew I just had to put my head down and work and take advantage of the opportunity.”
Statistically speaking, Miami isn’t strong defensively and ranks 209th in points allowed (74.7). But if the RedHawks need someone to do the dirty work, look no further than their top rebounder (5.8) in Eian Elmer.
“Eian Elmer should get more credit for what he does,” Suder said. “He’s guarding the toughest matchup pretty much night in and night out and doing a great job. He’s the ultimate guy you want on your team to be a winning program.”
Their success through late-January is putting the country on notice.
The blueprint for this season, however, started the same night last season ended.
‘Unfinished business’
June 15 — the first day Miami came together in the offseason.
A time of establishing culture, player development, and making sure everyone knew the motto for the 2025-26 season.
Unfinished business.
“It was just go-time from then on and out,” Suder said. “We had a bunch of motivation from last season to propel us into this season. That’s why we’ve been off to a good start.”
A motto, though more of a mindset, Miami has used all offseason and carried with them to this day.
Sometimes when teams use it, it works. Other times it’s a forced cliché.
But for Miami, it fit like a glove.
Exactly three months prior — March 15 — Miami had a NCAA Tournament berth in the palm of its hands during the MAC Tournament championship.
The top-seeded Akron Zips, coached by Steele’s brother John Groce, aimed for their third MAC Tournament title in four seasons.
The RedHawks outplayed the Zips for the majority of the night, leading by as many as 18 points at one point.
Then, they blew it.
Miami’s self-inflicted wounds aligned around the same time Akron’s championship pedigree came alive and chipped away at Miami’s lead.
Nate Johnson, 2025 MAC Player of the Year, put the cherry on top with the game-winning layup to give Akron the 76-74 win.
Heartbreaker. No March Madness. Season over.
“When you’re in a locker room, it’s very fragile after an emotional ending like that. Because you pour your heart and soul into it,” Steele said. “Our guys, they give everything. And they’re rock stars both on and off the court, so it was hard.”
All the RedHawks had to do was stay afloat and limit the Zips and they’d make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007.
They let it slip. So, the offseason started the second the game ended.
“The way that our season ended last year, it put that drive into all of us,” Byers said. “To lose in the way that we did and be so close, I feel like it made it pretty easy for us to get back in the gym and have a little chip on our shoulder for this year.”
Returning players, incoming transfers and freshmen, all got to Oxford in June with a shared mission.
“When I met with them individually, they all kind of said to me, ‘listen, we’re going to go over and beyond to make sure that this doesn’t happen next year’. And they’ve done it,” Steele said.
A machine
The RedHawks can really score.
They rank second in the nation in points (94.6). Only Georgia averages more points (94.8), but Miami holds the nation’s top efficiency rate (54.0%).
Miami’s offense compares best to European basketball.
It features a mix of five-out spacing with all five players spread behind the arc. But it comes with ball movement, screens and cuts, pick-and-pops.
It’s the kind of offense that can tire out an opposing defense without trying, because they won’t stop moving until the right shot is open.
“Our offense is super fun to play with and we got great guys, a great arsenal of a bunch of offensive weapons for that,” Suder said.
The 3-ball is also in the arsenal for the RedHawks. They currently rank ninth in 3-point makes (11.4) and second in 3-point rate (41.2%).
“Every single person on our team can shoot the ball at a high level, which just automatically helps our spacing regardless,” Suder said.
It makes for a dangerous offense that creates difficult defensive decisions. You limit one player, and that leaves the next man to dominate.
“You look at our numbers; we’ve had seven guys this year score 20 (points) or more in a game,” Steele said. “You don’t really know who to take away from us. And I think that’s what makes us hard to guard.”
Earning respect
Any team would like to see their play on the floor gain recognition. Especially if hasn’t led to a loss.
No. 1 Arizona (19-0), No. 7 Nebraska (19-0), and No. 25 Miami (20-0) all fit that mold.
But how is it the two power-five squads rank in the top 10, while Miami just crept into the AP Poll?
Various factors play into how the rankings are done. From NET rankings to strength of schedule, it’s a way to separate how we further view the power-five schools from the mid-majors.
“It’s getting harder and harder with all these analytical numbers,” Steele said. “People know how to work the net, people know how to work Ken Pomeroy, the numbers and stuff.”
Ken Pomeroy refers to KenPom.com. It’s a popular website filled with data and analytics, by Ken Pomeroy himself, used to measure teams in college basketball.
Two vital factors of the website are NET and strength of schedule.
NET, or NCAA Evaluation Tool, is a metric that evaluates the quality of a team for tournament selection. Strength of schedule displays how strong or weak a team’s schedule is for the season.
Miami currently ranks 88th in KenPom net rating (+9.03) and 338th in strength of schedule rating (-6.38).
Compared to their undefeated peers, Arizona ranks second in net rating (+34.81) and 46th in strength of schedule (+6.71).
Nebraska ranks 12th in net rating (+27.17), and 50th in strength of schedule (+6.20).
It paints a bigger picture of how a mid-major is viewed compared to a power-five squad.
“We don’t get the opportunities that may be like Nebraska,” Steele said. “Nebraska’s having a heck of a year. But the amount of opportunities that they have Quad 1-wise, shoot, we never had those opportunities. We never will this year.”
‘Quad 1′ relates to quad wins.
It’s another formula to evaluate the quality of teams on a schedule.
Quad 1 wins come over teams mainly ranked 1-50, Quad 2 wins come over the next 50 best teams. Any wins over teams ranked 101 or below would fall into Quad 3 or 4.
Of Miami’s 20 wins: none are Quad 1, two are Quad 2, and four are Quad 3.
Then again, the RedHawks aren’t worried about it.
“We can only focus on the things we can control,” Steele said. “We continue to get better and prepare the right way every single day, the rest of it will take care of itself.”
Chasing Redemption
Miami’s current success doesn’t entirely guarantee a berth in March.
The MAC is traditionally a one-bid conference, which comes directly through winning the MAC Tournament.
The RedHawks last made the NCAA Tournament in 2007, off Doug Penno’s game-winning trey over Akron.
The last time multiple MAC squads made the NCAA Tournament was in 1999. The same year Miami last recorded a tournament victory.
Led by All-American and future NBA veteran, Wally Szczerbiak, Miami won the MAC regular season title and ranked as high as No. 22.
Though the RedHawks lost the MAC Tournament championship to Kent State that year, they still received an At-large bid.
A No. 10 seed, Szczerbiak led the way with 43 points in an upset win over No. 7 Washington, and 24 points over No. 3 Utah on their way to the Sweet 16.
That alone shows it’s been a while since Oxford has anticipated their team’s matchup during Selection Sunday.
But this year’s team has a chance to end the 19-year drought.
It’ll only take a second chance come March, from Rocket Arena, in the 2026 MAC Tournament championship.
That is where their destiny can be fulfilled.
“Even though our record is what it is, we want to always be the hunter, not the hunted,” Steele said. “No matter what, no matter where the game’s played, we want to be the aggressor.”
