Miami Ohio Claps Back at Bruce Pearl After Claiming 30-0 Record

The Miami Ohio RedHawks have found a way to become the biggest story in college basketball this season.

On Tuesday evening, the RedHawks improved to an unbeaten 30-0 record in a thrilling victory against the Toledo Rockets.

Here’s the issue with Miami’s unbeaten record.

They’ll need to win the Mid-American Conference tournament in Cleveland in order to secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Every year, the MAC gets an autobid that’s used on their conference tournament winner. But at 30-0, are the RedHawks really in jeopardy of missing March Madness if they suffer a defeat in Cleveland?

Former Auburn coach Bruce Pearl has been leading the charge to disparage Miami’s record. The Tigers are 16-14 and find themselves on the bubble to make the tournament.

After defeating Toledo on Tuesday, Miami’s Travis Steele downplayed Pearl’s comments about the RedHawks not being one of college basketball’s best teams.

"I like Bruce (Pearl). Bruce is a great guy. But I'm not calling Bruce and asking him for his opinion on our team,” Steele said. “All respect to Bruce, he's a way better coach than I'll ever be. He's a Hall of Famer... But we control our own destiny."

Steele was so close with these remarks. Fully lean into that rivalry. Pearl used to be a college basketball coach. Now, he’s on TNT and CBS Sports as a broadcaster. Of course he’s going to shill for Auburn, who is just two games above .500 to make March Madness.

But let’s get real. Even Pearl’s employers at CBS are probably pulling for Miami. March Madness is about the underdogs and Cinderellas. Miami gives the networks a better chance at those storylines, even though their advanced metrics aren’t that great.

Pearl’s overarching point was that the RedHawks aren’t thought highly of in the world of KemPom or NET ratings. Playing in the MAC, it’s not like Miami has faced a very difficult schedule, either.

But the objective of sports is to try and win every single game you play. The RedHawks can only face who is in front of them. To Steele’s point, they control their own destiny.

Just for once, though, it would feel good to see the little guy punch the bully back in the face. Pearl has spent weeks on television disparaging what Miami has done. 30-0 is nothing to turn your nose up at. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about youth recreational leagues, high school basketball, JUCO, or college – the RedHawks are a damn impressive group that deserve to play in March.