Miami Hurricanes Basketball: As Underdogs, Miami Ready For the ACC Tournament

Not too many teams in college basketball  can claim the success that the Miami Hurricanes can this season. 24 regular season wins, 13 ACC wins and a top four finish in what many claim as the best conference in the nation. Yet with all their success, the Canes still see themselves as the underdogs or as they like to refer to themselves, “the chasers.” Well for a team of underdogs, there was no better place to prepare for the ACC Tournament than George Mason University.

Just a few days before the Hurricanes perform their opening act in their conference tournament, they returned to the place which Coach Jim Larranaga called home for 14 years. The most remarkable of those 14 years of course was the 2006 George Mason team which upset the likes of Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn on their way to a Final Four. While Miami certainly cannot be compared to the type of underdogs the Patriots were that year in the NCAA Tournament, there is certainly a lot they could learn from that team and the coaches on their staff that led the way on that miracle journey.

“Two of my coaches now, Chris Caputo and James Johnson were on that Final Four staff,” Larranaga said when asked about that 2006 George Mason team. “We share a lot of stories from that run and we share those emotions, but we also try to share those with the team to get them ready.”

To call this team an underdog sounds silly, I know, but if you look at any national predictions or polls, did you ever see Miami get the respect they deserved? The answer to that question is no. Like George Mason, who no one predicted to even make the NCAA Tournament or to win a game once they got there, almost no one is predicting Miami has even the slightest chance to win this ACC Tournament, even as the three seed.

Yes, Miami has tripped up on the road and were thrashed by North Carolina, but this team had a chance to win the regular season conference title on the last day of the season and still they are often looked at as a team well behind the leaders. For this experience-laden team though, that is exactly how they like it.

“We’ve got a new phrase now and we call ourselves the chasers,” Kamari Murphy said. “It’s been a long time coming. We started out in the middle of the pack, we had to fight for second and third in the conference for awhile and now we are just looking for that top spot.”

Achieving that top spot in the ACC Tournament could be difficult considering the tremendous depth that will be on display in Washington, D.C.  As it stands, most Bracketology experts predict seven ACC teams in the field of 68, but according to Larranaga, even more have a shot at winning this prestigious conference tournament.

“I know having coached against these teams from January 2nd to this past Saturday that there wasn’t a game that we went into thinking our opponent wasn’t every bit as talented or as every bit as good as we were,” Larranaga said of the ACC field. “By this time everyone in the ACC is really good and every single team is capable of making a major run.”

In this tough field, the Miami seniors will hope they can go out just like the seniors in 2013 went out, with an ACC Tournament title. Since that title in 2013 though, the Canes have not won more than one game in the tournament, but are hoping this is the year that finally changes.

“This is the seniors’ last ACC Tournament ever,” Angel Rodriguez said. “With that being the case, we have to give everything we’ve got to bring back that trophy.”

The Hurricanes will open against either Florida State, Boston College or Virginia Tech on Thursday night. While Miami will likely be favored against whoever they play in that game, they could have extra motivation either looking for revenge against the Hokies who beat them just four days ago or looking for a three-game sweep of their rival Florida State. With a victory there, the Hurricanes will progress and move into their comfort zone as underdogs once again.

Miami will not shock the world with an ACC Tournament title like George Mason did with their Final Four run back in 2006, but the Hurricanes are certainly trying to emulate that team and their success as much as possible. For a team that sees themselves as the underdogs like this Miami team does, there was no better place to prepare for a tournament run than George Mason. Now, let’s see if these “chasers” can go out of the ACC on top.