The Miami basketball team remains firmly in the NCAA Tournament via Bracketology from CBS Sports and ESPN. Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has Miami as the 11 seed in the East Region in Pittsburgh against Colorado State in the first round. Joe Lunardi of ESPN projects Miami as a 10 seed in the East against Michigan State.
Lunardi projects the Hurricanes and Spartans to play in Greenville, South Carolina. Palm projects Colorado State versus Miami winner to play the victory of Princeton against Villanova. Lunardi projects Miami or Michigan State to play the winner of Auburn and Colgate. Miami lost to Michigan State in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
The Miami basketball team is currently 62nd in the NCAA Net Ratings. Miami is 4-1 in quad one, but only 4-5 against teams in quad two. Miami plays at Boston College which is a quad-three game. The Hurricanes are currently 7-3 in quad three. Miami cannot afford a loss at Boston College on Tuesday night.
The Hurricanes will play at Syracuse in their final regular-season game on Saturday. Syracuse is ranked 92nd in the NCAA Net Ratings. That makes the game on Saturday in quad two. Getting a win over the Orange and finishing 5-5 in quad one would look good to the committee. Miami will have more opportunities in the ACC Tournament.
The Hurricanes’ first ACC Tournament game will likely be a quad two or three game. If the Miami basketball team plays Virginia Tech or Wake Forest (which would be likely based on the current standings), the Hurricanes’ first ACC Tournament game would be another chance to earn a quadrant one victory.
Miami needs one win to clinch a double-bye in the ACC Tournament. If the Hurricanes can sweep the week, they would likely earn the third seed in Brooklyn next week. North Carolina is a game ahead of Miami but plays at Duke on Saturday to end the regular season. Miami would begin the Tournament on March 9 with a double-bye.
If Miami loses both games this week, they would fall to a five seed and begin the ACC Tournament on March 8. Wake Forest is a game behind Miami and ends their regular season at last-place North Carolina State on Wednesday night. With losses in both games, Miami can fall to the sixth seed behind Virginia.
The Cavaliers are off until Saturday when they finish the regular season at Louisville. Miami needs to win on Wednesday at Boston College. Playing in the Carrier Dome against the Syracuse matchup zone is always difficult. Miami struggled in a one-point victory over the Orange earlier this season in Coral Gables.