Miami basketball impact with NCAA Tournament top 16 bracket reveal

The Miami basketball team was the only one in the top 16 in the national rankings not included in the reveal of the national seeds in the 2023 NCAA bracket reveal on Saturday by the selection committee. Miami was one of the teams just on the outside of the Top 16 that included Creighton, Saint Mary’s and UConn.

Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports named Miami as one of the biggest snubs. Miami will have opportunities to pad its resume in the next three weeks. That begins Tuesday at Virginia Tech. The game at the Hokies is a quadrant one opponent for the Hurricanes. Miami should have more quad-one opportunities in the ACC Tournament.

The Bracket Matrix consensus projections have the Miami basketball team as a five seed. No updates were made beyond Saturday. Jerry Palm of CBS Sports and Joe Lundardi of ESPN who are the most renowned bracketologists will update on Monday or Tuesday. Miami fell from 30th to 31st in the NCAA Net Ratings on Sunday.

The win over Wake Forest who is 75th in the Net Ratings was expected. Virginia Tech is 62nd in the Net Ratings. Because Miami is playing at Virginia Tech the game is a quad-one contest. The Hurricanes are 6-4 versus quad-one opponents and 3-0 against quad-two. Miami hosts Florida State and Pittsburgh in its last two games.

Miami won its only game against a team in the top 16 with a 66-64 win over Virginia in December. Duke who is 25th in the net ratings is the only other ACC team ahead of Miami in the net ratings. The Blue Devils moved up from 34th after a 77-55 win at Syracuse on Saturday. Five ACC teams are in the top 50 of the net ratings.

Games versus the top 50 in net ratings are quadrant one opponents at a neutral site. In addition to Virginia, Duke and Miami, North Carolina State is 39th in the net ratings after games played on Saturday and North Carolina is 44th. Pittsburgh fell from 49th to 51st after its loss at Virginia Tech on Saturday.

The final game of the regular season for Miami versus Pittsburgh will be a quad-two game at home. Miami is second in the ACC a half-game behind Virginia with three games remaining. Virginia has four remaining on its regular season schedule as does Pittsburgh who is a half-game behind the Miami basketball team.

If the ACC standings hold, Miami would play Wake Forest versus the winner of Boston College against Louisville. Wake Forest as the seven seed would receive a bye in the first round of the ACC Tournament with Boston College and Louisville playing in the first round. Miami is close to clinching a double-bye in Greensboro.