Miami has limited NCAA Tournament history playing as a 7-seed

Miami is a seven seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and plays 10th-seeded Missouri in St. Louis on Friday with a 10:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time Tipoff on TruTV. The Hurricanes are a seven seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.

Miami beat 10th-seeded St. Mary's 78-64 in the first round and lost 75-72 to second-seeded Texas 75-72 in the second round in 2008. Those games were played in Little Rock, Arkansas. Texas beat third-seeded Stanford in the South Regional Semifinals before losing to Memphis in the Regional Final in Houston.

Miami finished 23-11 overall and 8-8 in fifth place in the ACC during the 2007-08 season. The Hurricanes' 2008 NCAA Tournament appearance was their only one in seven seasons under Frank Haith. The 2007-08 season was the fourth with Haith as the Miami head coach.

Jack McClinton, frequently the analyst for Miami games early in the season, led the 2007-08 Hurricanes, averaging 17.7 points per game, 2.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists. James Dews was the only other Hurricane to average in double-figures in 2007-08 at 10.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 1.8 APG.

Miami splits its two NCAA Tournament games

Miami trailed St. Mary's 32-27 at halftime before dominating the second half. The Hurricanes outscored the Gaels 51-32 in the second half. Future NBA champion Patrick Mills led St. Mary's with 24 points as the only Gael in double figures. Current Florida head coach Todd Golden scored eight for St. Mary's.

McClinton set a Miami record with 38 points and added four rebounds and three assists. McClinton equaled St. Mary's with 32 second-half points. Future Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham had nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal for Miami off the bench.

Miami trailed Texas 43-32 at halftime before rallying in the second half. The Hurricanes rallied after trailing by as many as 17 points. McClinton led Miami with 18 points on five out of 14 from the field. Miami was unable to tie the game late and Texas advanced to the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal.

Miami avenged its loss to Texas 15 years later with an 88-81 victory in the Midwest Regional Final in Kansas City to advance to the only Final Four in program history. The Hurricanes were the five seed in the 2023 Midwest Region and Texas was once again the second seed.