I've had my hat off to Miami Hurricanes coach Frank Haith all season long. After a hellish 2006-2007 season, the ACC media had them picking Miami to finish last in the ACC this year. The Canes responded with a 23-11 record and a win in the NCAA Tournament.
"Frank Haith has done a tremendous job in elevating the men's basketball program into one of the premier teams in both the ACC and in the nation," incoming athletic director Kirby Hocutt said in a statement Monday. "His character, dedication and relationship with his student-athletes and staff members are beyond reproach, and the University of Miami is proud to have one of the top young coaches in the nation."
"This contract provides stability for this program and gives my staff and I the opportunity, through our recruiting efforts, to build upon the solid foundation we have in place," Haith said. "We will continue our hard work in moving this program forward."
Haith has done one heck of a job transitioning the Miami program into the ACC. In their four seasons in the conference, they've been competitive in all but one of them. Attendance is high and their is much more of a buzz about the hoops team than the football program.
Miami spent most of the first half trailing St. Mary's and making me think, "uh-oh ... here comes the anti-ACC smack." Especially since Duke narrowly escaped Belmont last night.
Then Hurricanes' guard Jack McClinton got hot. Very hot. McClinton scored a career-high 38 points to lead Miami to a 78-64 win and a second round meeting against the Texas/Austin Peay winner. If it is Texas, then Canes' coach Frank Haith will face off against his former team (he was an assistant there before taking the Miami gig).
McClinton was just unbelievable in the second half. He scored 32 of his points after halftime which included a variety of shots: fast break threes, drives to the basket, acrobatic layups and floaters. Defenders couldn't keep up with him as he peeled off screens to get open looks and broke down his man off the dribble.
Despite his mammoth offensive output, it wasn't just McClinton that decided this one. Miami's defense was suffocating during a rabid 27-6 run that spanned both halves. The Hurricanes dominated the boards (43 to 30) and hit 17 of their 21 free throws. The St. Mary's Gaels were ice cold. They shot just 37% from the field, 35% from behind the arc and missed 11 of their 23 free throws.
Conference:Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Record: 22-10, 8-8 in conference RPI: 34 How They Got In: at large bid. Seed/Bracket: #7/South
Mascot: Hurricanes because, well, there are Hurricanes in south Florida from time to time. The mascot is Sebastian, an ibis. According to legend, the ibis is the last animal to leave before a storm and the first to return.
Big Wins: Duke, Clemson, Mississippi State.
Notable Loss: Losses to ACC basement dwellers Boston College and NC State. Player You Should Know: Guard Jack McClinton is one heck of a shooter. He led the ACC in 3-point percentage, free throw percentage and three-pointers made. He's one of those guys that can get into a zone and is so difficult to stop.
Outlook: This is Miami's first appearance in the NCAA tournament since joining the ACC. They are one of the nation's pleasant surprises (picked last in the preseason polls) but can make a small run in this thing. The key is the interior guys. If guys like Anthony King and Dwayne Collins can get points in the paint while keeping up their boardwork and defense, they could sneak into the Elite Eight.
Throughout the season we'll look at bubble teams and assess whether they have a better chance of ending up in the NIT or NCAA Tournament.
Team: Miami-FL
Record: 18-7
Good Wins: Duke, Clemson, at Mississippi State
Bad Losses: Winthrop, Boston College, Florida State
Comments: The Canes have won three straight ... just after losing six of seven. Also, one of the 18 wins came against Florida Southern ... who play in the Division II Sunshine State Conference. They also won the O'Reilly Auto Parts tournament in San Juan. Other Views: They ranked 28th in RPI, 36th in the Sagarin Ratings but is listed on the "last four out" as an at-large according to Bracketology. Verdict: Miami is this year's Clemson: the ACC school who tore up a shaky non-conference schedule but then gets muddled in the middle of the pack during conference season. They have a strong RPI and SOS that would get them in if their ACC record was at least over .500. Right now, they are right there on the fence ... but fall on the NIT side. That doesn't mean they are done: in the next five days they play Maryland and Clemson. Wins there would push them back over to the NCAA side of the fence.
How quickly do things change. One week ago, the Duke Blue Devils were 10-0 and were unstoppable. They had won every ACC game by at least nine points and had dispatched of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and swept Maryland. It was over.
Since then, Duke has lost twice ... with both losses to teams that shouldn't have a chance at beating them. Wake Forest pounded the Blue Devils into submission on Sunday; Miami did the same thing on Wednesday ... beating Duke, 96-95. It was the first time Miami had beaten Duke since 1962.
Now, a runaway regular season title has turned into a dead heat between the Blue Devils and arch rival North Carolina (who are also 10-2) for the top seed in the ACC Tournament.
The biggest knock against Duke is that they are a "donut team" -- they gun threes and have no low post presence. Detractors have asked what would happen if the threes weren't falling. Well, we now know. Duke went 8-for-28 from the arc against Wake and struggled early against Miami (the Canes had built a 59-39 lead). Eventually, the bombs started hitting and the Blue Devils mounted a valiant comeback ... but came up a little short.
Boston College owns Miami no matter what conference they play in. The Eagles downed the Hurricanes for the 13th straight time in their 76-66 win atop Chestnut Hill:
"Coach called us out after the Kansas game," (BC guard Tyrese) Rice said. "We took it to heart. We tried to prove that we could be better than people think we can."
Boston College scored 14 of the first 16 points and led 50-27 with 11:26 to play before McClinton hit a 3-pointer to start a 23-10 run that pulled Miami back into the game. He had 13 points in all over the five-minute span, including three 3-pointers.
Still, it wasn't enough. Boston College improves to 3-0 in the ACC ... keeping pace with North Carolina and Duke as the conference's lone unbeaten teams in ACC play.
#24 Miami drops just its second game on the season (the first was to Winthrop). BC travels to Virginia while Miami goes to Raleigh to take on struggling NC State on Saturday.
The Miami Hurricanes' undefeated season came to an end with a sloppy 76-70 loss to Winthrop in the Orange Bowl Classic. No shame in that; the Canes are now 12-1 and still quite the surprise.
What is funny is that Canes fans are starting to talk smack over basketball.
"It really started for me yesterday when we went out to eat as a team," (Winthrop senior Chris) Gaynor said. "One of the Miami fans came up to me and was like, 'Do y'all think you can keep it close?' That was like a slap in the face to this program. It gets tiring every time you go somewhere and everybody is like, 'Where's Winthrop?' It feels good to show them where Winthrop is at today."
Again, Miami fans, you are having a great start to the season ... but stay in you shoes. Especially when your team is up 38-27 in the second half and then watch Winthrop roll out a 40-19 run on you.
I wonder if the folks in Coral Gables are as confused about this as others. The Hurricanes football team suffered through a miserable season and finished only ahead of Duke in the Coastal Division. The basketball team, however, has now reached 9-0. Note, insert obligatory snarky comment about ACC raiding the Big East for Miami football not basketball, here.
The Canes have beaten VCU and Providence down in Puerto Rico, beaten St. John's and tonight knocked off Mississippi State in Starkville. Despite this start, there has been little attention given to Miami. They are still outside of the top-25.
Frank Haith came into this season on a definite hot seat, if not the hottest in the conference. Instead, he has Miami is playing excellent team basketball. Five players average 9 points or more, and no player is averaging more than 13 points per game.
What is really doing it for Miami, though, is the excellent defense they have been playing. Only one team has exceeded 63 points against them. They are holding teams to an effective field goal percentage of under 41. Haith has done a great job at getting the Hurricanes to play defense first.
With over 300 teams in Division I college basketball, I understand why you need some sort of way to rate teams. College football uses the BCS. College hoops uses the RPI.
Right now, RPI doesn't mean much to anyone ... but when February and March roll around, we will hear those three letters more than our own names. Bracketologists everywhere will spout these RPI numbers out to you as why or why a team should or shouldn't be in the Big Dance. Right now, here is how the current RPI rankings shake out:
The team that has been voted #1 in both the media and coaches poll, North Carolina, currently sits 21st. The team that was picked to be last in the ACC - Miami - sits at #2. I guess beating up on Marist, VCU, Providence, Morgan State, Alabama State, St. John's and Florida International shows us what a #2 team is capable of.
Who are the main men? Big man Anthony King got a break by regaining his eligibility via a medical reshirt ... giving the Canes a big man that will anchor the offense. Miami already has Jack McClinton, who was an All-ACC player last year, and Brian Asbury, a slashing swingman.
What are the team's strengths? Hopefully, Miami feels that the bad element is out of the program. They will try to be a quick team who pounds the boards. King joins Dwayne Collins as the beef up front.
When will we see them struggle? There is too much youth at the point guard spot and feasted on bad shots last year out of necessity. It will be interesting to see if they can shake that against the ACC, which should be a great defensive conference.
Why should anyone care? Miami did come on at the end of the season. They beat Virginia and Maryland [both NCAA tourny teams] and lost their last three games in overtime.
How stable is the program? Frank Haith is probably sitting on the hottest seat in the ACC. Last year, he had to mix and match guys just to suit up a team at times. You would think that if Haith can turn this thing back around ... good times are ahead. But another disasterous season could crash the entire thing.
Where will they finish in the ACC? The media has the at the bottom of the league, but coach Haith is a fighter who has enough talent to stay out of the basement. Just not too far.
Name you didn't know, but will: McClinton was a big bright spot for the Canes last year. Unless your team played Miami, you have no idea who he was [even then, you forgot in a few days]. He was among the ACC's top scorers and the league's top FT and 3-point shooter.
I've had my hat off to Miami Hurricanes coach Frank Haith all season long. After a hellish 2006-2007 season, the ACC media had them picking Miami to finish last in the ACC this year. The Canes responded with a 23-11 record and a win in the NCAA Tournament. 
Miami spent most of the first half trailing St. Mary's and making me think, "uh-oh ... here comes the anti-ACC smack." Especially since Duke narrowly escaped Belmont last night.
Conference: 
Throughout the season we'll look at bubble teams and assess whether they have a better chance of ending up in the 
How quickly do things change. One week ago, the Duke Blue Devils were 10-0 and were unstoppable. They had won every ACC game by at least nine points and had dispatched of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and swept Maryland. It was over.
Boston College owns Miami no matter what conference they play in. The Eagles downed the Hurricanes for the 13th straight time in their 
The Miami Hurricanes' undefeated season came to an end with a sloppy 76-70 loss to Winthrop in the Orange Bowl Classic. No shame in that; the Canes are now 12-1 and still quite the surprise. 
I wonder if the folks in Coral Gables are as confused about this as others. The Hurricanes football team suffered through a miserable season and finished only ahead of Duke in the Coastal Division. The basketball team, however, has now reached 9-0. Note, insert obligatory snarky comment about ACC raiding the Big East for Miami football not basketball, here.
With over 300 teams in Division I college basketball, I understand why you need some sort of way to rate teams. College football uses the BCS. College hoops uses the RPI.
Who are the main men? Big man Anthony King got a break by regaining his eligibility via a medical reshirt ... giving the Canes a big man that will anchor the offense. Miami already has Jack McClinton, who was an All-ACC player last year, and Brian Asbury, a slashing swingman.
