The nation’s last remaining undefeated men’s college basketball team, the Miami RedHawks, has become a divisive subject in college basketball. Some feel that due to the RedHawks’ weak schedule, they should have to win the MAC tourney to ensure their inclusion in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
Others feel that the RedHawks going unbeaten in the regular season should be enough to ensure their inclusion in the tournament, regardless of how things shake out in the MAC.
Former Auburn Tigers head coach turned studio analyst Bruce Pearl falls squarely in the former group as perhaps the RedHawks’ most prominent detractor in the public eye.
“They’re not built for the grind of a Big Ten or even a Big East. In the Big East Conference this year, they’d finish in the lower half,” Pearl said on Monday. “They may not finish last. But I tell you what: I’m not so sure. I’m not so sure. Who is the last-place team? It would be DePaul. It would be Marquette. I don’t know.”
Miami’s athletic director, David Sayler, took to Twitter to respond.
“[You] are flat out wrong about Miami (OH) when you say we would finish last in the Big East,” Sayler wrote. “The disrespect is awful and [you] should not be near a TV studio covering this sport when [you] show your true colors.”
On Tuesday, Sayler appeared on Wake Up Barstool.
.@MiamiOH_DSayler joined the show today to defend his program against Bruce Pearl’s take https://t.co/GHJOaeEtYJ pic.twitter.com/Wzd9BXXqDC
— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) March 3, 2026
What do you think? Should a perfect regular season be enough to get the RedHawks in?
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.