Why the Miami Hurricanes Deserve a #4 Seed
At 6 p.m. ET tonight on CBS, the NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be broadcasted.
Where will the Miami Hurricanes be placed, and more importantly, what seed will the Canes receive?
As noted earlier today at All Hurricanes, Miami has been projected by most prognosticators as a #5 or #6 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Assuming the Canes fall to either one of those projections, it’s too low.
Here’s why head coach Jim Larranaga and his Canes deserve a higher seed.
1) Miami won the ACC regular season title
The Canes went 15-5 and did so with victories over Duke, at North Carolina, at Clemson, Virginia, Wake Forest, at Virginia Tech, and over Pittsburgh among others.
2) The Canes showed consistency
The Hurricanes never had a major lull in their season. In fact, Miami never lost consecutive games.
Winning streaks of 9 games and 7 games need to be considered as well. Afterall, it takes 6 victories in a row to win the NCAA Tournament.
3) Versatility across the board
If there’s a player with more versatility than Miami’s Jordan Miller, that player’s name would be?
Miller has proven he can guard players from point guard through power forward, and do so with effectiveness. He’s also been able to score on players of all sizes, too.
Overall, Miller has represented Miami’s brand of “positionless” basketball. Even power forward Norchad Omier can take the basketball down the court and go directly to the hoop and score, or pass off to a teammate for a bucket.
The lack of a true center in the lineup has been used as an advantage, too. Teams have struggled to find ways to guard Miami’s athletic and skilled players – in the starting lineup or off the bench – during the entire season.
Guard Bensley Joseph showed that against Duke with 10 points on Friday night. How about the efforts of power forward Anthony Walker when Omier left the game with an ankle injury? Those were just two of Miami's quality players off the bench.
Bottom line, this has been and continues to be a much more talented and deep Miami roster than many people apparently realized.
There have been few teams that have embodied the all-around playing style that Miami has, and combined with the talent and depth, that makes the Canes a really tough matchup for any squad it faces during March Madness.
4) Experience
With the ACC Player of the Year in Isaiah Wong, plus Miller, plus Omier, plus Nijel Pack – and the list goes on and on – these are talented players that have been through the battles this season, as well as at least one prior season for all of them.
It’s an advantage to have that experience when it’s a one possession game and five seconds on the game clock. Miami will hold that advantage in the NCAA Tournament.
How many opposing teams want to see a pick-and-roll for the Canes with Wong and Omier and the game on the line? Same with Miller and Pack, or any of several other possible combinations.
Those experienced players have proven track records on being clutch.
5) From way downtown, bang!
To win the NCAA Tournament, 3-point shooting almost always plays a major role for the team that cuts down the nets. Few teams have a plethora of shooters quite like the Canes.
Miami has hit 243 shots from behind the arc, good for 36.8%. That number has a good chance to rise as well.
There are the aforementioned players above that can drain 3-point shots, and there’s an emerging sharpshooter as well.
Sophomore guard Wooga Poplar. He drilled six triples against Pittsburgh, and if he continues to shoot well Miami adds to its ability to beat any team in the country.
Poplar has been playing better as the season moved forward, so look for good things from Poplar, and the Canes, during the NCAA Tournament.
Overall, Miami has earned the right to be a No. 4 seed. Now it’s up to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to make that happen.
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Fan Nation High school football recruiting analyst covering the state of Florida, as well as across the Southeastern United States and the state of Texas.