Miami (Ohio) chokes away undefeated season — and now has to sweat March Madness bubble

From perfection to sweating on Selection Sunday.

Miami (Ohio)’s perfect season ended with a shocking 87-83 loss to eighth-seeded UMass in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday.

The Redhawks blew an 11-point lead with 8:33 remaining, allowing a 29-14 run to close the game.

Miami (Ohio) is now 31-1, yet there will be consternation while it spends the next 72 hours waiting to learn its NCAA Tournament fate.

ESPN projected the Redhawks to be a No. 11 seed entering the day, which offered some wiggle room.

While it may seem strange to think that a 31-1 team may be on the bubble, the MAC does not provide many quality wins and Miami (Ohio) did not play a tough non-conference schedule.

The Redhawks rank 54th in the NET and 93rd in KenPom’s metrics.

There are those who argue that major-conference teams, despite having double-digit losses, should receive a bid over a team that did not face stiff competition en route to a 31-0 start.

Leading that charge is former Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, who has vouched for the Tigers — now coached by his son, Stephen.

Miami (Ohio)’s undefeated season is over. AP

“If we’re selecting the 68 best teams, then Miami is going to have to win their tournament to qualify as a champion,” Pearl said recently.

“Because, as an at-large, they are not one of the best teams in the country.”

This led to to Miami (Ohio) athletic director David Sayler firing back at Pearl.

“@coachbrucepearl u are flat out wrong about @MiamiOH_BBall when u say we would finish last in the Big East,” Sayler wrote on X. “The disrespect is awful and u should not be near a TV studio covering this sport when u show your true colors! Even slipped in a “we” when talking about Auburn, nice work!”

Miami would have helped its standing had it not choked away this quarterfinal.

UMass upset the top-seeded Redhawks. AP

The Redhawks led, 69-58, with 8:33 remaining before their defense took the rest of the game off.

The Minutemen rallied to tie the game at 71 roughly three minutes later, and Daniel Hankins-Sanford’s layup with 29 seconds remaining gave UMass an 83-81 edge it didn’t relinquish.