Unbeaten No. 20 Miami face a new test as the MAC tournament tips off in Cleveland

“You’ve got to put a bow on the regular season and act like it’s 0-0 for everybody and go out there and win three games,” said senior guard Peter Suder, the MAC Player of the Year. “It’s easier said than done, obviously, but we had a great regular season.”

The No. 20 RedHawks (31-0) are the first squad since Gonzaga in 2020-21 to not have a loss going into a conference tournament. St. Joseph's (2003-04), Wichita State (2013-14), and Kentucky (2014-15) also went unbeaten through the regular season.

St. Joseph's is the only team this century to get tripped up in its conference tournament. The Hawks lost to Xavier in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals but were still a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Miami, which has its first MAC regular-season title since 2004-05, is also the first team since Larry Bird and Indiana State in 1978-79 to go into its conference tournament unbeaten after not being ranked in the preseason Associated Press poll.

“We’ve had a great year so far. Now it’s that next step. It’s almost like chapter two, and we get to write our own story, and it starts with UMass on Thursday morning,” said Steele, who was a unanimous selection for MAC Coach of the Year.

The RedHawks had eight one-possession games during the regular season, including their last three. Last Friday’s 110-108 overtime win at Ohio was the first time they beat the Bobcats on the road since 2011.

Doubts about the RedHawks earning an at-large berth have quieted since the win at Ohio.

“It’s not even debatable. Those kids belong in the tournament over teams who have mediocre records, but because they play in a power conference, they get the edge because all the metrics that are designed for seeing who gets in as an at-large team all favor the power conferences,” said ESPN’s Dick Vitale. “I can’t see the logic of taking teams with 14, 15 losses over a team that has zero losses right now and might lose one game in a tournament. Give me a break. It makes no sense.”

TNT Sports' Charles Barkley, who will call a game with Vitale during the First Four, agreed that Miami has earned its spot.

“No matter what happens in this tournament, they should be in,” he said. “My biggest problem with Miami is that I think it’s unfair when people talk about their schedule. Why are they getting penalized? Because the other teams in their conference are not good. That’s not fair to them.”

Miami enters the MAC Tournament leading Division I in field goal percentage (52.6%) and ranking second in scoring offense (90.9 points per game). Six players average double figures, including Suder at 14.8 points per game.

Brant Byers (14.1 ppg) and Elan Elmer (12.5 ppg) were All-MAC second-team selections, while Luke Skaljac (10.3) was named to the third team and Antwone Woolfork (10.1) honorable mention.

Suder said he has seen the debate about Miami’s NCAA Tournament credentials but is not paying much attention.

“It’s pretty hard not to see it. It’s there every time I go on my phone to be honest, but you just have to basically push it aside, just keep scrolling past it,” he said. “Going back all the way to the summer, our main goal wasn’t to go undefeated in the regular season. Our main goal is to definitely win the MAC championship.”

Miami’s main threats are expected to be second-seeded Akron and third-seeded Kent State.

The Zips (26-5), who face Buffalo on Thursday, are looking for their third straight MAC Tournament title. Akron’s only conference loss was at Miami on Jan. 3 (76-73).

The Golden Flashes (23-8) took the RedHawks to overtime before losing 107-101 on Jan. 20. Kent State faces Ohio on Thursday.

The Miami-UMass winner would face either fourth-seeded Toledo or No. 5 seed Bowling Green on Friday.

“I don’t think we’ve felt pressure. I think we’ve enjoyed the moment and the journey,” Steele said. “We’ve been the Super Bowl everywhere we’ve gone. I watch these games after we’ve already played there, and you’re scouting another team. It’s like, man, nobody’s even at that game. There’s like a hundred people there, but when we were there, there were 10,000, and you’re getting everybody’s best shot. So I give our guys a lot of credit for staying focused, blocking out all the outside noise, and focusing on the task at hand."

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball