Former North Carolina Tar Heel standout Tyler Hansbrough said during Sunday’s 68-game selection bracket that he doesn’t think the Miami Redhawks deserve their first trip to the NCAA tournament since the 1999 team that featured Wally Szczerbiak.
“I don’t think they should be in the tournament,” Hansbrough said of Miami. “I say that because they have a pretty weak schedule. What is it? Let’s look at it here: No. 339? There’s no best-of-four. We had a best-of-four debate every time Carolina got in there last year, but our schedule is much stronger.”
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“Honestly, I think some other team, maybe Oklahoma State or some other team,” Hansbrough continued. “Teams in major conferences that actually have a legitimate shot and don’t have D-II schools on the pre-conference schedule, I feel like they should be rewarded. If we haven’t learned anything from the College Football Playoff. Is Miami, Ohio State, actually a contender? Absolutely not. I had them losing in the playoffs.”
The Redhawks are scheduled to face SMU on Wednesday, March 18 at 9:15 pm ET.
Szczerbiak said on the network’s “NCAA March Madness Bracket Analysis” that he was “very surprised” the Redhawks became the first Central American team to play in the top four of the NCAA tournament in Dayton.
When the Redhawks heard their name called on Sunday at Selection, CBS college basketball analyst Seth Davis said Miami earned the final free bid to the NCAA Tournament. Keith Gill, chairman of the NCAA tournament selection committee, clarified shortly afterward that NC State, Texas and SMU were ranked lower than Miami.
Former North Carolina Tar Heels standout Tyler Hansbrough
This article originally appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer: Miami Redhawks not worthy of NCAA tournament bid | Tyler Hansbrough
