Miami is coming off a 76-73 home victory over Akron on Saturday, a game that felt less like a midseason Mid-American Conference contest and more like a measuring stick for a program intent on reshaping its place in the college basketball landscape.
Brant Byers scored a game-high 26 points to lead Miami (15-0, 3-0 MAC), with Eian Elmer adding 19. Luke Skaljac and Antwone Woolfolk chipped in 11 points apiece as the RedHawks fended off the Zips down the stretch.
The win reinforced a belief that had been building inside the program long before Miami entered the national conversation.
“I think it just gives us even more confidence than we had before,” Byers said. “I know we had a lot of confidence coming in off last year, having a lot of the guys back. But now that we’re going out and actually performing the way we want to perform and getting the results we want, I think it’s huge for us.”
Miami’s path back to the AP Top 25 traces to Feb. 15, 1999, when the RedHawks were ranked No. 25. The program’s highest ranking remains No. 19 in March of 1978. It is rare territory for a school that has spent much of the last quarter-century trying to reestablish relevance.
This version of the RedHawks has done so with efficiency. Miami entered the week ranked first in the nation in effective field goal percentage (.643), field goal percentage (54.6) and 3-point percentage (43.6). The RedHawks also ranked fifth nationally in scoring offense (94.9 points per game) and 3-pointers made per game (11.8), while sitting 11th in scoring margin (23.0).
Those numbers are part of the argument for Miami’s legitimacy — and also part of the debate.
The RedHawks’ strength of schedule ranks 354th out of 365 Division I programs and their KenPom rating at 98, which are figures often cited by skeptics questioning how Miami stacks up nationally.
Inside the program, the conversation is different.
“I take it one game at a time,” Miami coach Travis Steele said. “Whoever’s on the schedule, whoever we’re about to play is the biggest game of the year.”
Steele pointed to the Akron win as a program benchmark, noting his respect for the Zips and their coach — his half brother — John Groce. Akron knocked off Miami in the MAC Tournament championship game on a last-second bucket a season ago.
“They’re connected, and they’re experienced,” Steele said. “So it’s a great win. It’s a good program win for us.”
Now in his fourth season, Steele views this season as less about validation and more about reflection — evidence of something built deliberately over time.
“It’s changed a lot, just from obviously the results, but again, everybody else is concerned with results. I’m not,” Steele said. “I’m concerned with our culture and our process. Our culture is elite. It is the best I’ve ever been around. We have guys that really fit. They put the team before themselves.”
Byers sees the same in Miami’s rise.
“I think it shows just the steps that we’ve taken through the last four years — even the last, like, two-and-a-half years that I’ve been here,” Byers said. “It shows really what we’ve been working toward. It just shows a little bit of a sense of confidence, I guess, that we are who we believe.”
Miami’s climb has been steady. The RedHawks received six votes in the AP poll released Dec. 22, then surged to No. 3 in the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll announced by CollegeInsider on Dec. 29.
They are now one of just six undefeated Division I teams, alongside Arizona, Iowa State, Michigan, Nebraska and Vanderbilt.
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