Miami women get off bubble and into NCAA tournament as No. 9 seed, to face Oklahoma State
A year filled with a slew of signature wins and a late-season NCAA probe will end with a trip to the NCAA tournament for the Miami Hurricanes.
For the second straight season, Miami is going dancing.
The Hurricanes are the No. 9 seed in the Greenville region and were one of the last teams to grab a first-round bye. They’ll head out to Bloomington, Indiana, on Saturday to face No. 8-seed Oklahoma State in the opening round of the NCAA tourney.
“It’s a real statement of the consistency of success in the postseason,” coach Katie Meier said. “We were expecting an 8-9, thinking maybe we slide to a 7, maybe we slide to a 10 because you can always move one or two, so that’s where we’re at. We’re excited. We’re thrilled to be in.”
If it can win in Round 1, Miami will likely face No. 1-seed Indiana in Round 2 — coincidentally, the same school the men’s team could play in the second round of its NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers will face the winner of a Tennessee Tech-Monmouth play-in game between No. 16 seeds.
This is the Hurricanes’ 16th time in the tournament and their back-to-back trips come after a two-year drought. Miami has never advanced past the first weekend of the tourney. Last year, the Hurricanes were a No. 8 seed and beat South Florida in the opening round before losing to eventual-champion South Carolina in Round 2.
Miami (19-12, 11-7 Atlantic Coast) effectively punched its ticket to the tournament last month, when it picked up a third top-25 win and then finished sixth in the ACC. The Hurricanes then won one game in the ACC tournament March 2 before getting bounced by then-No. 8 Virginia Tech in the ACC quarterfinals March 3.
After the loss to the Hokies, Meier declared her team was “not even on the bubble” and had done more than enough to solidify its place in the field of 68. It turned out she was right.
“When this week played out pretty well, I thought we were pretty firmly in,” Meier said. “I thought we were comfortably in and we’ve been practicing with a real passion, expecting to represent this university in the NCAA tournament again.”
Although it finished the regular season at No. 50 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, Miami picked up four Quadrant 1 wins and six Quadrant 2. Those wins, which include the trio of top-25 victories, were at the crux of the Hurricanes’ case, as Miami proved it can hang with anyone from the best conference in the country.
The signature moment for the Hurricanes came back in January when they rattled off five straight wins, including upsets of North Carolina and Virginia Tech in the span of four days.
The Hokies are a No. 1 seed and the Tar Heels a No. 6.
Miami’s third top-25 win came last month against rival Florida State, which is a No. 7 seed in the tournament.
The ACC got eight teams into the field, the most of any conference.
The Hurricanes also almost entirely avoided bad losses, dropping just 1 of 10 Quadrant 3 and Quadrant 4 games. It all created a relatively complete resume for Miami, with little for the selection committee to nitpick on Selection Sunday.
It all has them prepared for March.
“We’re prepared. We’ve been practicing as if we’re an NCAA team,” Meier said. “The players are excited.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2023 at 8:21 PM.
