Miami Men's basketball schedule review

The Miami University men’s basketball schedule has officially been released. Coming off an undefeated regular season last year, the RedHawks look to replicate the success of a magical 2025-26 season.

Despite finishing the regular season undefeated, the RedHawks’ strength of schedule ranked 340 nationally per the NCAA Evaluation Tool. Due to this, Miami was one of the last four teams in the field that did not win its conference tournament.

Miami prevailed, earning a No.11 seed in the tournament and beating Southern Methodist University in the First Four game. Miami’s season ended against the University of Tennessee in the first round of March Madness play.

Miami plays 31 games again this season, 15 home, 15 away, and 1 at a neutral location. Twenty-two of those games are against Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponents.

Miami starts the season off against Sun Belt conference (SBC) opponent, the James Madison University Dukes. Miami is traveling to Harrisonburg, Virginia, on Nov. 2 for its season opener as a part of the MAC-SBC Challenge. James Madison is a consistent competitor to win their conference, and Miami’s new team is going into an intense environment for its first game.

“We put our guys in a lot of adverse situations in practice, which prepares us for games like James Madison, where I know we’ll face some tough moments,” head coach Travis Steele said in a press conference.

After James Madison, Miami faces three more non-conference opponents: Bellarmine University, Evansville University and Defiance University. It is these games where Miami can get into the swing of its season.

Miami then heads to Jacksonville to play in the Jacksonville Classic. Miami will face off against the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). UIC comes from the Missouri Valley Conference and is also a top contender in its conference.

Eastern Kentucky University then heads to Miami on Nov. 25 for another non-conference game.

On Dec. 2, Miami will begin its MAC play against Central Michigan University. The University of Buffalo Bulls, who the RedHawks beat in double-overtime last season, will host Miami on Dec. 5.

That leads to the Riley Decker Showcase game. Miami will face another very tough opponent, the High Point University Panthers. High Point was able to acquire many top prospects coming out of high school and the transfer portal.

According to a statistic from LangIndex Hoops on Miami’s chances to make March Madness, many say that Miami’s schedule this year is not good enough to prove to the AP Top 25 Poll and Coaches Poll that they are able to succeed. Miami’s perfect 2025-26 regular season was almost not enough to prove that the team was good enough to compete with power conference teams in March Madness. Head coach Travis Steele wants people to think about this year and not last.

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“Last year was last year, nobody cares,” Steele said. “I don’t care, you need to move on. Last year was great, but we got to continue to build.”

All MAC teams are fighting for a spot in March Madness. Since the MAC is a mid-major conference, bids usually only go to the winner of the conference tournament. Other top contenders in the MAC are the University of Akron, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Toledo and Kent State University.

Akron won the MAC tournament last season and Miami sees them twice on Jan. 9 and Jan. 23. UMass defeated Miami in the tournament last season and they will see each other on Jan. 26 and the last game of the regular season, March 5.

Miami will also play against Ohio University in the Battle of the Bricks and Kent State, a top MAC opponent. The team’s culture will play a big role in taking down these conference rivals.

“[ Steele] knows that we have a good culture here, and have established a good culture, we need dudes that will buy into that,” senior captain Evan Ipsaro said.

This season will be very exciting for the RedHawks. They have a lot to prove this year with a new team and a new March Madness bracket featuring 76 teams.

obrubajm@miamioh.edu