After spending a week telling everyone who would listen that Miami (Ohio) didn’t deserve a spot in the NCAA Tournament unless the RedHawks win their conference tournament, former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl tried to make amends with Miami head coach Travis Steele.
“I kind of feel like you're Cinderella and I'm the ugly stepmother, right?” Pearl said. “And I've also said, teams are going to win their way in, or they're going to lose their way out. And you guys have worn your way in, and all you got to do is just go, ‘Hey BP, scoreboard.’”
The RedHawks finished a perfect regular season on Friday night, beating rival Ohio 110-108 in overtime to put their record at 31-0. And while their strength of schedule is nothing to write home about, and the MAC isn’t exactly a power conference in basketball, it all but clinched them a spot in the NCAA Tournament even if they go out early in Cleveland this week.
Part of Pearl’s dilemma when discussing Miami was that his son’s Auburn team is on the bubble, being the last team in Joe Lundardi’s latest Bracketology despite a 16-15 record and 7-11 in the SEC. Many saw the former coach’s words as a way to downplay the Redhawks achievements and hopefully get another Power 4 team into the tournament.
Bruce Pearl offers to contribute $2,500 to Travis Steele's favorite charity
Pearl asked Steele how his team has handled the pressure of going through an undefeated season.
“I think just enjoying each other, Coach,” Steele said. “We're having fun. If you could see practice or the bus rides or the hotels, our guys have a blast together. The connectivity that we have is absolutely elite.”
In the end, Pearl did make a great gesture toward Steele. The Miami head coach was fined $2,500 for pushing over the DJ’s speaker during a game at Western Michigan on Feb. 27.
“Hey, Travis, you tell me what your favorite charity is and I'm going to stroke a check for $2,500,” Pearl said. “How's that?”
“Let's go,” Steele responded. “I love it.”