{"id":798409,"date":"2026-03-07T12:52:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T12:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/798409\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T12:52:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T12:52:43","slug":"the-case-for-miami-ohio-plus-a-doozy-of-an-nfl-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/798409\/","title":{"rendered":"The case for Miami (Ohio), plus a doozy of an NFL trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! Pull up from half court today. Coming up:\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is March: A perfect team and an insufferable debate<\/p>\n

Last night, Ohio\u2019s Miami University beat the Ohio Bobcats, 110-108, in overtime to move to 31-0, in\u00a0one of the most thrilling games<\/a>\u00a0of the season. You\u2019ll rarely see a regular-season college hoops game that feels like a bigger deal as it\u2019s unfolding. Personally, it might be the most fun regular-season college hoops game I have ever watched, wrapping up on a missed OU three that would\u2019ve won it at the overtime buzzer. Ideally, this result will preempt the whole discussion we\u2019re about to have. I expect that it will, and Miami should, finally, be a confirmed March Madness team.<\/p>\n

After all, the No. 16 RedHawks are the\u00a0first men\u2019s basketball team to finish a Division I regular season undefeated since Gonzaga in 2021. They were already the first in\u00a035 years\u00a0to start a season 30-0.<\/p>\n

The RedHawks should now be looking forward to their inevitable Cinderella opportunity in March Madness. Except that isn\u2019t universally agreed, because\u00a0a wretched discourse from college football has crossed into basketball: Should a non-power team with an exceptional resume get a shot at the sport\u2019s premier postseason event?\u00a0If Miami loses in its conference tournament next week, should the RedHawks be forced to the NIT while an SEC or Big Ten team with double-digit losses takes their slot? It\u2019s highly doubtful, but some folks will keep arguing it.<\/p>\n

Of course, Miami could win the MAC tournament and make this all moot.\u00a0But the anti-RedHawk movement is real, and it\u2019s important to preemptively push back on those who would dump them if they lost a single game.\u00a0The brewing case against Miami is a case against everything people claim to enjoy about college basketball.<\/p>\n

The face of the anti-Miami movement has a conflict of interest:<\/p>\n

Bruce Pearl built Auburn into an SEC powerhouse, then retired just before the season, effectively forcing the school to elevate his son, Steven, to head coach.
\nIt\u2019s gone poorly, with Auburn staring down a 7-11 record in SEC play if it loses at No. 16 Alabama today. The Tigers have faced a brutal schedule, sure, but they\u2019ve performed badly against it. \u201cNo team is feeling the pressure of the bubble more than Auburn,\u201d\u00a0our staff says<\/a>. It turns out that\u00a0collecting a huge sack of TV cash in an expanded conference also means playing games you might lose.
\nSo it was galling when the elder Pearl went on TV last weekend to argue against Miami, which could jump Auburn in the bubble queue: \u201cIf we\u2019re selecting the 68 best teams, then Miami is going to have to win their tournament to qualify as a champion. Because as an at-large, they are not one of the best teams in the country,\u201d Pearl told his TNT colleagues, contrasting \u201cbest\u201d with \u201cmost deserving.\u201d He\u00a0later defended himself<\/a>, claiming \u201cthere is no nepotism involved here.\u201d (Pearl does say that nepotism played a role in his son getting the Auburn job \u2014 obviously \u2014\u00a0but that\u2019s a separate Pearl-nepotism storyline<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

We have seen this a billion times in football, a sport where the power conferences have tried to manipulate the playoff format to hoover up as many spots as possible \u2014 after years of denying the smaller conferences any chances at all. (If something good accidentally happens for non-power teams,\u00a0the rules quickly change<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Sure, Miami\u2019s schedule is light, with a best win over No. 62 Akron. But\u00a0loads of power-conference teams<\/a>\u00a0declined to schedule the RedHawks when they asked. You can\u2019t beat who you can\u2019t play, and the genius of the NCAA Tournament is that your opponents don\u2019t have a choice.\u00a0College basketball is supposed to love potential Cinderellas.<\/p>\n

If people like Pearl got their way, the selection committee would more or less just grab .500-ish teams based on their\u00a0KenPom ratings<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 Auburn is 40th, Miami 90th \u2014 and turn the tournament into an \u201con-paper\u201d referendum that the power conferences would always win. Having fewer mid-majors in the tourney would only expand the power conferences\u2019 financial advantages.<\/p>\n

In any format, a selection committee will balance \u201cbest\u201d (stats, roster quality, the \u201ceye test\u201d) with \u201cmost deserving\u201d (resumes, achievements).\u00a0College football disputes invented that terminology<\/a>. But if wins and losses don\u2019t matter, what\u2019s the point? Spurning Miami would tell most of Division I that there\u00a0is\u00a0no point.\u00a0It would also deny us the chance to see how far Miami could go, all to watch a totally forgettable team from a bigger league wash out after the same one to three games as Miami. I know why Bruce Pearl might want that, but why should we?<\/p>\n

News to Know\"PHILADELPHIA,<\/p>\n

\n Mitchell Leff \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Raiders trade Crosby to Ravens<\/p>\n

A busy day of NFL news ahead of free agency ended with a bang, as Las Vegas agreed to trade star pass rusher Maxx Crosby to Baltimore for first-round picks this year and next. Crosby has been the face of the Raiders franchise, and the move shows both their commitment to starting wholly fresh and the Ravens\u2019 burning desire to shore up a defense that wasn\u2019t itself last year. The Cowboys and Jaguars were also in hot pursuit.\u00a0Much more on the megadeal here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Deadline dealing in the NHL<\/p>\n

A flurry of trades got done before the deadline Friday, including Colorado\u2019s acquisition of Calgary\u2019s leading scorer, Nazem Kadri \u2014 bringing back one of the key players on the Avalanche\u2019s 2022 Stanley Cup-winning team. The Avs were among\u00a0the window\u2019s clear winners<\/a>, per Mark Lazerus, while Connor McDavid and his quest for a first Cup landed among the losers. We\u2019ve got\u00a0grades for all the major deals here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news:<\/p>\n

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum\u00a0made his long-awaited return from a torn Achilles,\u00a0recording a double-double<\/a> as Boston dominated. Look out.
\nPresident Donald Trump\u00a0led a roundtable on the future of college athletics and promised a new executive order in the next week.\u00a0Details here<\/a>.
\nNBA commissioner Adam Silver\u00a0talked at some length about wanting \u201csubstantial changes\u201d to the draft lottery system, referencing the\u00a0WNBA\u2019s method as a possible route forward.\u00a0His full comments here<\/a>.
\nShohei Ohtani\u00a0hit a grand slam as reigning\u00a0WBC\u00a0champs\u00a0Japan\u00a0run-ruled\u00a0Chinese Taipei, while\u00a0Aaron Judge\u00a0went yard for the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0in a rout of\u00a0Brazil. Make time for\u00a0this story<\/a> on the teenage Brazil pitcher who is missing high school to, among other things, face Judge with the bases loaded.
\nA likely top-five pick in this summer\u2019s\u00a0NBA Draft,\u00a0North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson\u00a0broke his right thumb dunking<\/a>\u00a0in practice and is out for the season. It\u2019s especially tough luck considering he had just about recovered from a fractured\u00a0left hand.
\nIran\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team\u00a0was labeled \u201cwartime traitors<\/a>\u201d by state TV after players didn\u2019t sing the national anthem before a match, calling into question their safety. Not good.
\nSuns\u00a0forward Dillon Brooks\u00a0was arrested on suspicion of DUI.\u00a0Details here<\/a>.
\nFormer Michigan coach Sherrone Moore\u00a0pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors in a deal that dismissed other charges stemming from the dramatic events on the day of his firing.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.
\nPenguins center Evgeni Malkin\u00a0was\u00a0suspended five games<\/a>\u00a0for slashing\u00a0Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin\u00a0in the head and neck. It\u2019s bad timing for the Pens, who are also without injured captain\u00a0Sidney Crosby.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0\u00a0Find more news here 24\/7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Soccer: USWNT vs. Colombia
3:30 p.m. ET on TNT
The Americans are\u00a0flying high<\/a>\u00a0right now under coach Emma Hayes, and a draw this afternoon would give the U.S. its eighth SheBelieves Cup title.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa WBC: Great Britain vs. United States
8 p.m. ET on Fox
Back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal takes the bump for Team USA, facing a British side (soccer term) that is almost entirely made up of less talented Americans. The Yankees\u2019 Jazz Chisholm, from the Bahamas, is the Brits\u2019 headliner.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0F1: Australian Grand Prix
11 p.m. ET on Apple TV
The first race of the season, live from Melbourne. Formula 1 has a new American media partner this year, as Apple takes over for ESPN. (Here\u2019s Luke Smith on F1\u2019s calculus in making that move<\/a>.) We\u2019ll have much more on F1\u2019s year of transitions in tomorrow\u2019s Pulse.<\/p>\n

Get tickets to games like this here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

\n Illustration: Demetrius Robinson \/ The Athletic; Photos: Chris Coduto, Rob Tringali, Daniel Shirey \/ WBCI \/ MLB Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

While you follow the World Baseball Classic action this weekend, peruse our uniform rankings.\u00a0Who\u2019s got the best fit on the biggest stage<\/a>?<\/p>\n

In honor of this year\u2019s WBC, we\u2019ve compiled a playlist featuring artists representing every nation in the tournament. From Brazilian funk to Korean alternative hip-hop to Czech punk,\u00a0we\u2019ve got the soundtrack<\/a>\u00a0for what will be a global celebration. \u2014 Kaci Borowski<\/p>\n

In light of Jurickson Profar\u2019s suspension this week, Brittany Ghiroli writes that the problem with MLB\u2019s drug policy isn\u2019t the testing,\u00a0it\u2019s the league\u2019s guaranteed contracts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A few\u00a0Athletic\u00a0coworkers got together recently to celebrate Women\u2019s History Month and had fun sharing some of our current favorite \u201cinspiring women of pop culture.\u201d Two big hits were the women of \u201cShrinking\u201d on Apple TV and the women of \u201cThe Pitt\u201d on HBO Max.\u00a0Two hands-down fantastic shows<\/a>\u00a0with inspiring characters! \u2014 Hannah Vanbiber<\/p>\n

Something I saw on social media that I\u00a0need\u00a0to try: Ricotta cake cookies. Ingredients? Vanilla cake mix and \u2026 a small tub of ricotta.\u00a0That\u2019s it<\/a>. If tasty, what a party trick that\u2019d be. \u2014 Lauren Merola<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it like guiding your sibling in Alpine skiing at the Paralympics?\u00a0Liam Tharme asked around<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s crawfish season here in Louisiana, but you can get a bottle of\u00a0this concentrated goodness<\/a>\u00a0anywhere to use in your cooking. I thought about its power after having some dumplings that were boiled along with crawfish, and that most anything savory would do well with a punch of crawfish\/shrimp\/crab boil. \u2014 Chris Branch<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday:\u00a0Malkin\u2019s neck slash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com<\/a>, and check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n