Flynn Clayman was given a national television stage to make a point in the immediate aftermath of High Point\u2019s upset of Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers\u2019 head coach did not pass it up.<\/p>\n
Doubt his team\u2019s merit, doubt any mid-major\u2019s merit, including Miami (Ohio), at your own peril.<\/p>\n
Directly after his 12th-seeded squad upset the No. 5 seed Badgers, 83-82<\/a>, Thursday afternoon in Portland, Ore., Clayman unleashed a postgame diatribe aimed at those who questioned his team\u2019s place in the tournament due to a perceived weak schedule. High Point, which went 30-4 during the regular season but played the third-weakest schedule in the country according to the NCAA\u2019s NET rankings, has not played a high-major in the regular season since Dec. 16, 2023, at Georgia.<\/p>\n \u201cLooks pretty obvious to me that high-majors need to play mid-majors early in the season,\u201d Clayman said. \u201cBecause they said we didn\u2019t play nobody. We played somebody now.\u201d<\/p>\n Clayman\u2019s statement built on those of Miami (Ohio) coach Travis Steele, who earlier in the season said that he tried to schedule high-major programs in nonconference play to build up the RedHawks\u2019 resume. His RedHawks were the only Division I program to go undefeated in the regular season, posting a 31-0 record, but lost to UMass in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament and had to sweat out Selection Sunday for a berth in the First Four.<\/p>\n Much was made about Miami\u2019s schedule, ranked 339th out of 365 teams in the NCAA\u2019s NET rankings entering Selection Sunday, and how it should limit the RedHawks\u2019 at-large prospects compared to major conference bubble teams like Auburn. The Tigers went 17-16 with the third-toughest schedule in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, we\u2019ve got a really good team,\u201d Steele said in late January<\/a>. \u201cDon\u2019t penalize us for people (who) aren\u2019t willing to play us.\u201d<\/p>\n The RedHawks finally got their high-major opportunity in the First Four in Dayton, and they made a statement with an 89-79 win over SMU out of the ACC<\/a>.<\/p>\n To Clayman, the Redhawks \u2018 plight was part of a greater issue in college basketball.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty obvious to me that something needs to be done about this non-conference scheduling,\u201d Clayman said. \u201cHigh Point and Miami (Ohio) are 2-0 in quad one games. We couldn\u2019t get games. They couldn\u2019t get games.\u201d<\/p>\n “Looks pretty obvious to me that high-majors need to play mid-majors early in the season. Because they said we didn’t play nobody. We played somebody now.”<\/p>\n -High Point HC Flynn Clayman pic.twitter.com\/IpObzgJSGm<\/a><\/p>\n