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The NCAA Tournament field was announced last night, and to the surprise of no one, Miami’s 14-18 record wasn’t good enough to punch a ticket to the dance. Miami doesn’t exactly have a tradition of kicking ass in postseason basketball.
Outside of a nice run in 2016, when the team lost to Villanova in the regional semifinal, the Hurricanes don’t play much college basketball in March.
It turns out that like the Canes, Miami, and South Florida as a whole, don’t really do basketball this time of year.
According to a new study by WalletHub, Miami is the 77th best American city for college basketball fans.
WalletHub ranked more than 280 U.S. cities using nine key metrics ranging from the number of teams per city and their winning percentages to stadium capacity and social-media engagement.
The results for South Florida were poor. Not only was Miami barely in the top 80, but Boca Raton was number 268. Outside of that, nada. WalletHub ranks Lawrence, Kansas, home of the Jayhawks, in the top spot, with the usual suspects such as Durham, North Carolina (Duke), and Chapel Hill (UNC) following.
While none of this is unexpected – we all know Miami is not a basketball school – it’s tough to swallow in a city that supports the Heat with such passion. Hurricanes fans exist, of course; they just focus on the fall and football.
In the end, Canes fans can feel confident that if Manny Diaz and his football team deliver on the hype they’ve created this offseason, WalletHub will have them higher on the football list. Hard Rock Stadium will be filled to the brim and no one will doubt Miami is a great town for college fans.
