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Starting 5: Why Miami hoops can make the Final Four

March Madness kicks into full gear this week across the country.

The University of Miami men's basketball team will make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013 after the tournament selection panel made the team as a No. 3 seed in the South division last week.
The Hurricanes (25-7) will face No. 14 seed Buffalo at 7 p.m. Thursday in Providence, Rhode Island.
It's not too often that you mention the name "Miami" as a serious player to make the Final Four, but since they call it March Madness, here's five reasons why the Canes will make the "Big Dance" in Houston:

1. Coach Jim Larranaga: In a conference with coaching legends like Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams, Miami's teams under Jim Larranaga have made their presence felt in the competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. Larranaga is 116-56 in his five seasons as Miami's coach, including a stellar 25-7 record this season. That's impressive considering seven ACC teams made the tournament this season including two No. 1 seeds North Carolina and Virginia.
Coach L brings plenty of tournament coaching experience to the table as well. He coached George Mason to the Final Four exactly 10 years ago and led the Hurricanes to the Sweet 16 back in 2013.
That experience will pay dividends if the Canes hope to make another long tournament run in 2016.

Here's Larranaga discussing his team on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption a couple weeks ago:


2. Battle tested: Like I mentioned before the Canes are one of seven ACC teams to make the NCAA tournament.
Miami, in fact, was one of the better teams in the ACC this season. The Canes finished 13-5 in the ACC during the regular season (tied for 2nd) and lost to 73-68 to Virginia in the conference tournament semifinal despite committing 16 turnovers against the Cavaliers.
3. Excellent guard play: The Canes boast one of the better guard rotations in the country. Redshirt senior guard Shelden McClellan leads Miami averaging nearly 16 points per game and shoots 50 percent from the field. His backcourt mate Angel Rodriguez averages 11.8 ppg and is a streaky shooter that can catch fire at any point. Rounding out the trio is Junior guard Davon Reed, the Canes third leading scorer who averages 11.3 ppg.
The X-factor is JaQuan Newton, a sophomore guard from Philadelphia. Newton gives the Canes plenty of scoring off of the bench. In fact, he was the team's leading scorer in their last ACC game against Virginia with 19 points. That type of production is critical if Miami hopes to advance deep into the tournament.

4. Play as a team: The Canes don't boast the recruiting classes of a Duke, North Carolina or Kentucky, but they have players who fit within Jim Larranaga's system. I mentioned Miami's stable of guards earlier, but center Tonye Jekiri --the only player remaining from Miami's Sweet 16 roster -- is the defensive anchor of this team. Oklahoma State transfer Kamari Murphy doesn't light up the stat sheet, but gives the Canes added depth in the frontcourt. Forward Ivan Cruz Uceda rounds out Miami's frontcourt rotation.

5. Division: Miami shares the South division with No. 1 seed Kansas --which hasn't lost a game since Jan. 26. Led by fashion designer star forward Perry Ellis the Jayhawks are 16th in the nation in scoring averaging 81.6 points per game.
According to sports-reference.com, which ran 5,000 simulations of the NCAA tournament outcome, the Jayhawks (30-4) have the second highest odds of winning a national title (13.2 percent) behind only Michigan State (14.4 percent odds).

No. 2 seed Villanova (29-5), the Big East Conference regular season champion beats teams with good defense. The Wildcats are ranked 20th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 63.7 points a game.
Although the Canes struggled against North Carolina and Virginia, the NCAA tournament is all about matchups and getting hot at the right time. Miami wouldn't have to face Villanova potentially until the Sweet 16 and Kansas until the Elite 8. By that time, records don't matter its about which team is playing the best basketball. Sports-reference.com gave Miami a 49 percent chance to make the Sweet 16.
Regular season records and rankings don't carry much weight during "March Madness." If you need a reminder just google "2015 Kentucky upset."

Check out the 2016 NCAA tournament bracket.
 

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