No. 1 regional seed Miami gets their crack at No. 4 seed Dartmouth at 4pm ET on Friday. Should the Canes get the win, they’ll take on the victor of the No. 2 Texas A&M vs. No. 3 Florida International contest.
As far as brackets go, there’s good reason for UM to be excited. The second seeded Aggies don’t appear as formidable as some two seeds Miami has seen in the past. That said, a recent Susan Miller Degnan article in the Herald talked of Hurricane ballers erupting into cheers and applause when learning about their weekend foes.
For a team that just got worked in the ACC tourney and lost its last two regular season weekend series, these Canes need to quell any overexcitement. It’s a fine line between cocky and confident and Miami needs to assume a businesslike approach if Omaha is in the cards.
Should Miami take the Coral Gables regional, they’ll head to Gainesville to play Florida – assuming the Gators get out of their regional. Second seed Oregon State has the experience to pull the upset, but UF is obviously the favorite.
The Canes went 4-6 down the stretch and will need to get it together big time if a legitimate postseason run is in the cards. Dartmouth should be a breeze, but don’t discount a feisty FIU team or battle-tested Texas A&M squad. While Miami was getting worked in the ACC tourney, the Aggies put a 9-3 beating on a very good Texas team that some have picked to win the national championship.
Nothing has come easy for these Canes this year, so there’s no reason to expect this weekend’s regional to be a breeze.
Save the erupting and applause for next Sunday should Miami still be in the running for a title and headed to Omaha. After the last few games, there’s little to cheer.
Right now there are three hungry teams headed to The Light this weekend smelling upset. Get focused, Canes.