Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast · Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner

Which of College Basketball's Problems are Its Own, and Which are Football's?

·22 min·2 clips

Miami of Ohio is 31-0 but ranked 91st in analytics—should they make the NCAA tournament over a .500 SEC team?

This special episode of Split Zone Duo features hosts Alex Kirshner and Richard Johnson alongside guest Roger Sherman, a noted college basketball analyst known for his accurate upset predictions. They explore the interconnected challenges and cultural parallels between college basketball and college football. The conversation is framed around the current March Madness season and the broader structural issues facing both sports. A central topic is the improbable 31-0 season of the Miami University (Ohio) Redhawks, a team from the Mid-American Conference. Despite their perfect record, their analytics are weak, ranking 91st in Ken Pomeroy's ratings with a non-conference strength of schedule ranked 361st out of 365 teams. The hosts detail how the team tried and failed to schedule games against power-conference opponents to improve its resume. This sparks a familiar debate about whether a perfect mid-major deserves an NCAA tournament bid over a .500 team from a power conference like the SEC. The discussion parallels historic college football playoff debates involving teams like UCF, Cincinnati, and James Madison. Roger Sherman notes a significant statistical decline in opportunities for mid-major teams, explaining that from 1995-2014, an average of nine mid-majors received at-large bids, while this year will likely see only two or three. He cites data showing the competitive gap is widening, with the rating difference between the top five conferences and the next five nearly doubling from 7.1 points five years ago to 12.4 points this season. Regular-season upsets of power-conference teams by non-power teams have plummeted from 75 in 2023 to just 25 this year. The hosts connect this consolidation of power to the influence of the transfer portal and NIL agreements, which power conferences have increasingly leveraged. A memorable example of conference tournament structure is Georgia Southern's recent run, where as the lowest seed they had to win six games in six days, nearly playing a full NCAA tournament's worth of games before losing in the Sun Belt final. The hosts also humorously recount the strict NCAA tournament press policy requiring all beverages to be poured into official Powerade cups. An interesting tension arises between the cherished "Cinderella" narrative of March Madness and the modern reality of diminished mid-major access and competitiveness, mirroring college football's exclusionary postseason history. The tone is conversational, analytical, and often humorous, blending deep statistical analysis with personal anecdotes and cultural observations. It adopts an educational style, using specific data and historical comparisons to illustrate complex systemic issues within collegiate athletics. This episode will appeal to fans of either sport interested in the business and structural dynamics shaping college athletics, as well as listeners who enjoy data-driven sports analysis. Those seeking pure game previews or light entertainment without deeper commentary might find it less engaging.

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