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Get To Know Miami

So, Miami, huh? What do we know about this school?

By Brewtown Andy
A Three Monocle, sir? That's so 2011.
A Three Monocle, sir? That's so 2011.
Ronald Martinez

NAME: University of Miami

LOCATION: Coral Gables, Florida

HEY, I THOUGHT YOU SAID MIAMI: Eh, close enough.

FOUNDED IN: 1925

I CAN'T DO THIS JUSTICE: Miami didn't have the best start to a school in known history, but that's when you start a college towards the end of a land boom and four years before the start of the Great Depression. The first building on campus went unfinished for two decades, they hosted classes in a nearby hotel, and filed for bankruptcy just 7 years into their existence.

ENROLLMENT: 9,759 full time undergraduates as of Fall 2012. I would not have put them within 1,500 students of MU. I mean, I knew The U was a private school, but I didn't realize it was that small, for some reason.

WELL, THIS SEEMS LIKE FUN: Rathskeller, commonly known as The Rat.

NOTABLE ALUMNI: Well, it's a long list, but let's be honest: IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO THEIR ALUMNI ARE.

NICKNAME: Hurricanes

HOME ARENA: The 8,000 seat on campus BankUnited Center.

HEAD BASKETBALL COACH: Jim Larrañaga, in his second season with Miami.

LARRAÑAGA'S MUHAMMAD ALI IMPRESSION:

Larranga_medium_medium

YOU MIGHT NOT REMEMBER THEM FROM: Any games at all from 1972-1984. From this handy history PDF:

April 22, 1971 — The University of Miami Board of Trustees voted to drop the sport "temporarily until such time as a permanent field house can be constructed on the main campus." Sagging attendance figures and serious financial losses were also believed to contribute to the discontinuation of basketball at UM.

YOU MIGHT REMEMBER THEM FROM SUCH NCAA APPEARANCES AS: 1998-2000, their only multi-season appearance streak since restarting the program in 1985. They won one more game in each of their three appearances, leading to a Sweet 16 appearance in 2000. That coaching job got Leonard Hamilton the job as head coach of the Washington Wizards for one whole season until he got turfed by Michael Jordan in favor of Doug Collins.

BEST WIN THIS YEAR: Going according to both KenPom.com rankings and "HOLY CRAP THAT HAPPENED" rankings, it's their 90-63 home win over #4 Duke.

WORST LOSS THIS YEAR: It's NOT their road (the hell?) loss to Florida Gulf Coast. It would be if you went with FGCU's KenPom ranking at the time (130), but given the Eagles' seven game winning streak, they're now in the top 100. The worst loss according to both current KenPom rankings and season momentum would be when they got popped 80-65 at #128 Wake Forest, which was also their first loss in ACC play after starting out 13-0.