College Basketball Debate Explodes: Matt Painter, Nate Oats Fire Back At Mid-Major ‘Ducking’ Claims

The debate around college basketball scheduling at the NCAA Tournament has become a bit one-sided in recent weeks thanks to Miami (OH), and other mid-majors.

The issue has been a hot topic that ratcheted up further as Miami (OH) inched closer to March Madness. For some programs, the complaint is familiar: Power conference teams avoid scheduling such teams, fearing a loss that could hurt their postseason résumé.

But that argument only goes so far when you hear from coaches like Purdue’s Matt Painter and Alabama’s Nate Oats.

There are only so many non-conference games available. Between marquee events like the Maui Invitational and existing conference obligations, power-four programs have limited flexibility when building their schedules. At least according to some. 

And not every mid-major opponent helps.

With teams across leagues like the Sun Belt, MAC, AAC and Mountain West, finding the right matchup — one that strengthens a team’s NET ranking and strength of schedule — isn’t easy.

Painter made that clear when responding to comments from Miami (OH) coach Travis Steele, who suggested power conference teams are "ducking" mid-majors.

"If he was in my position, you’re going to play 11 non-conference games. Next year, it’s going to go to 12. And so we play 6 high-major games, and we play 5 mid-major teams," Painter explained. "So when they say they don’t play mid-majors, we played 5 mid-majors this year. But if he was in our position, he’d do the same thing we’re doing."

Whew, now that's a strong take, and he is actually making a valid point about the number of games his Boilermakers can actually play. Throw in the fact that every year whether a team is good enough to snag them for a ‘Buy Game’ while also not destroying your