Following comments by Miami (OH)'s Travis Steele and High Point's Flynn Clayman about the lack of power conference teams willing to schedule them, it was only a matter of time before Alabama head coach Nate Oats would have a response. He just needed someone to ask the question.
Because Oats is a former mid-major coach himself, and his scheduling philosophy is "anyone, anywhere, anytime." Alabama frequently plays the most challenging out-of-conference schedule in the country, and Oats doesn't shy away from scheduling quality teams from the mid-major ranks.
Alabama played NCAA Tournament teams in USF and Kennesaw State from the mid-major ranks, and also played Yale, a team that has been a frequent March Madness attendee.
Oats isn't exactly buying the narrative that Steele and Clayman couldn't find games. I'm guessing neither of them called Oats.
"The only mid-major schools we turned down are ones that aren’t good enough," Oats said. "When we look at our buy games, they need to be good enough because I don’t want to be playing Quad 4 games. To me, I want to play really good ones.
"I think if you call around, some of the mid-major schools that we’re talking about not being able to find games played multiple non-Division I games. I’m not sure how hard you tried if you’re playing three non-Division I games."
Nate Oats questions the scheduling challenges of Miami (OH) and High Point
While he didn't mention Steele or Clayman by name, it's not hard to connect the dots.
Miami (OH) played three non-Division I games against Trinity Christian, Indiana East, and Milligan
High Point also played three non-Division I games against Averett, Mary Baldwin, and Pfeiffer.
I'm sure scheduling isn't easy for mid-major teams, particularly when it comes to scheduling enough home games. A lot of power conference teams aren't willing to travel to play mid-majors on the road, though Alabama has shown a willingness to do so. The Crimson Tide played a road game at North Dakota last season, for instance.
High Point has been pretty consistently good, but Miami (OH)'s season came out of nowhere. They were good last year, but two years ago, they finished under .500 overall. I'm not sure many power conference teams would have been running scared from them this year.
It is a tough job, however, and filing out a balanced schedule isn't easy for anyone. Both mid-majors in question certainly proved their worthiness to sit at the table during this year's tournament, and they should be proud of that.