The ACC champion Miami Hurricanes will begin what they hope is a deep run in the NCAA Tournament Friday afternoon when they take on the Pacific Tigers in the East Region's second round at 2:10 p.m. ET.
Watch Pacific vs. Miami live stream, click here.
The No.2 Miami have a slight chip on their shoulders because despite winning the ACC Tournament last weekend, they were not rewarded one of the four top seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Jim Larranaga's Hurricanes were a team to be reckoned with this season and earned both the regular season and conference crowns. He might be able to brag to everybody about having the best team in the country.
"It's almost hard to put in words how he's really changed the culture of our entire team. And just around the university as a whole," senior Julian Gamble said. "He's really gotten us back to worrying about the fundamentals of the game and doing little things well."
Larranaga took mid-major George Mason to the NCAA Final Four in 2006. That makes him the only ACC coach not at Duke or North Carolina to take a team that far.
At Miami, he has a starting lineup of four seniors and sophomore standout Shane Larkin, the pick by league coaches as the ACC's top player.
"That is a little bit striking that (George Mason) has great senior leadership, older guys," Larranaga said. "I think that combination of youthful enthusiasm and optimism with experience and size and toughness, those teams are similar."
