The Bobcats are confident with their fan advantage against Miami. Ohio is 12-2 at home this season and have won the last four meetings at home against the Redhawks.
The Ohio Bobcats and Miami RedHawks don’t like each other. Plain and simple.
It doesn’t matter that new players and coaches shuffle in each year, that the rivalry has been favoring Ohio recently or that the two schools aren’t exactly in each other’s backyard.
There’s just something about the clash between the hunter green and scarlet red – typically a merry, Christmas-time combo – that turns thousands of eager fans to a boiling mass of hatred. Ohio faces off against Miami on Saturday in The Convocation Center at 2 p.m.
“We clearly have superior bricks and they’re jealous,” coach Saul Phillips said, referencing what many call the “Battle of the Bricks” based on the architecture of the beautiful red-brick-laden paths on each campus.
“It’s more fun to have a rival,” Phillips said. “You gotta have a game that gets you going a little bit. It’s very real here.”
With Ohio riding a four-game win streak and in contention to gain ground on Mid-American Conference East Division's leader, Akron (21-5, 10-3 MAC), this rivalry is more than just an annual showdown to Ohio.
“(This game) means we can get to 18 wins, it means we can stay within viewing distance of Akron," Phillips said. "It means we’re one game closer to not having to play a game before we go to Cleveland."
In any game where both teams are familiar with one another and there is a genuine dislike between both sides, the cooler head normally prevails.
Phillips said the one key coming into this weekend will be to cut down on turnovers and contain the Redhawks in transition, where a lot of Miami’s success has originated.
Although the gameplan is important, the crowd will be just as much of a factor this weekend.
This season the Bobcats are 12-2 at home and they haven’t lost to Miami at home since the 2010-2011 season.
“It means a lot to our fans and alumni, so it means a lot to us,” junior forward Antonio Campbell said.
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He recalled a moment last season while on the road against Miami when a couple alumni entered the Bobcats locker room and told the team to kick the RedHawks’ behind – to put it kindly.
Even though Ohio couldn’t get it done that day, Campbell understood the magnitude of the rivalry and how it meant more than just a regular, conference matchup.
“I know what it means to our fans and I know how disappointed they’d be if we didn’t come out with a lot of intensity,” Phillips said. “Men’s day at the country club in the summer is a lot more fun if you beat Miami.”
Like Campbell, senior forward Treg Setty is the only Bobcat who has played in the rivalry for the sixth time. His message is pretty clear.
“We want to muck them up, that’s the goal,” Setty said.
And even though it’s only Phillips' second year in Athens, he’s juiced to get the rivalry going again.
“It’s Miami,” Phillips said. “So yeah, I’m ready. Let’s do this."
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