One of the most anticipated events of every Ohio sports calendar is when Miami comes into The Convo for a basketball game. Miami and Ohio have been bitter rivals in every sport for over 100 years. In basketball, the rivalry is at its peak.
The rivalry was apparent Saturday afternoon in The Convo when Ohio hosted 7,891 fans for the annual Battle of the Bricks matchup. After falling on the road at Millett Hall earlier this season, Ohio got revenge on its rival with a 75-66 win at home.
With conference realignment and a new age of college sports, many of the games' most historic rivalries have washed away with countless other NCAA traditions. However, the Battle of the Bricks remains alive and well.
Though Miami has maintained a rivalry with Ohio, it was a victim to the loss of a historic rivalry earlier this season when announcing the end of an annual rivalry game with Cincinnati.
Part of the reason why Ohio and Miami have maintained an annual matchup in sports is the pure history that comes along with it. The first recorded matchup of the Battle of the Bricks, though it wasn’t called that at the time, was in 1907 — a game that Ohio lost 24-8.
Since that first game in 1907, Ohio has gone on to win 118 games against Miami while losing a total of 96.
Ohio coach Jeff Boals is the embodiment of the history of the Battle of the Bricks. As a graduate of Ohio, Boals is one of few who has experienced the rivalry as both a player and as a coach.
“(This rivalry) has been through generations and generations,” Boals said. “It means something to a lot of people. I had a text from somebody who drove up from Austin, Texas, just to see this game. ”
For Ohio guard Elmore James, who had an excellent game against Miami, the rivalry was more than just a one-off game. RedHawk center Antwone Woolfolk is a former teammate of James’, and James’ high school coach was a graduate of Miami.
“It was a different type of personal feeling for me,” James said. “I just wanted to get it so bad, especially playing against somebody I've known my whole life.”
Attendance numbers for both editions of the rivalry serve as prime evidence of the year that the Battle of the Bricks has had. Each school hosted nearly 8,000 eager fans for the matchup between the two men's basketball teams.
“Nothing better than a rival game to have a crowd like this,” Boals said. “This is what this game is supposed to look like.”
In 2025, each game between Ohio and Miami has had massive implications on how the MAC standings take shape. The implications of the rivalry have not always been this vast, and the teams have not always been so evenly matched, making 2025 a prime year for the rivalry.
“Since I've been here, we kind of had our way (against Miami) early on,” Boals said. “(Miami coach) Travis (Steele) has done a great job of building his roster up. That's the best Miami team that we’ve played against.”
With a week left before teams make their final adjustments and head to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament, Miami and Ohio stand back-to-back at No. 2 and No. 3 in the conference’s standings. Although previous years, and even decades, saw a power imbalance between the two, 2025 features a rivalry made up of two MAC titans that put together two memorable clashes already.
Although basketball has been the driving force of the Battle of the Bricks for the past 100 years, football has potentially never played a bigger role in the rivalry than in 2025. For the first time in history, Ohio took on Miami for a chance at the MAC Championship, a game Ohio won 38-3.
The end of the Men’s Basketball season is quickly approaching, with Ohio having just two more games to play. Ohio split its season series with Miami, but the potential of the two teams meeting again in the MAC Tournament is alive and well. In fact, there’s even a chance that the two teams will meet for the MAC Championship Game. If Ohio and Miami met for a second championship game in the same academic season, it would be hard to look past 2025 as the best year in rivalry history.
