30-0, Still Not Good Enough

The madness of March has already begun, as teams wrap up the regular season and prepare for the conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament.

One of the most fascinating and polarizing storylines of the college basketball season is the only undefeated team: the 30-0 Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. Since 2000, they are just the fourth team to start the season 30-0, joining Kentucky, Wichita State, and Gonzaga.

Although they haven’t lost a game and are ranked 19th in the latest AP top 25 poll, they aren't considered a lock to make the NCAA Tournament. There are people like TV analyst and former Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, who are adamant and outspoken that they aren’t among the top 68 teams in the country.  

The argument against them is largely based on the strength of their schedule (256th) or, rather, its weakness, and on the fact that they don’t have any “Quad 1” wins and have only one “Quad 2” victory, which reveals their lack of quality opponents.

In other words, they haven’t played or beaten anyone great. They have also squeaked by some lesser opponents in close scoring games.

The what-if debate taking place right now centers on whether they should make the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid if they don't win their conference tournament. Have they done enough to prove they should get in, no matter what happens between now and then?

They have one regular-season game left against Ohio, which they expect to win, and then they’ll enter the MAC conference tournament.

Of course, if they beat Ohio and win their conference tournament and remain undefeated with a perfect season, or if they lose to Ohio and don’t have a perfect record, but still win the conference tournament, they will also receive an automatic bid.

However, if they slip up in the conference tournament, there is no guarantee they will make it into the NCAA tournament. 

The conference tournaments are especially important for the smaller leagues and mid-majors because most of them only send one team to the Big Dance. The NCAA Tournament has 31 automatic bids, awarded to teams that win their conference tournaments.

It doesn't matter what they did in the regular season, as long as they won their conference tourney, they are in.

When Selection Sunday comes around with the revealing of the brackets, these 31 winning teams will be resting easy with their assured spot in this year's tournament.

The only way for Miami of Ohio to have that security without putting their resume up for debate is to win the MAC conference tournament.

Thinking about the teams with automatic bids is an important illustration of the promise we have as followers of Jesus. When we receive His free gift of salvation by faith in His work on the cross, we're guaranteed an "automatic bid" into eternity with God.

Thankfully, this isn’t determined by anything we do or by our worthiness, but rather solely by the grace and mercy of Jesus. Sure, we could get in with an undefeated record, but we know we’re all sinful and flawed, so although we all have “losses” on our record, God declares us worthy because of Jesus.

As we continue living in this world, we can be confident that our faith is in Jesus and that we’re “getting into the Big Dance.”

We no longer have to worry about our "strength of schedule" or hope our wins outweigh our losses, because we know we have an "automatic bid" into heaven through Jesus' death and resurrection.

It doesn't matter whether TV analysts think we're good enough or like our resume; rather, we rest in Christ's perfection and His righteousness.

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT), “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

We no longer have to worry or question our eternity because Jesus tells us in John 10:28 (ESV), “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

1 John 5:11-13 (AMP) says, “And the testimony is this: God has given us eternal life [we already possess it], and this life is in His Son [resulting in our spiritual completeness, and eternal companionship with Him]. He who has the Son [by accepting Him as Lord and Savior] has the life [that is eternal]; he who does not have the Son of God [by personal faith] does not have the life.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God [which represents all that Jesus Christ is and does], so that you will know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have eternal life.”

Today, as followers of Jesus, let’s live with certainty that we’ve been given an “automatic bid” into eternity with God, and allow that assurance to give us tremendous peace and joy.

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I know that I don’t deserve Your grace and mercy, but I’m extremely grateful that You made a way for me to know You and spend eternity with You. I’m thankful it’s because of Jesus, not because of anything I’ve done. I pray I’d be filled with hope, confidence, and assurance while removing all doubt. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.