Miami (Ohio) head coach Travis Steele says he hasn’t been superstitious during the RedHawks’ 22-0 run, a streak that has them sitting alongside No. 1 Arizona as the final two unbeaten teams of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season.

When pressed, though, he acknowledged he wears lucky shirts to every game, at the request of his 3-year-old daughter.

“She loves my shirts that I wear underneath my quarter zip,” Steele said. “I’ve got a Skyline Chili shirt and I’ve got an Ultimate Warrior T-shirt. She likes that.”

His players? Well, they make no such claim.

Senior guard Peter Suder, an All-Mid-American selection last season, is particular about what he puts on his feet every night.

“They’re washed, but I wear the same game socks every single time, regardless,” he said.

Brant Byers, reigning MAC Freshman of the Year, can’t play a game until he scarfs down a bunch of candy before tipoff. Jolly Rancher, Life Savers, anything sweet.

“A bag, a midsized bag that you can get at the gas station,” he said. “Usually, I’ll eat the whole bag.”

Junior guard Eian Elmer‘s superstition is more costly. The James Harden Volume 9 Adidas shoes he wears during games retail for nearly $200 online. Elmer started the season with eight pairs; now he’s down to six. Why? Because if he has a bad game, he refuses to play in those shoes again, choosing to give them away instead. During his worst effort of the season — he finished 0-for-4 shooting against Central Michigan on Jan. 13 — Elmer (11.6 points per game) even ditched an orange pair at halftime.

“I had two bad games in them,” he said. “It was time to give them up.”

For Miami this season, even a bad game has resulted in a victory.

A year after the RedHawks lost to Akron — and to Steele’s half-brother, Zips head coach John Groce — in the MAC tournament championship game, they’re chasing an unblemished season and the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007.

At No. 23 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, Miami leads the nation in scoring (93.7 PPG) and field goal percentage (53.4%). The RedHawks are also top 25 in 3-point (37.9%) and 2-point (62.6%) shooting. They hold the longest winning streak in MAC history thanks to the chemistry of a roster that returned its best players from last season and the players’ ability to quickly turn the page after each victory.

Up next (6:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday, ESPN+) is a Buffalo team that nearly ended the perfect season in overtime two weeks ago (a 105-102 Miami win) — and one loss could spoil any shot the RedHawks have at an earning at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, instead requiring a conference tournament title to secure a berth on Selection Sunday.

Twenty-two games in, though, the campus in Oxford, Ohio, is abuzz about basketball.

Tickets to Miami’s 2024-25 season opener against Wright State sold for $13. Attendance for that game at Millett Hall, the RedHawks’ home arena, was reported at just north of 2,000 — about 20% of the building’s capacity. As of this writing, a ticket for the team’s next home game against rival Ohio on Feb. 13 can’t be found for less than $100. (One of the few remaining courtside seats would cost you $514 on StubHub.) And an attendance record of 10,640 was set at last Saturday’s win over Northern Illinois.

“To have the crowd that we had last game is something that we’re not even used to really, but it adds another element to the games and makes them even more fun than what they had been in the past,” said Byers, whose 15.4 points per game lead the team. “I know there were a few games last year where we were probably pushing a thousand fans.

“It’s really wild to go from a completely quiet gym to a packed, loud gym.”

After leading for most of last season’s MAC tournament title game, Miami saw Akron come back from an 18-point deficit, losing on a shot by former Zips star Nate Johnson with 2.3 seconds to play. Some returning players watched that film a dozen times. Others stayed off social media so they wouldn’t have to see it. But they all agreed on one thing: They wanted another shot.

“I know we’d just gone through probably the worst thing a team could go through basically, but we still felt the connectivity with us,” Suder said. “I think I was the first one to talk to [Steele] within a week and I told him within 10 seconds of our [individual] meeting that I don’t want to leave, I want to come back. And then I told him to tell all of the players in their meetings.”

That decision created a domino effect, and other top players agreed to return, giving Miami continuity few teams in America can match — the sixth-most returning minutes (62%), per KenPom. The RedHawks understand and trust one another. They know one another’s tendencies on the court.

That’s how they are in position to chase a dream.

“I’m really proud and happy for [Steele],” said Wally Szczerbiak, a second-team All-American selection who led the school to the Sweet 16 in 1999. “They have done it the right way through player development and hard work. The team is connected and very close off the court, which shows up in pressure, clutch situations on the court. Miami is a special place with special people walking around on that campus and it’s great to see them going to games to enjoy the ride.”

Amid the newfound hype, Steele has preached keeping focus on the road ahead instead of the rearview mirror. The RedHawks have used that mentality to navigate close games, three of which have been decided by five points or fewer, including two in overtime.

The players point to their connectedness for allowing them to stay honest with one another and play through adversity. Over the summer, they had heated on-court battles in pickup games — which Byers characterized as “probably too intense at times” — after their MAC tournament loss. The RedHawks knew how close they were to their goals. But Steele doesn’t want them to get caught up in the possibility of perfection, or the potential consequences of failing to achieve it.

“My biggest thing for us is that we can always control our own destiny,” Steele said. “I know this: If we win three games in three days in Cleveland [at the MAC tournament], we’ll get the automatic bid regardless of what happens.

“That’s where my mind keeps on going back to and it’s like, ‘How can we peak at the right time? How can we get our team to play the best that it can possibly play in March?’ I’m not as consumed with our record.”

Three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck made sure to avoid defenders when throwing passes in his 18-year NFL career, but now he makes sure that he keeps his cholesterol down in his post-playing days.

Hasselbeck’s father, Don Hasselbeck, passed away suddenly at age 70 from cardiac arrest. Following his death, Hasselbeck’s mother urged him to get screened, and he was humbled by his results.

“It was really my mom who said to, you know, there’s three boys in our family and said, ‘Boys, I want you to get screened for everything, you know, calcium score in your heart, blood pressure, LDL cholesterol,'” Hasselbeck told Fox News Digital in a recent interview with the Family Heart Foundation.

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“And we kind of like to be honest kind of rolled my eyes at the cholesterol one, because I was like, ‘Oh, that’s for people that are out of shape, the people that I crush on the Peloton.’”

“I was humbled really when my scores came back. A lot of my other scores were great, fantastic, and the cholesterol thing was too high, and I was shocked to be honest, and I can’t take credit for taking ownership. I just was trying to honor my mom kind of in a tough time for her and through the process accidentally probably helped myself quite a bit and probably helped my kids. It was eye-opening.”

Hasselbeck has partnered with the Family Heart Foundation for their “Tackle Cholesterol: Get into the LDL Safe Zone” campaign. As a football player, Hasselbeck said he always knew if he was injured, but with cholesterol, the threat is invisible.

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(Left) Matt Hasselbeck, (middle) Don Hasselbeck, and (right) Tim Hasselbeck all pose for a photo.  (Courtesy of Matt Hasselbeck)

“When you’re a football player, a lot of the injuries that you have, you can see them. It’s a shoulder, it’s a knee, it’s a high ankle sprain. It’s like orthopedic. With things like LDL cholesterol, it’s invisible. And you can exercise all you want or eat as great as you want, but if you aren’t in that safe zone of where you need to be cholesterol-wise, it can lead to all kinds of different issues, and cardiac arrest is one of them,” Hasselbeck said.

Hasselbeck, who has a family history of cardiovascular disease, urges families and fans to get screened. Hasselbeck hopes people will visit CholesterolConnect.org for more information or to order a free, one-time at-home cholesterol screening.

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Former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck greets fans before the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, on Jan. 25, 2026. (Jane Gershovich/Getty Images)

“I’m really passionate about trying to tell everyone it’s the easiest thing ever to get screened. Get screened, find out what your numbers are, find out what those numbers mean, and then you’ll know how to lower your risk,” Hasselbeck said.

Hasselbeck played for four different teams in his 18-year career: 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, three with the Indianapolis Colts, two with the Green Bay Packers, and two with the Tennessee Titans. In 209 games, he completed 60.5% of his passes for 36,638 yards with 212 touchdowns and 153 interceptions.

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A celebrity power couple is present in Santa Clara for Super Bowl LX, as New England Patriots star receiver Stefon Diggs and rapper Cardi B are hoping Sunday night is filled with celebration at Levi’s Stadium.

Diggs and Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, have been enjoying this playoff run, as the veteran receiver finally got a shot at winning a Super Bowl ring in his 11th NFL season.

But that’s the only ring that matters right now, as he was asked a specific question about his relationship during Super Bowl media availability on Monday night.

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“After you get a ring, is Cardi getting her ring?” a media member questioned Diggs at the podium.

With a laugh, Diggs gave his response.

“It’s on the agenda maybe, right? Right?” he said. “I gotta get mine first, though.”

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Cardi B has been a true fan of the Patriots, especially after their Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans. She saw that ESPN panelists all chose the Texans to beat the Patriots in Foxborough at Gillette Stadium, and she let them hear it with a social media video after the game.

“THEY DIDN’T BELIEVE IN US!!! I LIKE US!!!!! WE ALL WE GOT!!!!! WE ALL WE NEED !!!! #PATSNATION,” she captioned her video on X.

Rapper Cardi B acknowledges the crowd during the game between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Nov. 2, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Cardi B confirmed she was dating Diggs in September, and she’s been spotted at Gillette Stadium several times with the other wives and girlfriends of Patriots players as well as team owner Robert Kraft. They also had a child together in November.

Cardi B is expected to be at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, cheering on Diggs this Sunday, and he will be a focal point for the Patriots.

Diggs has had modest production this postseason, tallying just 73 yards on 11 receptions with one touchdown across three games.

Stefon Diggs of the New England Patriots speaks to the media during Super Bowl LX Opening Night at San Jose McEnery Convention Center on Feb. 2, 2026 in San Jose, California. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

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But he was the team’s leader in receiving yards this regular season, building quick chemistry with Maye and earning 1,013 yards on a team-high 85 receptions with four touchdowns.

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