Five Good Minutes: Miami Basketball Preview With Category 6

To preview today's Boston College basketball regular season finale against the Canes, we welcome Jerry from the Miami hoops blog Category 6 -- fantastic name, btw -- to the blog for Five Good Minutes.

In return, I answered some questions on the Eagles over on their site, including all-important questions like all-time greatest BC hoops, hockey and football moments and the Eagles all-time starting five. Check these guys out.

BC Interruption: What's really going on with Reggie Johnson? What's the deal? Is this part of the larger football scandal? A product of the Frank Haith era of Miami hoops? Something else?

Category 6: The official story is his family received improper travel benefits with out his knowledge. This has NOTHING to do with the Nevin Shapiro scandal. And it is a closed case following his reinstatement. We attribute it to a mistake by the former Haith staff.

BCI: After rattling off five straight wins in conference play, including an OT victory over Duke, Miami has cooled off a bit. What's different over the last couple of games?

C6: First and foremost Reggie is not 100%. Second the team has had issues all year long giving up offensive rebounds. Another issue has been poor execution at the end of close game. It also seems like one or two guys struggle every game. So I guess lack of consistency has been a big issue, The talent is certainly there, and the kids play hard every time out. None of their losses have been blow out minus maybe UNC early in the conference schedule. So its usually just one or two bad plays that kill them.

BCI: At 17-11 (8-7 ACC) Miami is very much on the bubble. What does the team need to do to get into the NCAA Tournament?

C6: They absolutely MUST be beat BC. If they do and win two games in the ACC Tourney, we feel they are in. Anything short of that and its hold your breathe and wait.

BCI: What does BC need to do differently to beat the Hurricanes this time around?

C6: Well the teams that give the 'Canes the most trouble crash the boards hard, and play very aggressive defense. If BC can get extra shots they have a shot. Seems like BC has some good young front court players, so anything is possible, but Miami will be emotional on senior day so BC will also need to be very focused and intense to pull off the upset.

BCI: Miami and BC are two of three ACC programs (Georgia Tech the other) that have averaged the smallest crowds this season. What can be done to improve Miami basketball fan interest? What will the turnout be like on Saturday?

C6: We wish we had the answer. Coach Larranaga has "stormed the dorms" in an attempt to draw student interest. The best solution perhaps would be to win year in and year out. UM is still a football school, but starting new traditions starts with winning.

BCI: Last one. Prediction time. Who ya got? What's the final score?

C6: No way Miami loses on senior day. Malcolm Grant and DeQuan Jones come up big in their last regular season home game and Miami tolls 72-56.

For more on the Miami Hurricanes, check out Category 6 and our SB Nation blog The 7th Floor.