Many University of Cincinnati fans might be a little disappointed with the men’s basketball team during this 2009-10 season. This team was predicted to finish seventh in the Big East with an NCAA tournament berth, and could still possibly get to that point. However, making the tournament will be a big challenge because of the games the Bearcats have already played and the upcoming schedule they face.
UC is being considered a “bubble team” for the NCAA tournament this March. Because of their schedule, most experts are saying they are one of the last four teams out of the tournament at this point. Many factors play into this prediction. First, they have some very quality wins, including against Maryland and Vanderbilt at the Maui Invitational in November. Vanderbilt is currently #22 in the country, and Maryland is battling for a conference championship. Both teams will almost certainly be in the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats have also beaten Connecticut twice and Notre Dame at home by two points.
Regardless of their quality wins, the main reason that they are on the verge of being left out is that they lost games they had no business losing, including games at St. John’s, Seton Hall, and UAB. In every one of those games, poor shooting was the cause. Against St. John’s, they missed all 12 three-pointers that they attempted, and against Seton Hall, they were 7-21 from the three-point line. They just had a meltdown against UAB, as they got pounded.
UC also had a couple games that they should have won, but failed to finish. For example, against Xavier in the Crosstown Shootout, the Bearcats had every opportunity to win that game, even taking the game into double overtime. But too many missed free throws cost them that game.
And against Syracuse, they were leading by two points with ten minutes left, but did not score a field goal in the last six minutes of the game, and Syracuse cruised to a victory.
Looking at the upcoming schedule, UC needs to win against DePaul, Marquette, and South Florida to be selected for the NCAA tournament. They also need to win one of the following three games: Villanova, Georgetown, and West Virginia.
This would put them at ten wins in the Big East and give them a legitimate shot at the tournament. If they keep playing inconsistently and do not get to that ten win mark, they most likely will not go.
They could surprise everybody and win the Big East Tournament to get the automatic bid, but I don’t see that happening.
If they don’t get into the NCAA tourney, they most definitely will go to the NIT tournament. For the sake of senior leader Deonta Vaughn, I hope they do go to the NCAA tourney, because he deserves to go at least once in his college career.
One thing is for certain: UC will be one of those teams anxiously waiting for its name to be called on Selection Sunday.