2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Team Previews – Cincinnati Bearcats
With major changes brewing on the horizon for the Big East, the Cincinnati Bearcats are one of the few teams that appear committed to holding their ground in the beleaguered conference.
While no changes will affect this year’s basketball season, the Bearcats remain well-positioned to be one of the power teams in the conference no matter which teams stay or leave.
Last season they finished in a tie for sixth-place in the Big East with conference record of 11-7. Cincinnati started the season with 15 straight victories and went on to post one of the best records in the history of the program at 26-9. As the sixth-seed in the West Region, it made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament before losing to the eventual champion Connecticut Huskies 69-58 as a 3.5-point underdog.
The Bearcats return their top four scorers from a year ago led by senior forward Yancy Gates, who averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a game last year. Senior guard Dion Dixon averaged 11.6 points and sophomore guard/forward Sean Kilpatrick added 9.7 points and 3.2 rebounds a game. Look for junior guard Cashmere Wright to play a much bigger role on offense this season after averaging 8.9 points and a team-high 3.9 assists last year. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The real strength of this team could be on the defensive side of the ball. The Bearcats were second to only Pitt last year in points allowed; holding opponents to an average of just 61.7 points a game.
Cincinnati opens its season on Nov.13 against Alabama State and while it may not reel-off 15 straight wins this season, it does not face its first stiff test until a Dec.10 tilt with No. 15 Xavier. It kicks-off its Big East schedule against Pitt on Jan 1. Later that month, the Bearcats are in the thick of it with road games against Georgetown, Connecticut, and West Virginia along with Villanova and Syracuse at home within a span of two-weeks. This stretch of games should provide a pretty good indication if this team is a legitimate threat to make a run at the conference title this year.
The Bearcats have already gained the respect of most of the major preseason polls with the Sporting News ranking them 17th and Rivals placing them 23rd in their list of the top 32 teams in the country. The ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches poll has them ranked No. 22.
BetOnline has Cincinnati tied with West Virginia as the sixth-favorite to win the Big East at +1100. It did not post any odds for the Bearcats to win the national title, but SportsBook.com has them as a +10000 longshot. While it might not follow the Huskies’ path from a year ago, Cincinnati is more than capable of making some noise come tournament time and could come in as high as a fourth or fifth seed this year.
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