NCAA Tournament – Crimson vs Bearcats Pick
The Bearcats have had a great season but I think it is fair to say they peaked a little too early.
The Bearcats have had a great season but I think it is fair to say they peaked a little too early.
I feel like Louisville is constantly disappointing this season but they only have 4 losses and a #5 next to their name despite the fact that they are looking up at Cincinnati in the standings of the AAC.
The Cincinnati Bearcats will be looking for their first 10 win season since 2008. While the North Carolina Tar Heels will look to take advantage of playing in the state of North Carolina to beat the Bearcats as they try and have a winning season.
The fact that neither of these teams are at the top of the American Athletic Conference standings right now says a lot about the depth of the league in their first year as this league could easily finish the regular season with three teams with double digit win totals.
The Cincinnati Bearcats and Memphis Tigers are having two drastically different seasons, but that won’t stop them from clashing on the field in Week 10. Up to this point, the Bearcats are 5-2, having won four of their last five outings. The Tigers, on the other hand are 1-5, with their only victory coming against the Arkansas State Red Wolves.
Following a 10-win season, the Cincinnati Bearcats entered the 2013 season with plenty of promise, but they find themselves reeling after a pair of poor efforts on the road. They get the Temple Owls at home this week.
The Cincinnati Bearcats are on a serious roll right now. No they did not win the Big East Tournament but check this: in their last 11 games they are 9-2 with only 5 points separating them form 11-0; 5 of those wins were against ranked teams with their only losses to tournament teams South Florida and Louisville.
Cincinnati Bearcats vs Ohio State Buckeyes
Thursday March 22
East Region – Boston, MA
9:45PM
Moneyline: No money line currently listed
Spread: Ohio State -8
O/U: 129
Cincinnati
I am not saying the Bearcats are my pick to win it all but they certainly deserve to be here and won’t be intimidated by Ohio State.
Cincinnati is coming off a win against Florida State which is no easy task.
Guard Sean Kilpatrick got his game back scoring a team high 18 points as forward Yancy Gates was neutralized in the post by the Seminoles. The game against FSU was far from pretty but it showed the Bearcats have more than enough grit.
I really like the way they locked in at the foul line making 82% of their shots (they were 64% during the regular season).
Ohio State
I suppose I have to eat some humble pie after Ohio State eliminated my Gonzaga Bulldogs. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
In the first half the Zags were all over the Buckeyes but their staying power wasn’t very strong, surprising because I still think they are the deeper team. Ohio State didn’t dominate but they got the job done.
Fellow Ohio school Cincinnati is in the way but this is a favourable matchup despite the steam behind the Bearcats right now.
I am still looking for the evidence that Jared Sullinger is going to be a good player at the next level.
If that is the case he should be able to have success against Bearcats beast of a power forward Yancy Gates. I think it will be a bit of a stalemate which is fine for the Buckeyes who are superior at all the other spots.
They will probably win going away this time. Next us Wisconsin? Maybe.
Spread Pick: Ohio State -8
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Ohio State 72 – Cincinnati 62
I thought the Cincinnati Bearcats might squander an opportunity and lose to Texas in the first round – they didn’t.
#6 Cincinnati Bearcats (25-10) vs #3 Florida State Seminoles (25-9)
Sunday March 18
East Region – Nashville, TN
9:40PM
Moneyline: No money line currently listed
Spread: Florida State -2
O/U: 127
Cincinnati
Now they have an even bigger opportunity to make it to the Sweet Sixteen, something nobody could have predicted a few months ago.
As you can tell by the small line they have a legit shot too.
Florida is one of the most unpredictable teams of recent memory.
Against the Longhorns center Yancy Gates dominated (15 points, 10 boards and 3 blocks). It was to be expected as Texas had no one who could really look him in the eye. Florida does so they are going to have to get production from him and other sources to pull off the upset.
Sean Kilpatrick is the Bearcats leading scorer but he had a poor game with just 8 points. If he has another these guys are history. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Florida State
Other than that one route against North Carolina it seems that the Seminoles never do things the easy way. They escaped against Atlantic 10 champ St. Bonaventure by tightening things up in the second half – winning by three and leaving ATS bettors with losing tickets.
They really put the clamps on A10 player of the year Andrew Nicholson who didn’t miss in the first half and that made the difference.
On offense they seem to have finally figured out that they should just keep feeding Bernard James in the post. He shot 8 for 11 and scored a season high 19 points with 9 rebounds.
Cincy, with Gates, has better size to matchup but they should still work the offense through James.
I feel confident in writing that they can not afford another poor performance by Michael Snaer in this tournament. He was 0 for 7 for the game .
Spread Pick: Florida State -2
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Florida State 69 – Cincinnati 62
Duke (25-4) has won 6 straight and they are getting closer to snagging a #1 seed in the Big Dance.
Big East Player of the Year candidate Jae Crowder will lead his No. 10 Marquette Golden Eagles into battle against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Wednesday in Ohio.
Two teams battling it out for 5th spot in the Big East standings will square off as No. 17 Louisville look to continue its roll at a resurgent Cincinnati on Thursday night.
The Cincinnati Bearcats will look to gain ground on Big East leaders Syracuse with a rare win at No. 11 Connecticut on Wednesday night.
The Connecticut Huskies will look to play the role of spoiler this Saturday afternoon when they face the Cincinnati Bearcats at Paul Brown Stadium in this Big East conference clash.
The College Football season may be 5-6 weeks away but our man James Hayes has been deep in study and will provide his take and 2010 College Football Predictions on as many NCAA teams as he can before the 2010/11 season kicks off.
Virginia Tech is playing in its 16th straight bowl game, though it has lost all three of its appearances in BCS games. On the basis of fundamentals, it looks like clear edges should be going Cincinnati’s way.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: CINCINNATI -2.5, Total 41.5