19 ap top 25

[bearcat jeff]

OSU third loss in a row! Louisville decimated Houston. UConn can beat anyone on a given night if a third scorer shows up. UC just needs to take care of business and concentrate on playing 40 full minutes.

I am on record saying I think this current class and next years will take us to at least an elite 8. I think they're a pure shooter away from putting together a top shelf team.

As for this year? UC's defense will keep them in games. If they get hot for a stretch at the right time March could be fun to watch. Don't believe they're final four good, but I think they could surprise some people if they collectively get hot at the right time.

 

[#BearcatNation]

I'm extremely happy that this team has managed to claw it's way to a top 20 ranking. That said, do you think they have the talent to make a deep run in the tourney? I know anything is possible once your dancing (and I give Mick props for putting his teams in position to at least have a shot). But sometimes I sit back and wonder if I will ever have the opportunity to witness a national championship in my lifetime. My heart says maybe but my brain says otherwise. Watching UC win just 1 national championship in my lifetime (I'm 40 by the way) would be the pinacle moment in my career as a sports fan. It's so hard to stay optimistic when you root for any Cincinnati team!

It's all about perspective to me. I do think we will have some teams that can compete for the Nat'l Championship, but I would be 100% satisfied with making just one Final Four within the next 10 years. To me, a Final Four at UC is like a Nat'l Championship for Duke, UK, UNC, etc. For instance, if this year's team makes it to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8, I would have no complaints. Granted, at the time of the loss, I'd be upset, but when you sit back and think about it, that's pretty incredible when you look back at how we were a bubble team to start the season.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

It's all about perspective to me. I do think we will have some teams that can compete for the Nat'l Championship, but I would be 100% satisfied with making just one Final Four within the next 10 years. To me, a Final Four at UC is like a Nat'l Championship for Duke, UK, UNC, etc. For instance, if this year's team makes it to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8, I would have no complaints. Granted, at the time of the loss, I'd be upset, but when you sit back and think about it, that's pretty incredible when you look back at how we were a bubble team to start the season.

As we currently stand I could be satified with thse results. That said, Ii want the same thing the KY's and Dukes of the world have. A program that reloads every year and has a shot at some of the best kids in the country.

To do that some hurdles have to be cleared. Upgrade facility,increase basketball budget,find a power conference that wants us wouldn't hurt. we are heading in the right direction but the Football program is on the front burner. When and if the investment in Football starts to pay off more funds can be directed towards the BB budget. Until such time MC is doing a outstanding job elevating the program

 

[LaxCat31]

As we currently stand I could be satified with thse results. That said, Ii want the same thing the KY's and Dukes of the world have. A program that reloads every year and has a shot at some of the best kids in the country.

To do that some hurdles have to be cleared. Upgrade facility,increase basketball budget,find a power conference that wants us wouldn't hurt. we are heading in the right direction but the Football program is on the front burner. When and if the investment in Football starts to pay off more funds can be directed towards the BB budget. Until such time MC is doing a outstanding job elevating the program

The only thing I am afraid of is that time won't come soon enough and Mick will leave to coach a program who will truly support him. And I know he keeps saying that he is here for the long haul, which I believe for at least 4-5 more years, you never know what can happen. Especially if the Louisville's, dukes, kentuckys of the world come calling for new coaches.

 

[UCBearcats]

As we currently stand I could be satified with thse results. That said, Ii want the same thing the KY's and Dukes of the world have. A program that reloads every year and has a shot at some of the best kids in the country.

To do that some hurdles have to be cleared. Upgrade facility,increase basketball budget,find a power conference that wants us wouldn't hurt. we are heading in the right direction but the Football program is on the front burner. When and if the investment in Football starts to pay off more funds can be directed towards the BB budget. Until such time MC is doing a outstanding job elevating the program

If Mick wants to get the things listed above he'll need to keep doing what he's doing this season. You can disagree with the stance but the unarguable fact is that a majority of the fan base has not yet bought into Mick's program. For whatever reason (reasons we've debated a zillion times on this site and all agreed or disagreed on) people don't have the same passion for UC hoops that they used to.

If Mick wants to win back the casual fan or the die hard who's on the fence he needs to keep doing what he's doing right now. This team cannot end the season on a slide or limp into the tourney as a 10 or 11 seed. We need to continue to climb the rankings.

We have 13 games left by my count. The only teams on the schedule that it is acceptable to take an L against are Louisville, UConn or Memphis. For the first time in a long time I'm actually excited about the future of UC basketball but we have to finish this season strong. I know that Mick's goal is to finish the season undefeated at home and that's a great goal for the team to have. I'd love to see them accomplish that goal.

If we want to see the excitement and the big crowds we need to keep moving up the rankings. Seeing a number next to the team is very important to the casual fan. Getting the highlights on Sportscenter and seeing the national names talk about UC on the internet is important. All these things build hype and more importantly a sense of relevance.

UC is building a big wave of energy right now. It may not be fair but it's an uphill battle for Mick. One loss to a USF, UCF or Rutgers can knock UC out of the top 25 and crush that swell of momentum. Not only does UC need to prove their worth but they need to maintain it or folks will fall right back off the wagon again.

People are excited right now but still skeptical. We need to continue to take care of business.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

If Mick wants to get the things listed above he'll need to keep doing what he's doing this season. You can disagree with the stance but the unarguable fact is that a majority of the fan base has not yet bought into Mick's program. For whatever reason (reasons we've debated a zillion times on this site and all agreed or disagreed on) people don't have the same passion for UC hoops that they used to.

If Mick wants to win back the casual fan or the die hard who's on the fence he needs to keep doing what he's doing right now. This team cannot end the season on a slide or limp into the tourney as a 10 or 11 seed. We need to continue to climb the rankings.

We have 13 games left by my count. The only teams on the schedule that it is acceptable to take an L against are Louisville, UConn or Memphis. For the first time in a long time I'm actually excited about the future of UC basketball but we have to finish this season strong. I know that Mick's goal is to finish the season undefeated at home and that's a great goal for the team to have. I'd love to see them accomplish that goal.

If we want to see the excitement and the big crowds we need to keep moving up the rankings. Seeing a number next to the team is very important to the casual fan. Getting the highlights on Sportscenter and seeing the national names talk about UC on the internet is important. All these things build hype and more importantly a sense of relevance.

UC is building a big wave of energy right now. It may not be fair but it's an uphill battle for Mick. One loss to a USF, UCF or Rutgers can knock UC out of the top 25 and crush that swell of momentum. Not only does UC need to prove their worth but they need to maintain it or folks will fall right back off the wagon again.

People are excited right now but still skeptical. We need to continue to take care of business.

Know problem with anything you said. One thing I might add. SMU in Dallas is not a gimme. You left that game out.

Mick understands he has a tough job. That is why many counciled him against taking the position. It is tough following a legend. Add entering the BE, lack of funding and all the other things he encoutered and you have a very difficult job.

Not trying to bring up old history but Bob had a better situaiton to step into. Not neccessarily in terms of players but showing improvement with the program he inherited was a much better situation then the one MC walked into. He came here in one of the darkest hours in UC basketball history. The Yates years. Bob took the reins and turned us into a very good program again.The fans loved him for it. Heck,I used watch the games just to see him. His side line manner was a show in itself. Lots of things have changed since then. Mick followed Bob. The bar was set very high in terms of the accomplishments that Bob' teams achieved. All that said, all the varibles weren't the same. BB wasn't taking a backseat to football then. The Shoe was brand new. The competition was not as tuff. Looking at things fairly I'd say under the circumstances MC has achieved remakable things with what he inherited but following a legend is not easy. I could site you many examples. We went from being a very good program to a very poor program and MC bears the blame in many circles for that fall. Everyone else is gone. MC didn't create this mess he inherited it. They could have brought in a big time coach but they would of had to pay him and the Administration had determined that they were moving forward with the emphasis being put on football. This stretched the athletic budget. Couple that with the drop in attendance because of the way the whole mess was handled and you have a big mess. Mc has taken the job and made great progress. Its time to bury the hachet and get behind him and the team. You won't find anyone out there for what we are willing to pay that is going to do a better job.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

The only thing I am afraid of is that time won't come soon enough and Mick will leave to coach a program who will truly support him. And I know he keeps saying that he is here for the long haul, which I believe for at least 4-5 more years, you never know what can happen. Especially if the Louisville's, dukes, kentuckys of the world come calling for new coaches.

with most every coach it is always a possiblity

 

[david aka the TYZ]

If Mick wants to get the things listed above he'll need to keep doing what he's doing this season. You can disagree with the stance but the unarguable fact is that a majority of the fan base has not yet bought into Mick's program. For whatever reason (reasons we've debated a zillion times on this site and all agreed or disagreed on) people don't have the same passion for UC hoops that they used to.

If Mick wants to win back the casual fan or the die hard who's on the fence he needs to keep doing what he's doing right now. This team cannot end the season on a slide or limp into the tourney as a 10 or 11 seed. We need to continue to climb the rankings.

We have 13 games left by my count. The only teams on the schedule that it is acceptable to take an L against are Louisville, UConn or Memphis. For the first time in a long time I'm actually excited about the future of UC basketball but we have to finish this season strong. I know that Mick's goal is to finish the season undefeated at home and that's a great goal for the team to have. I'd love to see them accomplish that goal.

If we want to see the excitement and the big crowds we need to keep moving up the rankings. Seeing a number next to the team is very important to the casual fan. Getting the highlights on Sportscenter and seeing the national names talk about UC on the internet is important. All these things build hype and more importantly a sense of relevance.

UC is building a big wave of energy right now. It may not be fair but it's an uphill battle for Mick. One loss to a USF, UCF or Rutgers can knock UC out of the top 25 and crush that swell of momentum. Not only does UC need to prove their worth but they need to maintain it or folks will fall right back off the wagon again.

People are excited right now but still skeptical. We need to continue to take care of business.

Well said, I think the first thing that needs to happen to start winning fans back is attention from the media. The casual fan who isn't paying attention to UC and hasn't for years will never have their attention gained unless they hear something about it outside of their normal routine. I hear basically nothing about UC on 700. I've heard plenty about the Bengals since their loss two weeks ago. I'm tired of hearing about the Bengals. Their season is done, lets focus on college bball in this town. UC and (gulp, I hate to say it) X are both playing really good ball and should be the sports topic on the radios and TV's.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Well said, I think the first thing that needs to happen to start winning fans back is attention from the media. The casual fan who isn't paying attention to UC and hasn't for years will never have their attention gained unless they hear something about it outside of their normal routine. I hear basically nothing about UC on 700. I've heard plenty about the Bengals since their loss two weeks ago. I'm tired of hearing about the Bengals. Their season is done, lets focus on college bball in this town. UC and (gulp, I hate to say it) X are both playing really good ball and should be the sports topic on the radios and TV's.

david if you want to hear more UC on 700 WLW call the show. Can't blame the station for talking about the events that generate the most interest. If you want to here UC being talked about call into Mo or Lances show.

 

[JasonS]

Well said, I think the first thing that needs to happen to start winning fans back is attention from the media. The casual fan who isn't paying attention to UC and hasn't for years will never have their attention gained unless they hear something about it outside of their normal routine. I hear basically nothing about UC on 700. I've heard plenty about the Bengals since their loss two weeks ago. I'm tired of hearing about the Bengals. Their season is done, lets focus on college bball in this town. UC and (gulp, I hate to say it) X are both playing really good ball and should be the sports topic on the radios and TV's.

This is the problem. UC has done everything it can to "start winning fans back." The problem is too many are looking for reasons to complain instead of enjoying a really fun team to watch. Yes, 5/3rd needs to be renovated/replaced, but we all know that is going to take time. I feel like sometimes it becomes a convenient excuse for some people. Fans should already be starting to come back. 3 NCAA Tourneys in a row should have done that. If people are still waiting for something then they are nothing more than bandwagon fans.

 

[UCBearcats]

This is the problem. UC has done everything it can to "start winning fans back." The problem is too many are looking for reasons to complain instead of enjoying a really fun team to watch. Yes, 5/3rd needs to be renovated/replaced, but we all know that is going to take time. I feel like sometimes it becomes a convenient excuse for some people. Fans should already be starting to come back. 3 NCAA Tourneys in a row should have done that. If people are still waiting for something then they are nothing more than bandwagon fans.

I disagree with everything you guys said but instead of arguing with you about it let's just say that the majority of fans don't agree with your stance. You can think they're stupid or crazy or whatever but bottom line is they don't agree because they aren't showing their support.

I really believe that if this team continues to rise up the rankings people are going to show up in a big way. The hype we be back full force come March if UC is a top 15 team and a top 3 or 4 seed in the NCAAs.

Simply building a new arena, spending more money, ect ect ect won't bring fans. So far the fans haven't gotten what they need, hopefully now they're starting to get it. If they are then they'll come back and if they do it'll will be then and only then that we'll start to see serious talks about a new arena.

 

[L-T]

This is the problem. UC has done everything it can to "start winning fans back." The problem is too many are looking for reasons to complain instead of enjoying a really fun team to watch. Yes, 5/3rd needs to be renovated/replaced, but we all know that is going to take time. I feel like sometimes it becomes a convenient excuse for some people. Fans should already be starting to come back. 3 NCAA Tourneys in a row should have done that. If people are still waiting for something then they are nothing more than bandwagon fans.

Not everything Jason. There's a few things left to accomplish. Win a championship! Close the deal on this league. It's ours to lose at this point. Win this league now! Win the league tourney. Get that high seed. We can't demand or even expect a national championship, but we can expect the University of Cincinnati to be one of the contenders each year. As UCB stated, just keep doing what we're doing and fans will start coming back. We're already starting to see it. Keep that momentum going!

 

[david aka the TYZ]

This is the problem. UC has done everything it can to "start winning fans back." The problem is too many are looking for reasons to complain instead of enjoying a really fun team to watch. Yes, 5/3rd needs to be renovated/replaced, but we all know that is going to take time. I feel like sometimes it becomes a convenient excuse for some people. Fans should already be starting to come back. 3 NCAA Tourneys in a row should have done that. If people are still waiting for something then they are nothing more than bandwagon fans.

I agree with this. My point was only that there is no buzz about Cincinnati from the media in town. With the Reds and Bengals both being good teams that has garnered all the attention. I hate to say it but the best thing for UC might be for the Bengals to start sucking again. The average casual sports fan in this town hasn't paid attention to UC in years and honestly what is going to prompt them to? It's great we're winning (and don't take this the wrong way, I'm not belittling winning) but how many of these casual fans know we're winning? And I'm not refering as much to the sports shows themselves as just radio in general. People who listen to sports shows are already big sports fans. I know Lance will cover UC and Mo definitely does as he's a UC fan, but just general talk about town. General talk on the non-sports shows that will bring up Bengals stuff all the time or Reds. Even the weekend sports show that came on directly after the UC game last Saturday was talking about Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis minutes after cutting from their postgame coverage.

This is probably just one of those things I like to rant about, it just frustrates me. I have a good friend that used to be a huge Huggins and UC fan. Now he doesn't care. He couldn't tell you more than two players on the team (maybe not even that, he was talking about "Kirkpatrick" in one of our conversations) nor when they play or if they win or lose. He can tell you that attendance is down and why fans don't like Mick and why he is upset about Huggins being fired. I hype up UC all the time to him. Even got him to go to the shootout this year (bad way to show off the team). He is a Bengals season ticket holder and surprisingly a Bearcat football season ticket holder. Even bought X season tickets one year a few years ago when they had a really good deal on them. This is the kind of fan that just irks me to no end that UC can't get back. And he's not on the fence just waiting for UC to be good or to win. He thouroughly has lost interest in the program. So my question is how do you win that fan back? And believe me I put in plenty of word of mouth to him about the Bearcats. The only way to win him back is for UC to be the it thing in town. Plain and simple. Or at least an it thing. That happens with buzz. Yeah, winning is step one and the most important, but we need to get back to where everyone knows whether or not we won or lost last night. To where people know the players and know the coach and argue about stupid crap like we do on this board about the team. You can walk into just about any place in town and pick an argument about Andy Dalton or Marvin Lewis or Brandon Phillips with some random person. You have to go on a site like this to do it with the Bearcats. That is what needs to change.

I am done with my ranting. I will be headed to Indy tomorrow, gonna go root on Lance in my first NBA game. I'm hoping to DVR Bearcat game and not find out score until I watch game Sunday afternoon. Then try to catch up on all the stuff I will have missed on here for two days.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

david if you want to hear more UC on 700 WLW call the show. Can't blame the station for talking about the events that generate the most interest. If you want to here UC being talked about call into Mo or Lances show.

I've got better things to do than sit on hold trying to get on the radio, but I do agree that if callers or emailers were talking UC it would turn their attention to it.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Not everything Jason. There's a few things left to accomplish. Win a championship! Close the deal on this league. It's ours to lose at this point. Win this league now! Win the league tourney. Get that high seed. We can't demand or even expect a national championship, but we can expect the University of Cincinnati to be one of the contenders each year. As UCB stated, just keep doing what we're doing and fans will start coming back. We're already starting to see it. Keep that momentum going!

I'll agree to this. Winning the conference will go a long way and do a lot of good. Just wish everyone were die-hards like we all are on here. I hate that we have to "sell" ourselves to the city we bear on our chest.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I've got better things to do than sit on hold trying to get on the radio, but I do agree that if callers or emailers were talking UC it would turn their attention to it.

its not that hard to get in. Sometimes all it takes is one call to get things rolling. Give it a try. If others follow the lead it may get some results.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I'll throw out a challenge to all who visit this site. If the Cats win on Saturday everyone has to call lances show and discuss the game. Let us get proactive in generating a buzz about our favorite team. Who's with me?

 

[Scheids21]

I'll throw out a challenge to all who visit this site. If the Cats win on Saturday everyone has to call lances show and discuss the game. Let us get proactive in generating a buzz about our favorite team. Who's with me?

Deal.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Deal.

thats two of us

 

[waterhead]

I disagree with everything you guys said but instead of arguing with you about it let's just say that the majority of fans don't agree with your stance. You can think they're stupid or crazy or whatever but bottom line is they don't agree because they aren't showing their support.

I really believe that if this team continues to rise up the rankings people are going to show up in a big way. The hype we be back full force come March if UC is a top 15 team and a top 3 or 4 seed in the NCAAs.

Simply building a new arena, spending more money, ect ect ect won't bring fans. So far the fans haven't gotten what they need, hopefully now they're starting to get it. If they are then they'll come back and if they do it'll will be then and only then that we'll start to see serious talks about a new arena.

That arena could be sold out for every home game starting with UL if we win all our games up until that point and we beat UL. That would put us in the top 15 maybe even top 10 conversation. The bandwagon fans will return in a heartbeat if they think we have even just a POSSIBLE contender.

Watching your team in NCAA dance games with little belief you can make a splash compared to watching your team in the dance and has decent potential to make a splash are two different thing. When you come in the dance with a 7-11 seed there is not a lot of high expectations. If you can garner a top 4 seed fans can more rationally reason in their heads there is a chance.