Louisville to the ACC

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UCBearcats

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Done deal, now we continue to wait. At some point I believe we'll find a good home but hopefully it doesn't take too long.
 
Attendance will keep Cincinnati in a hope and wait situation till premiere schools are taken. I think the bones have been picked enough for them to go in the next wave. If UC had good attendance at their sporting events they would be far more attractive. If your own fan base doesn't support the program why would another league? The school has to do a better job of marketing the programs.
 
Whit and Ono have made our intentions known. I'm sure that doing anything and everything to assure we remain competitive includes having discussions with the Big 12. Pres Ono understands the role that athletics play in a successful university and seems 100% committed to making it a top priority. I think wherever the next wave of realignment strikes we will be included. I honestly don't care if it's the Big 12 or the ACC. I believe that when the dust finally settles from all this realignment you'll still have the 5 major conferences and that both the Big 12 and ACC will remain viable for years to come.
 
I really just hope our football program doesn't take a huge step back because we are still in the Big East. Right now, former peers can knock us when recruiting by saying, Cincinnati is in the Big east, which is basically Conference USA. I mean if I were deciding between UC, Rutgers, Louivlle, Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia...it would be pretty easy to exclude UC based on the current conference landscape. Not to mention, we have UK (SEC), IU (BIG), Ohio State (BIG) around, which will never change.

Basketball...I'm not as worried. While the competition will go down, we'll just resume being the Bearcats of the 90s and early 2000s and dominate the regular season.
 
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This really sucks, period. Our fans are already weak and only about to get weaker, who is going to go support the games when they are against shit competition. Even worse than that, how bad is this going to screw our recruiting. We do not have much to offer to entice incoming recruits. Epic fail
 
bearcat jeff said:
Attendance will keep Cincinnati in a hope and wait situation till premiere schools are taken. I think the bones have been picked enough for them to go in the next wave. If UC had good attendance at their sporting events they would be far more attractive. If your own fan base doesn't support the program why would another league? The school has to do a better job of marketing the programs.
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I think we do a pretty decent job of supporting our school. I have season tix to both major sports so I know I'm at least doing my part. Attendance is a winning issue, people are not going to get jacked up to go support a team that is just mediocre. Look at Tennessee, they have a 100k+ stadium and some of the most rabid fans in football but I was down there for the UT vs Mizzou game and people were giving away tickets to a half empty stadium. I don't care who you are, you can't draw crowds if you don't compete for championships every year.

That's not saying that UC hasn't won games but let's compare it to UL. Louisville has a brand new stadium for basketball and a fairly new football stadium. In the Petrino days UL was a top 5 team for a stretch of 4 or 5 seasons and packed the house every week. Post Petrino they struggled and so did their attendance. Now that Charlie Strong has them back to winning their attendance is inching back up but it's not like they're playing to sold out crowds every week. Their basketball sells out. They have a brand new arena, an iconic coach, and a team that is consistently ranked as a top 10 power in college basketball. They also have two very large corporate backers who can throw money into their coffers whenever they need it.

Our football attendance was great under Kelly, we took a step back when Jones came but it's been inching back up. It's still light years ahead of where it was 6 or 7 years ago. Basketball is still working on getting back. I think if this team continues to win the crowds will be great this season. The fact is that Louisville bball under Pitino has become an elite program while UC bball is still on the road back.

I think the biggest failure that UC has had over the years is that they haven't been able to secure any large corporate partners for the athletic programs. Look at L'Ville with Papa Johns, Maryland with Under Armor, Oregon with Nike (even Xavier with Cintas) the list goes on and on. Almost every big time athletic program has a few boosters who help to move things along. We don't have that and we need that. Just imagine where we'd be if a company like P&G was pouring money into our athletic program. Many local companies have been generous to UC over the years but none have stood alongside the athletic program like a Nike to an Oregon or an Under Armor to a Maryland. A lot of people say we need to expand Nippert, get a new bball home or do a better job of marketing our sports teams. These things all cost money, we have money but we could do all the things we want to do a lot more effectively if we had some major help behind us. Sheakley is pretty much the only guy who has stepped up but he's not a big enough player to carry the program on his shoulders.
 
The Lindner family has done quite a bit as well. I believe Varsity Village is named for them.
 
I said ul was gone months ago and Ralph doubted me.

Anyways, uc will be fine. Realignment is not over. Fsu, Clemson, vt, Virginia, unc, nc state, Miami and gt all have interest from bcs conferences. Now it's a matter of Maryland creating the blueprint to get out of the acc. Once more teams leave, uc will be in the acc
 
BearcatMick said:
I said ul was gone months ago and Ralph doubted me.

Anyways, uc will be fine. Realignment is not over. Fsu, Clemson, vt, Virginia, unc, nc state, Miami and gt all have interest from bcs conferences. Now it's a matter of Maryland creating the blueprint to get out of the acc. Once more teams leave, uc will be in the acc
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I find this ass hat to be more than mildly annoying but I actually agree with him here. This thing is far from over. If ACC loses legal battle of the 50 million buyout with MD I think the exodus will begin. We are next on the list. Wouldnt be surprised to hear something by new years.....
 
Rick Pitino's affair with Karen Sypher really put them over the top, LOL! Somebody has to tell him to stop wearing that ugly white suit, Bob Huggins isn't in the BE anymore, no need to compete with the yellow mustard suit.
 
Hicks' Guns said:
Basketball...I'm not as worried. While the competition will go down, we'll just resume being the Bearcats of the 90s and early 2000s and dominate the regular season.
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Then why are you concerned? UC is a basketball school and their main focus should be about basketball.
 
TheLivingLegend said:
Then why are you concerned? UC is a basketball school and their main focus should be about basketball.
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UC USED to be a basketball school.
UC football had 4 draft picks last year, UC basketball has had 1 in the last 7 years. We don't need to be an Atlantic 10 school. I'm sorry but I happen to like having a football team. Don't want them playing Tulane and ECU again, but still.
 
First of all I want a school who can recruit for March not be happy winning the regular season. That means you need revenue for facilities and all the things that go with recruiting. Cincinnati is going to die a slow death if they find no option to join a power league. These leagues will squeeze other leagues out of everything footbal that isn't joined to them and my friends that is money.

That said, I do think the ACC is the best make up for this university and it's current sports make up. It will provide a strong, visible basketball conference and at least a solid football league UC can compete in. It is hands down to me the best option at this point. That said, I will again say if UC fans supported the teams by attending the games this would already be over. That aspect, whether people want to admit it or not is killing this unversity, but they will get snatched up in the next wave of moves now that everyone has picked the better bones. It's about revenue and fans in seats generate revenue.

Cincinnati fans say, "well we have the Bengals and Reds, people have other options". What a load of crap! Xavier plays in the same city and draws 9-10k every single game. UC fans can look themselves in the mirror for where this university is. If the sports teams were better draws the brand name would be higher. Cincinnati had 26 wins and went to a sweet 16 and how many sellouts did they have? Not many and all were dictated by opponent not by the team itself. It's sad UC fans when a football coach has to beg to fill up a stadium after years of having a winning program. It's sad when the opponent dictates who shows up at a basketball game. It's everything wrong with this program right now. People are apathetic about the teams.
 
Bearcat jeff is right. We should be rooting for the following regarding expansion:

1)Maryland getting out of acc with significantly less than a 50mil buyout. That will be the blueprint for the other acc teams to leave. This is crucial
2) we need 2 teams to leave the acc(doesn't matter who). Uconn and uc are likely next in line. To be safe I'd rather 4 teams leave but I'm pretty sure uc is in great shape I two more leave

Be patient. The big10 has indicated they want two more teams. The SEC has indicated they are not happy with 14 and want an even 16(and want into the nc/va market). The Big12 will not stay at 10 with those other conferences expanding.

Also remember the rule of thumb. The Ralph is right regarding uc bball but horrifically wrong in everything realignment related
 
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According to the realignment "guru" on Mo Edgar's show yesterday, UC will go in the next wave of moves regardless. My point is UC fans have this elevated view of their programs. It's not only about winning. It's revenue!! Big time programs have atmosphere at their games. You know if you play them the place will be full and loud. Big time basketball programs are at or near capacity every game regardless of who they play. Big time football programs don't have to beg fans to come to the games. Fans and attendance matter period. For whatever reason fans have never supported the football program, again except big games, and the basketball fanbase has been awol since Huggins left which tells me they were Huggins fans and not UC fans in the first place. The unversity has to put money into marketing and find ways to get asses in seats.
 
bearcat jeff said:
According to the realignment "guru" on Mo Edgar's show yesterday, UC will go in the next wave of moves regardless. My point is UC fans have this elevated view of their programs. It's not only about winning. It's revenue!! Big time programs have atmosphere at their games. You know if you play them the place will be full and loud. Big time basketball programs are at or near capacity every game regardless of who they play. Big time football programs don't have to beg fans to come to the games. Fans and attendance matter period. For whatever reason fans have never supported the football program, again except big games, and the basketball fanbase has been awol since Huggins left which tells me they were Huggins fans and not UC fans in the first place. The unversity has to put money into marketing and find ways to get asses in seats.
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This post got me to register so I could add my two cents.

I've been going to UC football games for several years now including both BCS bowls. I couldn't agree more that the atmosphere around the team is not "big time". Compared to FL and VaTech, the entire UC contingent - team, fans, cheerleaders, band, etc. - just seemed happy to be there and didn't have the swagger of a big-time program.

I think they aren't marketing themselves enough in the area to appeal to a wider fan base, and they aren't doing enough to energize the fans they already have. The marching band is basically a big high school band, and the gameday staff doesn't give them nearly enough time to play with all the ads and other garbage they put out on the scoreboard. The cheerleaders are an afterthought - you hardly ever see them trying to get the entire stadium involved. And the wireless coverage at Nippert is horrible. It may seem trivial but a great way to build buzz around the program is through social media. If your fans can't tweet or post on Facebook about the game while they're there you losing out on a great opportunity to have others promote the program for you.

UC not only needs to be more aggressive on the marketing side, they also need to make the gameday experience more exciting.

On the positive side, the team always plays lights out. The support from the students in the last few years has been phenomenal. And you can buy beer. :D

UC football has a lot going for it. They just need to do a better job of getting people excited and involved.
 
bearcat jeff said:
According to the realignment "guru" on Mo Edgar's show yesterday, UC will go in the next wave of moves regardless. My point is UC fans have this elevated view of their programs. It's not only about winning. It's revenue!! Big time programs have atmosphere at their games. You know if you play them the place will be full and loud. Big time basketball programs are at or near capacity every game regardless of who they play. Big time football programs don't have to beg fans to come to the games. Fans and attendance matter period. For whatever reason fans have never supported the football program, again except big games, and the basketball fanbase has been awol since Huggins left which tells me they were Huggins fans and not UC fans in the first place. The unversity has to put money into marketing and find ways to get asses in seats.
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It's interesting that we keep harping that the fans are the only reason we have not gotten a bid. I think there is more blame to pass around. I know we may be talking about apples in oranges but isn't it interesting that for the 2011 seasons of basketball and football that Rutgers averaged 5,635 attendance in an 8000 seat arena and they had to do all kinds of begging for the non-conference games. They averaged 42,355 in football in a 52,000 seat stadium.

Maryland had 14,900 attendance for basketball in a 17,950 arena and averaged 43,000 attendance in football in a 54,000 seat stadium.
 

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