New Expectations

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Scheids21

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Feb 14, 2012
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Before the season began, I said I would be happy if this team just made the NCAA tournament. Losing 3 starters from a 10 seed team just left too much uncertainty for me to expect much better.

But now, with a little more than a month left in the season, we know what we have and what we are capable of. So what are your expectations?

I expect a regular season conference title (at least a share and advancing to the sweet 16. Anything less than that and I'll be disappointed.
 
Before the season began, I said I would be happy if this team just made the NCAA tournament. Losing 3 starters from a 10 seed team just left too much uncertainty for me to expect much better.

But now, with a little more than a month left in the season, we know what we have and what we are capable of. So what are your expectations?

I expect a regular season conference title (at least a share and advancing to the sweet 16. Anything less than that and I'll be disappointed.

I agree, at least sweet 16 or even Final 8 at this point should be expected barring injuries. This team is rolling without Lawrence and he is only going to make the team better!
 
Tournament success is so random its hard for me to get upset about that and I dont really base my expectations on that.

Preseason I'd have thought top 3 in the league and seeded 5 or higher in the dance would be a massive success. Seed of 6-10 would be meeting expectations and a " good" year. 11+ bubble disappointing. Miss and not close very disappointing.

Right now I guess if I had to re-eval I'd say seed 4 or 5 is meeting expectations. 3+ is a huge success. Share of league title or outright is huge success.

I still don't think this team is really the 7th best team in the country, but resume wise they are right there. We've also been pretty lucky in close games which all advanced studies have shown past performance in close games is not predictive of future performance in close games. So we can probably expect to regress some there and lose a game were "supposed to win"
 
matchups are more important than seedings

I think both are important and kind of go hand-in-hand with each other. Assuming we stay as healthy as we are now and don't lose anyone I fully expect a 3-5 seed for us. Best case scenario and not out of the question if we continue to win our games would be a #2 seed.

As we all know, come March, it really is all about matchups. We usually get really tough draws, not sure why that is. It makes you wonder sometimes. Of course if we would get a 2 or 3 seed it would help our chances to get an easier draw to the Sweet 16.
 
My expectations haven't risen that much. Sure I'll be disappointed if they don't win the conf. title but that is only because of where they currently sit. If a team like UL ends up winning and UC comes in second I'll still consider that a successful season. If they lose in the 2nd round, I'll be just as upset but will again consider the season a success. At the beginning of the year I had them as a bubble team.
 
I would really like for Cincinnati to win the regular season and tournament in the American. Along with that I want Cronin as coach of the year, Kilpatrick as player of the year and Jackson as defensive player of the year.

Tournament success is so dependent on match ups and luck. I would hope Cincinnati would win at least 1 tournament game...
 
Preseason expectations:
- Make the tournament, at any seed
- Finish top 4 in the league
That's it.

Current expectations:
- Win the league, regular season
- Make it to league championship game, if not win it
- No worse than 4 seed in the tourney
- Advance to at least sweet sixteen
 
Tournament success is so random its hard for me to get upset about that and I dont really base my expectations on that.

I couldn't agree more. I'd love to see us make a run but the tourney is only 4 weeks out of the entire season. Regardless of what happens in March this season has been a tremendous success.

Mick has reached a level of success that anyone calling themselves a Bearcats fan should be excited about. Not only have they reached that level they've sustained it.

A season like this does great things for this program going forward. Being in the top 10, achieving a top seed in the tourney and all the publicity that comes along with those things will help Mick boost his recruiting.

This team has already surpassed my expectations. That being said I expect them to finish strong. Make a run in the conference tourney, anything less than a spot in the finals would be a let down.

I expect this team to make the NCAA's with no less than a 3 or 4 seed and to advance to the sweet 16. March Madness is not an end all be all for me. Anything less than a Final 4 isn't memorable anyways so if we don't advance far it certainly won't ruin what has been an otherwise great year for the Cats.
 
I couldn't agree more. I'd love to see us make a run but the tourney is only 4 weeks out of the entire season. Regardless of what happens in March this season has been a tremendous success.

Mick has reached a level of success that anyone calling themselves a Bearcats fan should be excited about. Not only have they reached that level they've sustained it.

A season like this does great things for this program going forward. Being in the top 10, achieving a top seed in the tourney and all the publicity that comes along with those things will help Mick boost his recruiting.

This team has already surpassed my expectations. That being said I expect them to finish strong. Make a run in the conference tourney, anything less than a spot in the finals would be a let down.

I expect this team to make the NCAA's with no less than a 3 or 4 seed and to advance to the sweet 16. March Madness is not an end all be all for me. Anything less than a Final 4 isn't memorable anyways so if we don't advance far it certainly won't ruin what has been an otherwise great year for the Cats.

Ehhh. Maybe from a national standpoint. If we were to get back to the Elite Eight (would be the first time since '96), I think that'd be monstrous.
 
I couldn't agree more. I'd love to see us make a run but the tourney is only 4 weeks out of the entire season. Regardless of what happens in March this season has been a tremendous success.

Mick has reached a level of success that anyone calling themselves a Bearcats fan should be excited about. Not only have they reached that level they've sustained it.

A season like this does great things for this program going forward. Being in the top 10, achieving a top seed in the tourney and all the publicity that comes along with those things will help Mick boost his recruiting.

This team has already surpassed my expectations. That being said I expect them to finish strong. Make a run in the conference tourney, anything less than a spot in the finals would be a let down.

I expect this team to make the NCAA's with no less than a 3 or 4 seed and to advance to the sweet 16. March Madness is not an end all be all for me. Anything less than a Final 4 isn't memorable anyways so if we don't advance far it certainly won't ruin what has been an otherwise great year for the Cats.
Excellent post.

Mick has this program back on solid ground. Just about every broadcast I listen to when UC is mentioned as advertisement for upcomming games they always mention MC as a candidate for Coach of the year. This can only help our national exposure and open up recruiting doors for him.

My expectation is to win the league. A deep run in conference tourney. A good seed and from there will see what happens.

The most important thing I want is for Our team to get the recognition that goes with overachieving and winning when many said we couldn't. This will enable us to continue to build on the very nice foundation that MC has built.
 
I think both are important and kind of go hand-in-hand with each other. Assuming we stay as healthy as we are now and don't lose anyone I fully expect a 3-5 seed for us. Best case scenario and not out of the question if we continue to win our games would be a #2 seed.

As we all know, come March, it really is all about matchups. We usually get really tough draws, not sure why that is. It makes you wonder sometimes. Of course if we would get a 2 or 3 seed it would help our chances to get an easier draw to the Sweet 16.

Wasn't Xavier's AD the tournament chair for a few years, and was on the committee for our latest run? I'm not saying, I'm just saying.....
 
Wasn't Xavier's AD the tournament chair for a few years, and was on the committee for our latest run? I'm not saying, I'm just saying.....

yes he sure was! I am right there with you on that thinking. I don't want to play that card but its hard to ignore. Especially considering X has had some favourable path's to the Sweet 16.
 
Okay, I REALLY want us to have the Indianapolis draw. I just got surprised by my family for my upcoming birthday with 3rd and 4th round tickets in Indy. It will be my first NCAA tourney experience and I want to see the 'Cats!
 
Okay, I REALLY want us to have the Indianapolis draw. I just got surprised by my family for my upcoming birthday with 3rd and 4th round tickets in Indy. It will be my first NCAA tourney experience and I want to see the 'Cats!

What an awesome gift! Congrats, man. There'd be a lot of Bearcat fans in the building if we get an Indy draw. Here's to hoping.:D
 
What an awesome gift! Congrats, man. There'd be a lot of Bearcat fans in the building if we get an Indy draw. Here's to hoping.:D

I know, I'm pumped no matter who it is, there is nothing like March Madness. Let's hope for a Bearcat invasion of Indy!
 
I am expecting our senior captains to continue to do what they have been doing to propel us to big wins. That is just about EVERYTHING! I don't expect to win out...but I expect to win more big games. I expect to continue to shut teams down with outstanding D. I expect the team to control those things they can control and lean on the seniors.

This trio is EXTREMELY driven to succeed and to not give up. You can hear it in the way the talk to the media and you can see it on the floor in effort and passion. I have no doubt about their heart and determination.

That's worth a lot in March!!
 
Okay, I REALLY want us to have the Indianapolis draw. I just got surprised by my family for my upcoming birthday with 3rd and 4th round tickets in Indy. It will be my first NCAA tourney experience and I want to see the 'Cats!

I have tickets too JJ. I was planning on selling them for the last few months but I may just have to wait and see...
 
Am I the only one that thinks conference tourneys are overrated and that doesn't really care how we fare in it? Conference tourney's are important for one-bid leagues and if you underachieved in the regular season or finished middle of the pack in your conference. For example, when we finished fourth in the Big East, but made it to the final game, that was awesome. If we were to finish third of fourth in this league I might want a better showing in the conference tourney. To me if you win the regular season title in your conference I think the tourney is irrelevant in a major conference that will get multiple bids. I'm hoping like all that we win the regular season crown in the AAC. If we do that I honestly could care less what we do in the conference tourney. Would like to win at least one game, but even then I'd like to have extra rest and not have to play three or four days in a row.
 
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