UC vs. Georgetown

[anbuc88]

Good point about KSU. Forgot about that year, even though those fans were estatic about it after many years of no postseason play. Sorry, if winning at least one game every year in the NCAA was not a cause to celebrate, and was a reason to change coaches, then we're not going to stoop so low as to celebrate just getting in. Our program is better than that. When we get to the sweet 16, we'll celebrate. Anything less is just revisiting the past when a coaching change was in order.

Please, let's not revisit why Huggins was let go, and open up old wounds. But it was NOT because he couldn't get to the second round of the tourney. The program is back where it used to be, and in my view has surpassed where Huggins left it. We don't have yearly player arrests, all of our seniors graduate, and we are winning on the court. No one thinks of UC as a university of thugs anymore. And with the recruiting improving, and easier conference schedule, we will continue to go to the NCAA tourney on a yearly basis. We just need to to continue success at a high level and position ourself favorably when the next round of conference realignment occurs.

 

[L-T]

Please, let's not revisit why Huggins was let go, and open up old wounds. But it was NOT because he couldn't get to the second round of the tourney. The program is back where it used to be, and in my view has surpassed where Huggins left it. We don't have yearly player arrests, all of our seniors graduate, and we are winning on the court. No one thinks of UC as a university of thugs anymore. And with the recruiting improving, and easier conference schedule, we will continue to go to the NCAA tourney on a yearly basis. We just need to to continue success at a high level and position ourself favorably when the next round of conference realignment occurs.

Lol...ok. We'll now say making the dance is reason to celebrate. My how times have changed in the last few years. We once "led" the charge into the Big East, but now schools like West Virginia, Marquette, Louisville, Pitt, etc. are waving bye-bye to us as we make our way into the tough America 12. With all of Mick's accomplishments, I'm surprised the big 5 conferences aren't lining up to do battle over which one gets us. What are they missing?

 

[Amberlycolonel]

Com'on guys. There's a statute of limitations on the death penalty excuse. It's long expired. Moving to the big bad Big East didn't seem to bother our Conference USA partners...Louisville and Marquette. Amazing what good coaching can do. We're giving Mick credit for his nice little job of returning us to the NCAA in five years after he took over in a tough situation. So, now we're two more years down the road and what has he done? A sweet 16...ok, that's progress...good job! Then we're finally back to preseason recognition, both nationally and in the Big East....and he lays an egg. If our name gets called today, then it's not a major egg....but still an egg. It was hideous basketbal down the stretch. Louisville and Marquette are not using the tougher Big East as an excuse. They just moved in and became better than they were in Conf. USA and the Big East has learned that Conf. USA was pretty good. At UC, we are still using it as an excuse for Mick 7 year's later. Our basketball program got us to the Big East. Where has our basketball program got us today.....back to mid-major status.

Agree completely.

 

[Amberlycolonel]

Lol...ok. We'll now say making the dance is reason to celebrate. My how times have changed in the last few years. We once "led" the charge into the Big East, but now schools like West Virginia, Marquette, Louisville, Pitt, etc. are waving bye-bye to us as we make our way into the tough America 12. With all of Mick's accomplishments, I'm surprised the big 5 conferences aren't lining up to do battle over which one gets us. What are they missing?

Mick is up for coach of the year! He had another 20 win season against all top 10 teams and has us poised for a championship. And he has positioned our seniors to be lottery picks in the NBA! Get off his back L.T.

 

[bearcat1962]

I feel people, more so in these forums, have accepted mediocrity and celebrate the small victories. Back in the day, we were alway battling for a top 10 and were hard pressed to accept less. Coach tries his best but this conference has been beyond him and a move to an easy league next year will be more suitable for our team.

 

[Bearcat04]

I feel people, more so in these forums, have accepted mediocrity and celebrate the small victories. Back in the day, we were alway battling for a top 10 and were hard pressed to accept less. Coach tries his best but this conference has been beyond him and a move to an easy league next year will be more suitable for our team.

Until it came to the tournament and it was nothing but excuses for why we got upset. Including last year this program has been to the second week of the tournament just 5 times in the last 21 years. Some of you guys act like Mick took over a program that was regularly going to the Final 4. If we are supposed to be raising the bar for Mick then quit lowering the bar for the teams of the past by resorting to regular season accomplishments to make it sound like we had it so much better then.

Yep, Mick has been in way over his head in this conference. 32 wins the last three years and a spot in the BET final. Jay Wright took a team to the Final 4 in this conference and yet he's finished behind Mick two of the last three years and couldn't beat us this year.

 

[bearcat1962]

We should expect to be in the conference championship every season, not celebrate the 1 time we were. The team makes it once and you are content?

 

[Bearcat04]

We should expect to be in the conference championship every season, not celebrate the 1 time we were. The team makes it once and you are content?

Who is content? I guess then you were content with a top 10 ranking that eventually failed miserably in the tournament. I thought we expected more? We should expect to be in the second week of the tournament every time that we are a 1-4 seed. We did that just 3 out of 9 times and you are content?

I'll say it again. Quit lowering the bar for previous teams in order to raise the bar for the current team.

 

[nparker1]

instead of people bitching about Mick and his lack of performance/success...name a realistic replacement?...and i stress realistic

 

[UCalum08]

I feel people, more so in these forums, have accepted mediocrity and celebrate the small victories. Back in the day, we were alway battling for a top 10 and were hard pressed to accept less. Coach tries his best but this conference has been beyond him and a move to an easy league next year will be more suitable for our team.

So you were content playing in a below mediocre cusa and losing in the second round of the NCAA tourney majority of huggins tenure? Were you content in winning a meaningless cusa tourney championship and never making a national statement? The BE is not beyond Cronin. You ever think that the BE was to superior for a lowly UC university with dismal funding and poor poor leadership? Quit living in 1990-1991. College basketball has changed and it will never be like the early 90's ever again!!!!!

 

[cincycpaw]

instead of people bitching about Mick and his lack of performance/success...name a realistic replacement?...and i stress realistic

I get your point. But the truth is no one here knows who is realistic.

For example - did you believe TT was realistic as a football coach? I doubt it.

 

[L-T]

instead of people bitching about Mick and his lack of performance/success...name a realistic replacement?...and i stress realistic

Com'on man. That's a tired old response. Nobody would have named Huggins as a realistic replacement, but he had us in the final 4 in 3 years and might have won it all had Michigan not cheated. Who was Chris Mack before Xavier got him...or Pete Gillan...or Buzz Williams...or Brad Stevens...or Chaka Smart or Tom Crean, or Jamie Dixon, or Skip Prosser, or Jim Valvano, etc., etc.. The country is full or top young coaches just waiting for their chance to shine. How can we name a replacement when they're either assistant coaches in great programs, or head coaches in obscure conferences and we don't know who any of them are. They're all realistic replacements. And, as Tommy Tuberville proved, we may even lure a known coach occasionally. Who knows when Brad Stevens or Chaka Smart will decide to move up? We may be in the right place or the right time to lure one of them.

We're not at the point where we need to be thinking about replacing Mick yet, but we can't settle into a mindset where we are happy just making the tournament. Our goal is to cut down the nets, and if Mick can't get that done, then it's time to move on.

 

[bearcat jeff]

So you were content playing in a below mediocre cusa and losing in the second round of the NCAA tourney majority of huggins tenure? Were you content in winning a meaningless cusa tourney championship and never making a national statement? The BE is not beyond Cronin. You ever think that the BE was to superior for a lowly UC university with dismal funding and poor poor leadership? Quit living in 1990-1991. College basketball has changed and it will never be like the early 90's ever again!!!!!

I posted about the inflated view of the 90's recently and posted results with it. What people hold onto is the first two seasons with the Final Four and Elite 8 runs. After that there was 1 Elite 8 appearance and a Sweet 16. Twice UC was eliminated in the first round and the rest were 2nd round flame outs.

I think you could say from the '91-'92 season thru '95-'96 UC was an elite team. Two Elite 8's and a Final Four in 5 seasons is pretty strong.

1992 - 4 seed final four
1993 - 2 seed elite 8
1994 - 8 seed lost in 1st round
1995 - 7 seed lost in 2nd round
1996 - 2 seed elite 8

After 1996 the program began to slide and at best became a good team who underachieved terribly by seeding standards:

1997 - 3 seed lost in 2nd round
1998 - 2 seed lost in 2nd round
1999 - 3 seed lost in 2nd round
2000 - 2 seed lost in 2nd round
2001 - 5 seed sweet 16
2002 - 1 seed lost in 2nd round
2003 - 8 seed lost in 1st round
2004 - 4 seed lost in 2nd round
2005 - 7 seed lost in 2nd round

Six times from 1997-2005 UC was a 4 seed or higher and they never made the sweet 16. After 1997 UC was a good program loved locally, not much respected nationally. Give them props for making the tournament but don't say people today are settling for mediocrity when they are meeting the same standard set since 1997. I have said repeatedly Mick has brought the program back to where it was on the court when Huggs vs. Z happened and I am correct. Results don't lie.

 

[L-T]

So you were content playing in a below mediocre cusa and losing in the second round of the NCAA tourney majority of huggins tenure? Were you content in winning a meaningless cusa tourney championship and never making a national statement? The BE is not beyond Cronin. You ever think that the BE was to superior for a lowly UC university with dismal funding and poor poor leadership? Quit living in 1990-1991. College basketball has changed and it will never be like the early 90's ever again!!!!!

You mean that below mediocre CUSA whose teams have won the Big East two years in a row? That had two of its three former teams tie for first place in the Big East this year. That had both of it's former teams playing for the Big East Tournament Championship last year. That has one of it's former teams as the Number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament this year. That below mediocre CUSA is the one you're talking about?

 

[bearcat jeff]

You mean that below mediocre CUSA whose teams have won the Big East two years in a row? That had two of its three former teams tie for first place in the Big East this year. That had both of it's former teams playing for the Big East Tournament Championship last year. That has one of it's former teams as the Number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament this year. That below mediocre CUSA is the one you're talking about?

Just stop. CUSA had good teams at the top but top to bottom it is no where close to the Big East. There is a reason everybody called the BEast the best basketball conference ever. It was.

 

[L-T]

I posted about the inflated view of the 90's recently and posted results with it. What people hold onto is the first two seasons with the Final Four and Elite 8 runs. After that there was 1 Elite 8 appearance and a Sweet 16. Twice UC was eliminated in the first round and the rest were 2nd round flame outs.

I think you could say from the '91-'92 season thru '95-'96 UC was an elite team. Two Elite 8's and a Final Four in 5 seasons is pretty strong.

1992 - 4 seed final four
1993 - 2 seed elite 8
1994 - 8 seed lost in 1st round
1995 - 7 seed lost in 2nd round
1996 - 2 seed elite 8

After 1996 the program began to slide and at best became a good team who underachieved terribly by seeding standards:

1997 - 3 seed lost in 2nd round
1998 - 2 seed lost in 2nd round
1999 - 3 seed lost in 2nd round
2000 - 2 seed lost in 2nd round
2001 - 5 seed sweet 16
2002 - 1 seed lost in 2nd round
2003 - 8 seed lost in 1st round
2004 - 4 seed lost in 2nd round
2005 - 7 seed lost in 2nd round

Six times from 1997-2005 UC was a 4 seed or higher and they never made the sweet 16. After 1997 UC was a good program loved locally, not much respected nationally. Give them props for making the tournament but don't say people today are settling for mediocrity when they are meeting the same standard set since 1997. I have said repeatedly Mick has brought the program back to where it was on the court when Huggs vs. Z happened and I am correct. Results don't lie.

Same standard???? Six of those sub-standard years we were a 4 seed or higher, which means we were a top 16 team in the nation. Another we were a 5 seed...i.e. a top 20 program. We had the national player of the year, MacDonalds All Americans, 1st team all-americans, the 1st and 3rd NBA draft pick in one year. I agree, the tournament performances were disappointing, but we had great seasons almost every year and were almost always nationally ranked. 5 of them were 3 seed or higher, which means top 12. Top 12 but not respected nationally? All our games were nationally televised. The CPAW brand was one of the top sellers nationally. We were one of the few schools selected to wear the Jordan brand uniforms. Not respected nationally? Give me the annual mediocrity of being ranked in the top 20 anytime over our program today that can't score 40 points in a game and gets a plethora of 3-star recruits who can't make layups. So a top 20 ranked regular season every year with a 2nd round NCAA loss is equal to what Mick has done? What are you smoking? You are correct. The results don't lie.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Same standard???? Six of those sub-standard years we were a 4 seed or higher, which means we were a top 16 team in the nation. Another we were a 5 seed...i.e. a top 20 program. We had the national player of the year, MacDonalds All Americans, 1st team all-americans, the 1st and 3rd NBA draft pick in one year. I agree, the tournament performances were disappointing, but we had great seasons almost every year and were almost always nationally ranked. 5 of them were 3 seed or higher, which means top 12. Top 12 but not respected nationally? All our games were nationally televised. The CPAW brand was one of the top sellers nationally. We were one of the few schools selected to wear the Jordan brand uniforms. Not respected nationally? Give me the annual mediocrity of being ranked in the top 20 anytime over our program today that can't score 40 points in a game and gets a plethora of 3-star recruits who can't make layups. So a top 20 ranked regular season every year with a 2nd round NCAA loss is equal to what Mick has done? What are you smoking? You are correct. The results don't lie.

ALL that matters are end results not the fluff. By yor argument Mick Cronin has done far more with far less and should be applauded!Mick has achieved the same results as Huggins from 97-2005.

Did you read this? I have said repeatedly Mick has brought the program "..back to where it was on the court when Huggs vs. Z happened and I am correct."

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Same standard???? Six of those sub-standard years we were a 4 seed or higher, which means we were a top 16 team in the nation. Another we were a 5 seed...i.e. a top 20 program. We had the national player of the year, MacDonalds All Americans, 1st team all-americans, the 1st and 3rd NBA draft pick in one year. I agree, the tournament performances were disappointing, but we had great seasons almost every year and were almost always nationally ranked. 5 of them were 3 seed or higher, which means top 12. Top 12 but not respected nationally? All our games were nationally televised. The CPAW brand was one of the top sellers nationally. We were one of the few schools selected to wear the Jordan brand uniforms. Not respected nationally? Give me the annual mediocrity of being ranked in the top 20 anytime over our program today that can't score 40 points in a game and gets a plethora of 3-star recruits who can't make layups. So a top 20 ranked regular season every year with a 2nd round NCAA loss is equal to what Mick has done? What are you smoking? You are correct. The results don't lie.

I love Huggy, but Cincinnati never beat a higher seeded team and didn't make it past the second round after 2001 even with high seeds (including #1 overall). I do agree that UC was probably a bigger national brand in C-USA because of their notorious reputation. I think being down for 4 or 5 years has more to do with it then Mick, if Huggy left and we continued to make the NCAA's, nothing would have really changed. We were the orginial Gonzaga, and if they don't make the tournament for 5 straight years, they'd experience the same thing.

 

[L-T]

ALL that matters are end results not the fluff. By yor argument Mick Cronin has done far more with far less and should be applauded!Mick has achieved the same results as Huggins from 97-2005.

Did you read this? I have said repeatedly Mick has brought the program "..back to where it was on the court when Huggs vs. Z happened and I am correct."

....and where are we ranked today?

We played to mostly sparse crowds all season. The students rarely support the team. We didn't sell out a single game. Our preseason rank was in the top 20 and the Big East coaches ranked us 4th in the BE. That says Mick did far less with far more.

Listen, I'm not advocating getting rid of Mick...but he has a long way to go and our city has never embraced him. That is a fact. You obviously love him, so I'm glad you're content. I'll be content when he has us ranked annually in the top 25, when he's pulling in some recruits with more than 3 stars, when I see our players getting noticeably better over their career at UC, when we can score more than 40 points, when we have some resemblance of an inside game, when we can execute an inbounds play, AND when we have success in the postseason. He's nowhere close to making most of us content at this point, but I think he deserves some more chances at this point. I'm not ready yet to give up on him.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

....and where are we ranked today?

We played to mostly sparse crowds all season. The students rarely support the team. We didn't sell out a single game. Our preseason rank was in the top 20 and the Big East coaches ranked us 4th in the BE. That says Mick did far less with far more.

Listen, I'm not advocating getting rid of Mick...but he has a long way to go and our city has never embraced him. That is a fact. You obviously love him, so I'm glad you're content. I'll be content when he has us ranked annually in the top 25, when he's pulling in some recruits with more than 3 stars, when I see our players getting noticeably better over their career at UC, when we can score more than 40 points, when we have some resemblance of an inside game, when we can execute an inbounds play, AND when we have success in the postseason. He's nowhere close to making most of us content at this point, but I think he deserves some more chances at this point. I'm not ready yet to give up on him.

A few things: attendence is up. lawrence is a 4 star recruit. Our preseason ranking could have been overstated. Who is playing better? How about SK,Parker,Cash,Bishop,Dixion. I'm sure there arre more. getting only 3 star guys and achieving the results he has really says it all. You want a top 25 program. You had that last year and if we have a nice run in NCAA this year you'll have it again. We are currrently ranked 38 in field of 64.