Who on Earth has ranked the "gauntlet" of NC Central/NC St./Appalachian St./Campbell/UMASS-Lowell/Kennesaw St./USC Upstate as the #125 toughest schedule in America?
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Who on Earth has ranked the "gauntlet" of NC Central/NC St./Appalachian St./Campbell/UMASS-Lowell/Kennesaw St./USC Upstate as the #125 toughest schedule in America?
Robert
Well-known member
We face challenges that similar basketball programs don't have to deal with. We have 4 of the top 10 basketball programs in the country within a 2 hour drive (OSU, UK, Louisville, Indiana), another good program in the city in Xavier, and plenty of other solid basketball programs in the tri-state area. We're also up against 2 pro teams in a market that is on the small side for pro sports to begin with. We have had to play little brother to Ohio State, and because so many kids from Cincinnati attend Ohio State, they will always have a stronghold in this area. A large chunk of our already modest metropolitan area is in a different state, and a lot of those potential fans are generations-deep UK fans.
We have to do things that other programs don't in order to stay relevant and build our program. We can't rest on our laurels because our schedule is tougher than Louisville's or Pitt's -- completely different situations in those cities/programs.
We have to do things that other programs don't in order to stay relevant and build our program. We can't rest on our laurels because our schedule is tougher than Louisville's or Pitt's -- completely different situations in those cities/programs.
But in the future, we need smarter scheduling... home games spread out a little better, more effort to play quality mid-major teams that will help attendance, etc.
Mick already realizes that...
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/uc/2013/10/09/cronin-aac-could-be-good-for-us/But Cronin said he also understands the Bearcats need to beef up their non-conference schedule, especially beginning next year when Louisville leaves the American for the ACC.
“This year, earlier than I ever have, I’m working on our future scheduling to combat our RPI with the league changing,” Cronin said. “Next year you’re at Nebraska, you’re at NC State, we’ve got San Diego State coming in. We’ve got Xavier again. I’m trying to get some bigger name non-league games at home as well, which is hard. CBS is working hard. They have a lot of interest in us. And obviously I’m trying to keep Louisville on the schedule. We’ll see.”
From last year...
UC basketball trying to improve schedule
Mick Cronin insists that entertainment value is not his primary concern when he puts together UC’s schedule.
Written by
Bill Koch
Every University of Cincinnati basketball fan has his own theory about who the Bearcats should play on their non-conference schedule. Why not play local schools such as Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio State, Dayton and Miami every year? Why not play a double-header at U.S. Bank Arena with those schools rotating? Why can’t UC get Duke to come to town? Or North Carolina?
UC coach Mick Cronin has heard it all and he understands.
“One thing I agree with our fans on that I hear the most is that we need a big-name team in here,” Cronin said. “Well, everybody’s not beating down the door to get in here, but some teams will.”
Cronin and his staff are working now to build the 2012-13 non-conference schedule with two things in mind – making the schedule more attractive to fans than the one that was rated No. 153 in difficulty last year by CollegeRPI.com and making it conducive to the development of a team that annually faces a blockbuster conference schedule every year in the Big East.
During the first few years of Cronin’s rebuilding program at UC, the Bearcats were obligated to play Memphis and UAB from Conference USA as part of their agreement when they left the league to join the Big East in 2005. They also were forced to play with a depleted roster in perhaps the toughest league in the country.
But the Memphis and UAB commitments have run their course and UC has made two straight NCAA tournament appearances, advancing last season to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001.
“It’s now time to probably upgrade our schedule a little bit,” said deputy athletic director Bob Arkeilpane.
UC athletic director Whit Babcock would like to see a minimum of two marquee games every year on the home schedule, not counting the Xavier game, which has alternated between the two schools’ home courts.
“I feel like that gives our schedule good balance,” Babcock said. “I like the direction that Mick has taken the program. I think we can play a few more people now and I’m confident that we can meet that goal.”
A marquee opponent, according to Babcock, is a BCS football-level school, a perennial Top 25 team or a team projected to have a high RPI in a given season. Cronin is on board with that, but points out that scheduling at UC, as it is for football, is complicated by financial constraints.
“The budget is a factor,” Cronin said. “You can only play who you can afford. People are going to do what’s best for them, not for us, when Ohio State is offering them $100,000-plus for a game.”
Ohio State, which beat UC in the regional semifinals in March, has expressed no interest in playing the Bearcats during the regular season except for a game in the John Wooden Tradition in 2006.
“I’m working on Kentucky,” Cronin said. “Indiana doesn’t have room for us right now. We’ve asked Michigan State. That’s a possibility down the road, but they’re locked into a lot of stuff. It’s not like you sit there and say let’s play this team.”
Fans have to understand, Cronin said, that entertainment value is not his primary concern when he puts together UC’s schedule.
“When the movies come out that’s for your entertainment,” Cronin said.
“Our entertainment is different. We have to build our team. We can’t play 31 blockbusters. None of us can.”
Because of financial constraints, Cronin said, the Bearcats play their share of two-for-one series with mid-major opponents, meaning UC plays one game at the opponent’s venue in exchange for two games at Fifth Third Arena.
“Wright State was two-for-one,” he said. “Miami was two-for-one. Toledo was home and home. I’m surrounded by Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio State. They don’t play two-for-ones. We play two-for-ones because that saves us money. We get Miami at home twice and only have to pay them once, but we have to go up there. We had a home-and-home against Toledo to save money.You do it to where you don’t have to travel (far) so you can save money. We have to be creative here because of our financial situation.”
The 2012-13 schedule includes a return game against Marshall (in Charleston, W.V.), home games vs. Wright State and Xavier and a Thanksgiving week tournament in Las Vegas along with Iowa State, Oregon and UNLV. The Bearcats will also play a home game in the Big East/SEC Challenge against an opponent yet to be determined, with the hope that defending national champion Kentucky might be that opponent. They hope to add another marquee opponent to the home schedule.
The rest of the non-league home schedule will be filled with so-called “buy” games against low-to-mid major opponents that UC pays to play at Fifth Third Arena. But even that’s tricky because those schools try to make as much money as they can from those games.
“Everybody’s going to buy teams, so what happens if you can only pay $80,000 or $85,000?” Cronin said. “There’s a science to it. Teams will call you and say we’re going to play Dayton or we’re going to play Ohio State. We’re going to be in the area. Say you find a fit financially. Then you’ve got to work out the date. The date may be no good, so that’s a problem,
“We’ve got to get teams to play us and Xavier. We talk with them about that. They can pick up two checks. We’ll find out a school is playing Kentucky and we’ll say, hey, do you want to come here after? Because you get the big check there, then you get another check. That’s what happens.”
Cronin would like UC to be part of prestigious tournaments such as the Maui Invitational and the Preseason NIT.
“People say, well, why don’t you get in this tournament?” Cronin said. “Well, when you’re in a league with 16 teams and now it’s going to be 18 and there’s only one team from each league allowed in the Preseason NIT or Maui … I’ve been trying to get in the Preseason NIT since I’ve been here. Getting in Maui (in 2009) was the coup of all coups. We got in as a substitute when Louisville pulled out. It’s hard to get in those tournaments.”
“I want to go back to Maui. I love Maui and it’s a great tournament. A problem with us is that at the time, we didn’t travel with a big fan base. I think now we would. Now we’re getting a lot of calls from our fans about Vegas (on Nov. 23-24). You’ve got to do what’s best for your team.”
The bottom line is that Cronin wants to play big-name opponents at home as much as UC fans want him to. He just doesn’t want to play one every night, not with the Big East lurking around the corner in January.
“There’s just a lot of challenges to it,” Cronin said. “People sit back and say, well, they’re purposely (avoiding good teams). No, it’s not like that. It’s a long year and our game is about March. But you’ve got to have some testers early. My players want that game. I want that game for recruiting and you’re always trying to get that game.”
Who on Earth has ranked the "gauntlet" of NC Central/NC St./Appalachian St./Campbell/UMASS-Lowell/Kennesaw St./USC Upstate as the #125 toughest schedule in America?
That's why it is "expected" OOC SOS. You conveniently leave out that 5 of the final 6 OOC games are quality games (New Mexico, Xavier, Pitt, Middle Tennessee, and Nebraska).
http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/Cincinnati.html
Robert
Well-known member
Thank you for sharing, Bearcat04. I had not read those articles.
Who on Earth has ranked the "gauntlet" of NC Central/NC St./Appalachian St./Campbell/UMASS-Lowell/Kennesaw St./USC Upstate as the #125 toughest schedule in America?
Its "expected" ranking, meaning that by the end of the year those seven games will be ranked there. The reason SOS means nothing right now is because the computer numbers are skewed. The little schools that are 5-3 right now bring SOS down but could finish 25-6 winning their conference and be decent RPI wins by the end of the year.
No one is saying it was a tough schedule, but by the end of the year, those are the games that subtly make your computer numbers look good. It appears Upstate and NCCU will be in that category.
Well, I'm glad some of you are perfectly happy with watching crappy, no-name teams come to Fifth Third. There is nothing wrong with having some cupcakes on your schedule, and yes, it is good for the young guys. But this early stretch is ridiculous. The games against the North Carolina teams were a part of a pre-season tournament, so I understand that. It was a great 4-game stretch to get the young guys acclimated, with one respected opponent on national television sprinkled in there.
But if you want to see attendance rise, you can't follow that up with UMass-Lowell, Kennesaw State, and USC Upstate. I am CERTAIN that we can get teams like Miami and Ohio to play us at Fifth Third. If it is a 2 for 1, so be it. Playing Dayton would be good for RPI and great for both fan bases. It will put butts in the seats at both of our arenas. Are they not asking us to play? Then let's ask them! Be proactive. Replace 2 of those 3 garbage games with any combination of Miami, Ohio, NKY, Wright State, or Dayton and you're looking at much higher attendance and better RPI potential without making your schedule a murderer's row.
It's not like you know who is going to be good when you make the schedule. It's easy now to say now that we should have played Dayton since they are ranked, but what if Dayton would have gotten swept in Maui and brought a losing record to Fifth Third? It would have been the same people in attendance that usually are. UD would have brought some fans but that's beyond the point. Last time we played Dayton we were up about 30 in the first half and could have won by 60. Miami isn't close to the program they used to be; actually, they are terrible. NKU is 1-6. So on.
Just to compare some RPI numbers (espn) of some teams mentioned and teams played:
Wright State: 260
Miami: 156
NKU : 216
BG: 147
WKU: 217
USC Upstate: 101
NC Central: 35
Campbell: 188
App State: 299
UMASS Lowell: 249
Kennesaw St: 222
Chicago St: 240
Like I said earlier, there are only a handful of mid-majors that would impact our attendance, create buzz, and help our RPI (like OU, KSU). Having four opponents in the 200s isn't abnormal. USC Upstate and NC Central were great games to schedule. It's not like our RPI would jump drastically if we scheduled Miami, WSU, NKU, etc. instead of some of the teams we played.
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Thank you for sharing, Bearcat04. I had not read those articles.
No problem. I wish we could offer $100,000+ for games like Ohio State, but we can't. Scheduling is a lot more complicated than just saying we should play these local teams instead of UMass-Lowell. I wish more fans would realize that. I thought Mick did a nice job of explaining the various scheduling obstacles.
david aka the TYZ
Well-known member
Who on Earth has ranked the "gauntlet" of NC Central/NC St./Appalachian St./Campbell/UMASS-Lowell/Kennesaw St./USC Upstate as the #125 toughest schedule in America?
These seven games are not the entire OOC slate. We still have X, Pitt and New Mexico, as well as Nebraska and Midd Tennessee State. Our end of the year expected OOC is 125 on whatever site he looked up. It sounds about right. NCCentral, USC Upstate and Mid Tenn St are all expected to be contenders in their conference. That will boost their RPI and ours. NC State, Pitt, New Mexico and X are solid non-conference opponents. Nebraska is in a power 5 conference. I realize we hate the cupcake games, but everybody plays cupcakes. We have 5 bad teams on the schedule this year which is better than some previous years. We have to do a better job of upping some of the names in the non-conference slate and we have. NC State this year and next. New Mexico this year and last. Michigan coming up. We can go back and look up the schedules through Huggins years and he had his share of cupcakes mixed in as well. We usually brought in one marquee name every other year, X every other year and the rest were a combo of tournaments and cupcakes. Same as now. You seem to just be complaining to complain to be honest with you. Which is your prerogative.
And when Mick was addressed about why he didn't schedule Louisville and Pitino's comments his reply was that Memphis asked first because they scheduled it before UC and Louisville weren't going to be conference opponents. He essentially called out Pitino for even making such a comment. He said he called Pitino to ask about continuing the series and that Pitino said that since he had Memphis on the schedule he wasn't going to schedule UC. I want to say I heard that in a post-game presser.
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CaptDale
Well-known member
While he may not have the athleticism of our guys, he was still in position to bag 7 boards, and those were not blocks by accident. Guess they all must have been dumb luck? He's no all-American candidate, for sure, but for a freshman he played OK (except he fouled out a la JJ). I'd take him over DN. But, that game is past. At least it gave our guys a little feel for what it's like to have a player of size out there against them. Now comes size AND ability. We need to control Kirk, and, more importantly, box him out.Kirk isn't representitive of the prototypical center. He shoots a lot of jump shots, some from beyond the arc. I don't think there is another big we'll meet this year quite like him. Euro-style bigs are actually pretty rare in the college game.
As for the rest, I'm sorry but blocks are not just blocks. Some require a 6'11 guy to simply put his hand up to a 6'1-6'3 guard driving the ball. You think Buchanon would last long jumping out of the gym like Jackson for his?
A space eater isn't inherently a stiff, he moved okay but his rebounds weren't out of his area or anything. He got those boards on virtue of his size. Kid wasn't crazy athletic or pulling acrobatic feats to get them.
david aka the TYZ
Well-known member
As far as the game is concerned, what a game. It was 32-32 and then the refs swallowed their whistles and the Cats went on like a 41-9 run or something crazy. Caupain, Guyn and Kilpatrick all looked good. Caupain showed me a lot. He is so much smarter than our previous recruits. He and KJ. And that big guy was just throwing his weight around underneath. He fouled out and his team lost by 36. It did kind of expose our lack of size and the first half rebounding margin showed that. A solid big will give us trouble. We just need to attack him and get him into foul trouble and really focus on boxing out (which is not our strong suit). Our pressure defense will give teams fits all year. All of our opponents, including NC State have run out of gas in the second half. This is going to be a fun season.
david aka the TYZ
Well-known member
This article I saw under the headlines thread kind of explains why Davis didn't play last night. I was kind of surprised he didn't get in as well.
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/uc/2013/12/04/theres-nothing-physically-wrong-with-jeremiah-davis/
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/uc/2013/12/04/theres-nothing-physically-wrong-with-jeremiah-davis/
While he may not have the athleticism of our guys, he was still in position to bag 7 boards, and those were not blocks by accident. Guess they all must have been dumb luck? He's no all-American candidate, for sure, but for a freshman he played OK (except he fouled out a la JJ). I'd take him over DN. But, that game is past. At least it gave our guys a little feel for what it's like to have a player of size out there against them. Now comes size AND ability. We need to control Kirk, and, more importantly, box him out.
Didn't say they were dumb luck, I said they were an inevitability. It's a matter of size and space. I don't think he's bad, I'm just not wowed that he got 7 boards or the two blocks. As for the Lobos, Kirk can bang if he wants to, no doubt. It's going to be a matter of denying him the ball and turning the Lobos over. Kirk will get his boards, just need to make him and Bairstow as close to non-factors as possible. Make everyone else beat us.
I feel a bit less queazy, knowing we can hit open 3's.
Bearcat_NTS
Well-known member
You guys are waaaay off (as usual):
1. Cincinnati has scheduled the good mid majors this year with NC Central, USC-Upstate, Middle Tennessee State. In years past that has been a major issue.
2. Most of the preseason conference tournaments are set out way in advance. It will be difficult for Cincinnati to get into one of these. Getting a tournament like the Battle for Atlantis or Old Spice Classic, Maui, etc provides the team with 3 more quality games. That allows Kennesaw State, Chicago State, and UMass Lowell off the schedule.
3. Made for TV games are also made out in advance. Hopefully UC can get a home-and-home with SDSU back along with a game in NYC every year. This is where ESPN needs to step in. I expect some better games in the coming year like we had with NC State.
4. You cannot just schedule every local MAC school because they are close. They know they are wanted and will charge a lot more for a buy game, or might request for a 2-1. I hope we can get a home-and-home with Dayton. Also getting NKU for a buy game should be easy to do.
Bottom line is the fans of Cincinnati suck and the arena is horrible for draw the casual fans. Cincinnati people are fickle, a brand new court/Nippert will increase attendance for a while.
Barring a Final 4 run, it will take a lot to get these fickle Cincinnatians to come to 5th 3rd. We will get outdrawn by Xavier...again...
1. Cincinnati has scheduled the good mid majors this year with NC Central, USC-Upstate, Middle Tennessee State. In years past that has been a major issue.
2. Most of the preseason conference tournaments are set out way in advance. It will be difficult for Cincinnati to get into one of these. Getting a tournament like the Battle for Atlantis or Old Spice Classic, Maui, etc provides the team with 3 more quality games. That allows Kennesaw State, Chicago State, and UMass Lowell off the schedule.
3. Made for TV games are also made out in advance. Hopefully UC can get a home-and-home with SDSU back along with a game in NYC every year. This is where ESPN needs to step in. I expect some better games in the coming year like we had with NC State.
4. You cannot just schedule every local MAC school because they are close. They know they are wanted and will charge a lot more for a buy game, or might request for a 2-1. I hope we can get a home-and-home with Dayton. Also getting NKU for a buy game should be easy to do.
Bottom line is the fans of Cincinnati suck and the arena is horrible for draw the casual fans. Cincinnati people are fickle, a brand new court/Nippert will increase attendance for a while.
Barring a Final 4 run, it will take a lot to get these fickle Cincinnatians to come to 5th 3rd. We will get outdrawn by Xavier...again...
But what this team, and athletic program in general, needs right now is fan support and money. Of the 7 games we've played at home right now, replace one or two of those with a quality opponent, and another one or two of those with a local opponent, and you're looking at much better attendance AND being ranked in the top 25 if we were still 7-0 at this point. Then the ranking snowballs into even higher attendance figures. We have to get the ball rolling early in the season to generate excitement and revenue for the program. The first 7 games of this schedule are nothing short of unacceptable.
I completely agree we need to strengthen some of our early OOC opponents and play more regional teams. 8K in the stands is better than 6K but it's still a far cry from selling out. However, the idea that we can't sell out the arena without a schedule change IMO is nonsense. Would it happen faster with an improved schedule? Sure...but ONLY if we win them. Would an average of 2K more fans per game help? Absolutely.
In order to start selling out games or at least putting 10K+ in the stands on a consistent basis we just need to keep winning at a very high rate and get into the top 10-15 in rankings. Get the media and fan buzz going. This, and probably ONLY this, is how you fill a UC BB arena consistently. The reason Huggins was selling out arenas (in non power leagues) for most games was because tickets were hard to come by for the BIG games so fans were forced to buy patsie game tickets if they wanted to see the team play at all. It didn't matter if it was against UD or South Carolina State Tech.
You could have the worst parking, arena, campus, neighborhood, schedule, etc and still fill every seat if you are in the top 5. The dog can wag the tail or the tail can wag the dog (hard schedule vs easy schedule)...I don't care. Rankings and NCAA success is really all that matters in the end. If we are ranked #22 because we had a hard schedule and lost a few or #7 because we had an easy schedule and won more of them...which would you prefer? Which would put more fans in the seats? Ask Huggins...he made a living dominating non power conferences. Our own football program showed we can fill seats by dominating the lowly Big East and getting our ranking up there as high as #3 even if we didn't belong there. We got there by never having to play UF or OSU or GA etc. Had we played them OOC and lost just one game we would have never been #3 in the first place.
Whether it's the preferred route or not...the easiest road to high rankings (for UC) is to win a very high % of games against a weaker schedule.
UCalum08
Well-known member
You guys are waaaay off (as usual):
1. Cincinnati has scheduled the good mid majors this year with NC Central, USC-Upstate, Middle Tennessee State. In years past that has been a major issue.
2. Most of the preseason conference tournaments are set out way in advance. It will be difficult for Cincinnati to get into one of these. Getting a tournament like the Battle for Atlantis or Old Spice Classic, Maui, etc provides the team with 3 more quality games. That allows Kennesaw State, Chicago State, and UMass Lowell off the schedule.
3. Made for TV games are also made out in advance. Hopefully UC can get a home-and-home with SDSU back along with a game in NYC every year. This is where ESPN needs to step in. I expect some better games in the coming year like we had with NC State.
4. You cannot just schedule every local MAC school because they are close. They know they are wanted and will charge a lot more for a buy game, or might request for a 2-1. I hope we can get a home-and-home with Dayton. Also getting NKU for a buy game should be easy to do.
Bottom line is the fans of Cincinnati suck and the arena is horrible for draw the casual fans. Cincinnati people are fickle, a brand new court/Nippert will increase attendance for a while.
Barring a Final 4 run, it will take a lot to get these fickle Cincinnatians to come to 5th 3rd. We will get outdrawn by Xavier...again...
All your points are extremely valid. The bold especially sums up how I feel.
JumpinJack5
Well-known member
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- Oct 24, 2012
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I think Cincy fans are strange. I wouldn't say they are horrible, but I can't figure them out. Butch had to pull teeth to put people in Nippert when we were in the Big East, but then we get solid attendance in a crappy conference this year. Basketball, it seems like they show up for the big games and that is about it. If we can up the non-conference schedule a bit and either do renovations for 5/3 or go down to US Bank, I think that would help. The new conference will help us, as I think it will allow us to build our own brand. The Big East was great for exposure, but it was easy to become an afterthought even if you have a good record due to all the great teams that played in it.
I think Cincy fans are strange. I wouldn't say they are horrible, but I can't figure them out. Butch had to pull teeth to put people in Nippert when we were in the Big East, but then we get solid attendance in a crappy conference this year. Basketball, it seems like they show up for the big games and that is about it. If we can up the non-conference schedule a bit and either do renovations for 5/3 or go down to US Bank, I think that would help. The new conference will help us, as I think it will allow us to build our own brand. The Big East was great for exposure, but it was easy to become an afterthought even if you have a good record due to all the great teams that played in it.
BB fans were showing up for 10 years straight when we were dominating the Metro and Con USA. It had NOTHING to do with our arena (or schedule) and EVERYTHING to do with how high we were ranked and how high our seed was come March Madness. We can MAYBE create a sellout or two by scheduling Duke...but CONSISTENT sellouts will DIRECTLY correlate to our rankings or NCAA tourney success. Scheduling regional teams or high profile teams will ONLY help attendance on a game by game basis but it won't help attendance at other games unless we win our fair share of them.
There are limitless ways to fill the stands, from going 15-0 (mid season) against a horrible schedule....to 12-3 against the best schedule in the country...or going 14-1 or 13-2 against something in the middle.
The year our FB team made it to #3....if we played the SEC schedule we likely wouldn't have been ranked in the top 20. If we played in the PAC 10 we may have been able to reach top 15. We played in the Big East and made it to #3 by being undefeated. Not an easy task but much easier than going 12-1 in the SEC and still having a shot at a title.
Our best interest right now, without having top 5 recruiting classes coming in year after year, is to beat up on a weaker schedule to get a high rank. It's worked in the past and it WILL work again as long as we take care of business. Fans will fill the seats when this happens...period.
15 patsies 15-0
13 patsies and 2 tough games 14-1
12 patsies and 3 tough games 13-2
10 patsies and 5 tough games 12-3
Which achieves the higher ranking and fan support? SOS can hurt or help depending on the outcome. If we are ranked #7 in scenario 1 and #18 in scenario 4 do we want scenario 4? Other than the help we get preparing for big games come tourney time I would say no. We should get plenty of prep playing UL and UCONN etc...we won't have a shortage of prep games even with this year's schedule...since we play them both twice and we have other games like X, Memphis, NM, Pitt, etc.
13 patsies and 2 tough games 14-1
12 patsies and 3 tough games 13-2
10 patsies and 5 tough games 12-3
Which achieves the higher ranking and fan support? SOS can hurt or help depending on the outcome. If we are ranked #7 in scenario 1 and #18 in scenario 4 do we want scenario 4? Other than the help we get preparing for big games come tourney time I would say no. We should get plenty of prep playing UL and UCONN etc...we won't have a shortage of prep games even with this year's schedule...since we play them both twice and we have other games like X, Memphis, NM, Pitt, etc.
Bcatfollower
Well-known member
You guys are waaaay off (as usual):
1. Cincinnati has scheduled the good mid majors this year with NC Central, USC-Upstate, Middle Tennessee State. In years past that has been a major issue.
2. Most of the preseason conference tournaments are set out way in advance. It will be difficult for Cincinnati to get into one of these. Getting a tournament like the Battle for Atlantis or Old Spice Classic, Maui, etc provides the team with 3 more quality games. That allows Kennesaw State, Chicago State, and UMass Lowell off the schedule.
3. Made for TV games are also made out in advance. Hopefully UC can get a home-and-home with SDSU back along with a game in NYC every year. This is where ESPN needs to step in. I expect some better games in the coming year like we had with NC State.
4. You cannot just schedule every local MAC school because they are close. They know they are wanted and will charge a lot more for a buy game, or might request for a 2-1. I hope we can get a home-and-home with Dayton. Also getting NKU for a buy game should be easy to do.
Bottom line is the fans of Cincinnati suck and the arena is horrible for draw the casual fans. Cincinnati people are fickle, a brand new court/Nippert will increase attendance for a while.
Barring a Final 4 run, it will take a lot to get these fickle Cincinnatians to come to 5th 3rd. We will get outdrawn by Xavier...again...
ok i get that you think uc fans suck... your argument is that of the chicken and the egg. meaning, does huge fan support breed athletic success or does athletic success breed huge fan support. i tend to think success breeds fan support. It takes special people to be die hard fans of programs they feel arent putting in effort to become better, accepting mediocrity as the best they can provide is not what most people want to see. yet we have mediocre facilities, mediocre seasons, mediocre recruits.... what drives a fan to be a fan? I grew up on cincy basketball and love it but i think the school is putting about as much effort and focus into to being elite as the fans are to showing up for games.