Subject: Cincinnati Bearcats returning to college basketball school?
The message: College football is broken and is unlikely to ever come back. Schools like the Bearcats will likely become irrelevant. Let's hope the same doesn't happen to college basketball.
A: Is UC trending towards becoming a basketball school again?
It certainly looks that way.
This is something I've been thinking ever since the Bearcats basketball team made a surprise appearance as a bubble team in the NCAA Tournament after a strong first season in the Big 12. Events since then have only strengthened this belief.
Coach Wes Miller was able to retain all four of his top returning guards, including Dan Skillings Jr. and Jizzle James. Coach Miller landed some big-name recruiting — a top-25 transfer class (247 Sports) and a top-30 high school freshman class (Rivals). It's no wonder that UC announced this week that season tickets are sold out for the first time since 2019-20.
Coach Wes Miller's Bearcats were competitive in their first season in the Big 12, making a surprise appearance as a bubble team in the NCAA Tournament, and fans responded well, selling out season tickets for the first time since the 2019-2020 season.
The excitement around Bearcats basketball is building at a time when UC football is rebuilding under its second-year coach, while the football team is trying to find its footing in a new world of college football that doesn’t favor programs like the Bearcats succeeding at a sustained, high level.
As I've written before, football coach Scott Satterfield needs time to build a program, but that's a Herculean task with 30-40 new players coming in each season due to the transfer portal and UC not having unlimited NIL funding like some schools in the SEC and Big Ten.
He also wrote that fans shouldn't expect an NCAA Tournament appearance every season, or at least nine straight seasons like the Bearcats did from 2011-2019.
But UC basketball is well positioned to build sustained success. For starters, the Big 12 is the best conference in college basketball (the SEC and Big Ten are the best in football). Add to that UC's storied basketball tradition and a coach known as one of the best scouts in the nation, and fewer resources will be needed to turn things around.
Intimidate. Dominate. Bless. Again. Maybe?
Let's take a moment to think about this. Miller is in his fourth year at UC and has never led the Bearcats to the NCAA Tournament. There are signs this season the Bearcats could be a tournament contender.
No one is saying UC can't be known as a football and basketball school, but it's rare for a school to continue to be successful in both areas, I'm simply saying things are moving back toward UC being known as a basketball school.
And I know a lot of longtime Bearcats fans would be totally fine with that.
This article originally appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Football Popularity
