NCAA Tournament March Madness

#73 Cincinnati

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Projection: likely out

Cincinnati presents as a defense-first team whose résumé so far is defined as much by what it has not done as by its best moments; the defense has delivered in comfortable nonconference victories over Western Carolina, Georgia State and Mount St. Mary’s and a resume-boosting road win at Dayton, but those positives are blunted by a neutral-site loss to Louisville, a surprising home defeat to Eastern Michigan and a road setback at Xavier that stick out on a committee’s ledger. The offense has been inconsistent enough that close games have not always gone the Bearcats’ way and the lack of signature neutral or true road wins against high-profile opponents leaves the profile short on headline grabs. The remaining slate offers clear chances to alter perception with neutral tests against Georgia and Clemson, a home date with Houston and a string of difficult league road trips that would serve as résumé builders if won, but until Cincinnati pairs its stout defense with more consistent scoring and produces at least one marquee result away from home the mix of modest nonconference wins and damaging losses will keep evaluators skeptical.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3W Carolina256W94-63
11/7Georgia St335W74-64
11/11Dayton61W74-62
11/16Mt St Mary's308W72-55
11/21(N)Louisville14L74-64
11/24NJIT350W94-67
11/26E Michigan185L64-56
12/1Tarleton St197W76-58
12/5@Xavier81L79-74
12/13(N)Georgia2228%
12/17Alabama St25893%
12/21(N)Clemson2128%
12/29Lipscomb15885%
1/3Houston823%
1/6@West Virginia6936%
1/11@UCF5834%
1/14Colorado6858%
1/17Iowa St212%
1/21@Arizona910%
1/24@Arizona St8243%
1/28Baylor2940%
1/31@Houston89%
2/5West Virginia6958%
2/8UCF5855%
2/11@Kansas St7639%
2/15Utah12077%
2/21@Kansas1818%
2/24@Texas Tech3222%
2/28Oklahoma St5052%
3/3BYU1023%
3/7@TCU5332%