Obama's Failed Presidency

As I listened to the president who I voted for, who I will almost undoubtedly vote for again ask the questions tonight of where would we be if Lincoln had not built the intercontinental railroad despite the civil war? Or started the National Academy of Sciences? where would we be right now if the people who sat here before us decided not to build our highways and our bridges; our dams and our airports? What would this country be like if we had chosen not to spend money on public high schools, or research universities, or community colleges? How many jobs would it have cost us if past Congresses decided not to support the basic research that led to the Internet and the computer chip?

As I heard him say those things I could not help but think “where were these words 2 years ago when you had to sell the American public on what government could do?” Where were these words when you started from such a position of weakness by throwing a Republican party incentives even when the party had no desire to support you in anything you ever did no matter what? For years democrats have been afraid to try to sell the American public one what Government has done and the many ways it has been the vision of our leaders in the past that has helped contribute to the great country we have today.

Instead we sit in a country where people want to go backwards. Where the accomplishments and the progress we made for so many years are threatened with demise. It's an easy to sell to say that “you can spend your money better than the government.” Or that government is too big. It is particularly easy when government gets as nasty as it has in recent years. When the business becomes winning elections instead of taking care of the American people. People can fathom that.

It's a much harder sell to try to explain all that government has done in the past to make this country great.

FDR once said: Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.

When the government invests in our future on a large scale its doing the type of investment that cannot be done by one or two people. The intercontinental railroad spurned industry in so many ways. It connected the country in ways it had not been before. Can you imagine a world without roads to drive on or highways to travel on? We certainly would not be living the life we are today. The government funded universities that have done some of our best research that have pioneered innovation like the internet. For years people have not been willing to make that case.

People do not think about all the ways these government investments, the foresight our past leaders had to push these programs...they do no realize how much they have pushed American on and enhanced our every day lives. They do not realize it because they cannot see a world without. Well the sad truth is we are pushing to a world without it and the politics of the last 20-30 years...the failure of government to act with foresight, to invest in infrastructure and the future of America has been leading us down the hole we are in right now.

We needed a bigger, badder stimulus two years ago. We needed to fix two decades of government stagnation. Of a world where Congress lived election to election afraid to do anything at all. Had the democrats lost the house, and senate and white house actually stepping up to the plate and doing what was right I would have been alright with that. But now we sit and the accomplishments of this Administration have been minor. Yes I loved the repeal of don't ask don't tell, and the health care bill was a step in the right direction, but we needed more...instead we got appeasement. We got an administration that seemingly wanted to include a Republican party that had no desire to really be included unless they got their way.

So here we sit now... Obama says words that I have been waiting forever for a president, or any democratic leader, to say and yet he says them at a time where his ability to do anything of significance is nonexistent. The Democrats have already lost the house in historic fashion, the senate margin is thin, and Obama's approvals are at all time lows. Right now the president is acting from a position of weakness. This type of speech should have defined his presidency. He should have put his reelection hopes on what government could do and used his huge house and senate majorities to do it.

Instead he refused to make the hard sell. He tried to be all things to all people. Now the recovery we have had (and yes there has been some, just not enough, particularly in jobs) has leveled off. We did not do enough and Obama's reelection hopes mainly stem on the ineptitude of the opposition... either way his ability to do something truly historic, to change the tide of history back to one of vision that so many leaders of the past have shown, from Lincoln, to Teddy Roosevelt to FDR, Truman and JFK...to the many great congress men and women who did so much... to bring back a government that invests in its people and moves us towards a brighter future. That opportunity is lost now. And to me that may be the defining characteristic of Obama's presidency.

Thoughts on Tournament Field

Grading The Selection Committee

Like many of those who try to pick the field I missed some teams this year. I had Alabama, VT, and Colorado in and the committee selected Georgia, UAB and VCU. I don't have a problem with any of the exclusions (though I am very surprised by Colorado who I think looked like a tournament team and had the wins of a tournament team), but I do think the UAB inclusion was a bad one. UAB was 1-4 against the RPI top 50 (the one win over VCU) and 9-8 against the RPI top 100 (that is a decent amount of top 100 wins as far as that goes). Clearly, the committee chose to value UAB winning the Conference USA title (conference USA was 8^th in the RPI this). To me UAB showed they could beat NIT caliber teams not NCAA caliber teams. I think there were better teams available.

The common trend among those who were excluded was bad non-conference strength of schedules. The committee has always emphasized the non-conference strength of schedule, but they really sent a message with it this year. Colorado, Bama and VT had non-conference strength of schedules of 331, 294, and 153. At the end of the day this is what got them left out. Alabama in fact had better wins than Georgia and beat Georgia twice, but because Georgia scheduled better they were a 10 seed while Bama was at home. Honestly I have no problem when the committee sends this message. They have been doing it for years. When you play a non-conference schedule that is as bad as these teams you better have an overwhelming overall resume or you will be left at home.

As far as overall seeding I did not have any big issues with any of the seeds. I thought Georgetown was too high, but they were rewarded for a great SOS and stellar RPI numbers, which is fine. I had Notre Dame as a 1 seed over Duke, but the Duke choice is fine (and in fact I think they are my favorite to win the whole thing). I had Uconn as the last two seed and SD State as the top 3, and it appears the committee went the other way around. Even the teams I was off on I am fine with the committee's placement. I had Missouri as a 9 seed, but the way they finished and their performance away from home this year an 11 is reasonable. I thought Penn State was too high as a 10 especially when you compare them to a team like Marquette, but the committee gets 1 seed line to play with so you never know if they had to move them or not. To me no teams that were excluded had an ironclad case to get in and only 1 team included had a poor case to get in (UAB).

Today is the start of my favorite 4 game stretch of the season. Here are the first round games I am most looking forward to.

Thursday 12pm on CBS, WVU v Clemson- I always look forward to watching Huggins teams play and this is a very dangerous 5/12 game. Clemson has a big disadvantage of having played in Dayton in the late game Tuesday and then having to fly to St Pete for the noon game Thursday, but Clemson is playing really good basketball and I think Brad Brownell is one hell of a coach. As much as Huggins has got out of this WVU team, they have to execute at a very high level to win games, because they just do not have individuals who can take over. I like WVU in this one but it could be close.

Thursday 1:30 pm on TBS, Louisville v Morehead State- Morehead State has one of the best players in the tournament in Kenneth Faried. I'm really excited to see him play against a team as good as Louisville and think he could give them trouble. I have Louisville going all the way to the elite eight, but I would not be shocked if Morehead State gave them all they could handle. Last year's OVC champion Murray State won a game in the tournament last season.

Thursday 7PM on CBS, BYU vs. Wofford- Wofford is an experienced team that played really well last year in the tournament. BYU has been great all year and has an absolutely stellar record against tournament teams, but they have been missing something since the Davies suspension. Of course I am stoked to watch Jimmer, but I think this game has the potential to be the biggest upset of the first round.

Thursday 7:15 on TruTv, Wisconsin vs. Belmont- I'm very excited to watch Belmont play. They are a deep squad that just destroyed the Atlantic Sun this year. Ken Pom's efficiency rankings really thought highly of this squad. When Wisconsin players their best they are a top 15 caliber team, but they can look very ugly at times. This is another game that has the potential to be an upset (and has been a very trendy upset pick).

Thursday 9:45 pm on TNT, Cincinnati v Missouri- Not much introduction needed here. Been waiting 6 years for this game.

Friday 12 pm on CBS, Texas v Oakland- Texas has at times looked like the best team in the country but really struggled down the stretch. If those struggles continue this Oakland team is capable of beating them.

Friday 7:15 pm on TruTv, Xavier v Marquette- I am very much interested in seeing how much in Xavier's “improvement” is actual improvement and how much is from playing in the Atlantic Ten. I think the 11^th place team in the Big East has to be thrilled with the draw they got and could very well beat Xavier in this game.

Friday 9:45 pm on TNT, Georgetown v VCU- Many did not like the VCU selection, but they are a very dangerous team and I think were worthy given their wins over the course of the year. Georgetown really struggled down the stretch. The big question here is does Chris Wright come back and how effective is he? With a healthy, effective Chris Wright Georgetown is a very dangerous 6 seed. Without him they could be one and done.

Potential First Round Upsets (11 seed or higher winning)

12 Clemson over 5 WVU

11 Marquette over 6 Xavier

13 Oakland over 4 Texas

14 Wofford over 3 BYU

11 Gonzaga over 6 St Johns

13 Belmont over 4 Wisconsin

12 Utah State over 5 Kansas State

11 VCU over 6 Georgetown

12 Richmond over 5 Vanderbilt

Potential Sweet 16 sleepers (7 seeds and below)

11 Marquette

7 Washington

9 Tennessee

13 Oakland

10 Michigan State

11 Gonzaga

13 Belmont

My Elite Eight

Pitt

Florida

Notre Dame

Louisville

Cincinnati

Duke

Syracuse

Kentucky

My Final Four

Kentucky

Duke

Notre Dame

Pitt

Championship

Duke over Pitt

Selection Sunday Final Bracket

I won't be able to do a bracket after the games are played today so there could be some changes but here is my final bracket.

One Seeds- Ohio State, Kansas, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh

Two Seeds- North Carolina, Duke, Florida, Uconn

Three Seeds- San Diego State, Texas, Louisville, Kentucky

Four Seeds- Syracuse, BYU, Purdue, Wisconsin

Five Seeds- St Johns, West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Arizona

Six Seeds- Kansas State, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Xavier

Seven Seeds- Temple, Washington, UCLA, UNLV

Eight Seeds- Georgetown, Tennessee, Gonzaga, Marquette

Nine Seeds- Michigan, Old Dominion, Missouri, Butler

Ten Seeds- Villanova, llinois, George Mason, Colorado

Eleven Seeds- Clemson, Michigan State, Richmond, Virginia Tech

Twelve Seeds- Florida State/Alabama, Memphis, Utah State, Penn State/USC

Thirteen Seeds- Princeton, Oakland, Belmont, Morehead State

Fourteen Seeds- Indiana State, Bucknell, Long Island U, Wofford

Fifteen Seeds- St Peters, Northern Colorado, Akron, UCSB

Sixteen Seeds- Boston U, UNC Ashville, Arkansas State/Hampton, UTSA/Ark Little Rock

Last 6 In

Richmond

Virginia Tech

Florida State

Penn State

USC

Alabama

First 6 Out

St Mary's

Georgia

Harvard

Boston College

UAB

VCU

Here is my selection Sunday bracket projection. The last team I have in the field is Alabama. This bracket will work if Richmond wins the A10 and Ohio State wins the Big Ten. If Dayton wins today I think they would go in as a 13 seed and would knock Alabama out of the tournament. If Penn State wins they will move up to probably a 10 or 11 seed. Automatic bids also do not play in the play in game. If that were the case then Virginia Tech would be in the play in game. If both Penn State and Dayton win those I have in the play in games would be Richmond, Virginia tech, Florida State and USC.

I think the team I am leaving out that is most likely to get chosen by the committee is St Mary's. To me their body of work was not enough. They hang much of their resume on a win over St Johns which occurred in November and one win over Gonzaga. To me the two teams they are competing with (Alabama and USC) have a much better collection of wins. USC is 5-5 against the RPI top 50 and has wins over UCLA, Arizona, Washington, and Texas. That is strong. Alabama ran away with the SEC west and has wins over Kentucky, bubble team Georgia twice (which I why they have to be above Georgia in the pecking order), and Tennessee. I really believe those 3 teams are competing for the last two spots. I went with USC and Alabama, but I would not be surprised in the committee went with St Mary's. And if Dayton wins the A10 I think those teams are competing for the last spot.

Two 1 seeds are set in stone (Ohio State and Kansas). I believe there are 3 legit contenders for the remaining 2 one seeds. To me Pitt and Notre Dame have the clear advantage over Duke in overall resume. A win today by Duke would tighten the gap, but I think the committee will settle on their 1 seeds before tip off of that game. In the end I think the one seeds will be Ohio State, Kansas, Notre Dame, and Pitt.

I have the Bearcats as a 6 seed which I have had them at all week. I think their resume compares favorably to the 5 seeds, however, and would not be surprised if they ended up there. I would be surprised if UC was any lower than a 7 seed.

And now the futile effort of projecting matchups and pods.

East

From Cleveland Ohio:

1. Ohio State
16. UTSA/Ark Little Rock

8. Georgetown
9. Old Dominion

From Denver Colorado:

4. BYU
13. Princeton

5. West Virginia
12. Memphis

From Washington DC:

6. Texas A&M
11. Michigan State

3. Kentucky
14. Bucknell

From Washington DC:

7. Temple
10. George Mason

2. UConn
15. St Peters

Southwest

From Tulsa Oklahoma:

1. Kansas
16. Arkansas State/Hampton

8. Marquette
9. Michigan

From Tuscon Arizona:

4. Wisconsin
13. Oakland

5. St Johns
12. Penn State/Alabama

From Tuscon Arizona:

6. Xavier
11. Clemson

3. San Diego State
14. Wofford

From Tampa Florida:

7. Washington
10. Colorado

2. Florida
15. Northern Colorado

Southeast

From Chicago Illinois:

1. Notre Dame
16. UNC Ashville

8. Tennessee
9. Missouri

From Denver Colorado:

4. Purdue
13. Belmont

5. Vanderbilt
12. Florida State/USC

From Chicago Illinois:

6. Kansas State
11. Virginia tech

3. Louisville
14. Indiana State

From Charlotte North Carolina:

7. UNLV
10. Villanova

2. UNC
15. Akron

West

From Cleveland Ohio:

1. Pitt
16. Boston U

8. Gonzaga
9. Butler

From Tampa Florida:

4. Syracuse
13. Morehead State

5. Arizona
12. Utah State

From Tulsa Oklahoma:

6. Cincinnati
11. Richmond

3. Texas
14. Long Island U

From Charlotte North Carolina:

7. UCLA
10. Illinois

2. Duke
15. UCSB

My Projected Tournament Field = March 12 12:17AM

One Seeds- Ohio State, Kansas, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh

Two Seeds- North Carolina, Duke, Texas, BYU

Three Seeds- Florida, Louisville, Kentucky, Syracuse

Four Seeds- San Diego State, UCONN, Purdue, Wisconsin

Five Seeds- St Johns, West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Arizona

Six Seeds- Kansas State, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Xavier

Seven Seeds- Temple, UCLA, UNLV, Georgetown

Eight Seeds- Tennessee, Gonzaga, Marquette, Michigan

Nine Seeds- Old Dominion, Missouri, Washington, Butler

Ten Seeds- Villanova, llinois,, George Mason, Colorado

Eleven Seeds- Clemson, Michigan State, Virginia Tech , Florida State

Twelve Seeds- USC/St Marys, Utah State, Richmond/Alabama, Memphis

Thirteen Seeds- Harvard, Oakland, Belmont, Morehead State

Fourteen Seeds- Indiana State, Kent State, Bucknell, Long Island U

Fifteen Seeds- Long Beach State, Wofford, St Peters, Northern Colorado

Sixteen Seeds- Boston U, UNC Ashville, Texas Southern/ Bethune Cookman, Mcneese State/Ark Little Rock

Last 4 In

USC

Richmond

Alabama

St Mary's

First 6 Out

Penn State

Georgia

Harvard

Boston College

UAB

Memphis

First Attempt at Projected Tournament Field

Here is my first draft at the NCAA field. I am not going to do matchups until my final draft is released on Selection Sunday. My seeds are left to right in order of how I have them ranked right now as well. (Automatic Bids in bold, predicted Automatic qualifiers in italics)

One Seeds- Ohio State, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame

Two Seeds- North Carolina, Duke, Texas, BYU

Three Seeds- Florida, Syracuse, Louisville, Kentucky

Four Seeds- San Diego State, West Virginia, Purdue, Wisconsin

Five Seeds- Kansas State, St Johns, UCONN, Vanderbilt

Six Seeds- Cincinnati, UCLA, Arizona, Xavier

Seven Seeds- Temple, Georgetown, UNLV, Texas A&M

Eight Seeds- Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Gonzaga

Nine Seeds- Marquette, Old Dominion, Michigan, Washington

Ten Seeds- Villanova, Butler, Florida State, George Mason

Eleven Seeds- USC, Boston College, Colorado, Virginia Tech

Twelve Seeds- Richmond, Clemson/Michigan State, Utah State, Georgia/St Mary's

Thirteen Seeds- UAB, Harvard, Oakland, Belmont

Fourteen Seeds- Morehead State, Indiana State, Kent State, Bucknell

Fifteen Seeds- Long Island U, Wofford, St Peters, Northern Colorado

Sixteen Seeds- Boston U, UNC Ashville, Texas Southern/Arkansas Little Rock, Mcneese State/Bethune Cookman

Ohio State and Kansas both make good cases for the overall number one seed. I think at this point it is Ohio State's to lose. I think if Pitt were to win the Big East tournament and neither OSU or Kansas won their tournaments Pitt could still get the overall number 1. To me those are the only three contenders for that spot.

I have Duke slightly ahead of North Carolina, but because I had them 5 and 6 overall and North Carolina won the ACC outright I went ahead and made North Carolina the highest 2 seed. BYU could fall a couple seed lines if their play seems to really have diminished in the Mountain West tournament. As of right now their resume is too impressive to do that. BYU is 9-1 against the RPI top 50, and 5-0 against the RPI top 25. I still think if they look really impressive in the Mountain West tournament they have an outside shot at a number 1 seed.

Kentucky is the first team whom I seeded higher than I initially expected to. They struggled in true road games inside the conference, but their overall profile is really good. They are 12 in the RPI and have non-conference wins over Washington, Louisville (projected 3 seed by me) and Notre Dame (projected 1 seed by me). They were also in the very difficult SEC East and racked up some good wins there.

I have Purdue and Wisconsin both as 4 seeds, whomever makes the finals of the Big 10 (if either do) will have a good shot at a 3 and an outside shot at a two. Purdue for example has a nice split with Wisconsin and Ohio State, but outside of that their wins just do not hold up with the teams I have above them (including a WVU team that they lost to). Wisconsin essentially has the same resume though they are a few spots lower in the RPI and have 1 more loss.

On to the Bearcats. I have them as the to 6 seed at the moment. A loss to South Florida tonight could put them in the 7/8 range given how little respect they seem to have been given at times nationally. Short of that I think a 6 seed is very safe and they could very easily play their way up. Their overall resume compares very well to all of the 4 and 5 seeds (I debated putting them above Vanderbilt for the last 5 seed). If they were to make a run to the finals their resume would compare very well to all the 2 and 3 seeds. The Big East tournament will be a great opportunity for the Cats and really the only risk would be dropping a seed line with a loss to South Florida (and I really do not expect a team playing this well to do that).

I have UCONN above the Bearcats despite finishing behind them in the Big East on the strength of their great non-conference profile and their win in Cincinnati. UCONN's overall body of work is really quite impressive even if I do not necessarily think they are as good of a team as some of the squads they are seeded with.

I will definitely have an updated bracket with full projections (even the futile attempt to predict match-ups and regions) at the very least on the morning of Selection Sunday. And as conference tournaments move along I may have some other thoughts to add.

First Look at the 2011 Bubble

Every year at this time I break down the resume's of every team in the country and try to evaluate where I believe the committee will put them. First though lets look at two teams who have earned their way off the bubble by getting automatic bids tonight.

Old Dominion- The runner up in the CAA cemented their bid by winning the CAA championship tonight. They were probably in already finishing second in a very solid Colonial Conference, and getting road wins at Xavier and Clemson, and a home win over George Mason. It is probably not the greatest resume in the world, but it likely would be enough to get them in. Doesn't matter now. They will be dancing.

Gonzaga- Gonzaga capped of a great run to finish the year with another West Coast Conference tournament championship. They had a really good win over Xavier as well as wins over bubble teams St Mary's and Marquette this year. They also had a very low RPI and losses to RPI 159 Santa Clara and 122 San Francisco, to go with losses to bubble teams Illinois and Memphis. They would have probably been among the last teams in or first teams out...now they have the automatic birth.

As of today my last team in is St Mary's. The thing that stands out to me the most is how much we do not need 68 tournament teams... wow some of those resumes are weak. Many of the teams battling for the last few spots have great opportunities this week to put some key wins on their resume (and hell chances to add a bad loss as well). To be honest outside of the first 3 teams I listed (Tennessee, Illinois and Marquette) I do not think anyone would have a huge gripe if they missed the tournament as of today. I do think Michigan and Washington have built fairly decent profiles for teams at the bottom. I also think Southern Cal had an unexpectedly good body of work. They were much higher than I had them going in.

As I mention every year the most important thing is demonstrating an ability to beat NCAA tournament teams. I use the RPI for evaluation not because it is the best system, but because that is what the committee uses. I take bad losses into consideration a bit, but it is not nearly as important as great wins. Scheduling as always matters and teams that schedule ambitiously are much more prone to get the benefit of the doubt. As resume's get shakier, however, I tend to favor mid majors who did well in their conference over middle of the pack teams from power conferences (again resume's being relatively equal). I do this because the teams from major conferences get more chances on the whole to demonstrate their ability against top competition. This is why for example I have St Mary's and VCU slightly above Alabama. Their resume's are all fairly marginal, but Alabama has had more chances to demonstrate what they can do (and will get more in their conference tournament).

Anyways here is my ranking of the bubble at this time. I have 26 teams competing for what will likely be 16-18 spots (depending on if there are upsets in a couple conference tournaments). St Mary's as my last team in today assume there are 18 spots.

Tennessee- They are going to the NCAA tournament. Thirteen losses and only going 8-8 in the SEC makes one skeptical, but their wins are just much stronger than any one else on the bubble they would be competing with. Tennessee boasts top 50 RPI wins over Missouri State, Villanova, Pitt (potential 1 seed), Memphis, Georgia and Vanderbilt (twice). Overall they are 7-6 against the RPI top 50. Despite some puzzling losses to Charlotte, College of Charleston and Arkansas their body of work should be good enough.

Illinois- The Illini got to 9-9 in the Big Ten and that should be enough to get them into the tournament. Wins over North Carolina and Gonzaga give them two nice non-conference scalps to go along with their wins over Wisconsin, Michigan State and Michigan in the conference. Among the Big Ten bubble teams (and there are many) Illinois certainly has the most complete resume.

Marquette- Marquette played an ambitious schedule and did not close out any of those games in the non-conference portion losing to Duke, Wisconsin and Vanderbilt as well as to bubble team Gonzaga. Still Marquette has more quality wins than any other team on the bubble having beaten Notre Dame, Syracuse, West Virginia, and Uconn (the Uconn game taking place on the road). Marquette is probably in good shape despite their low RPI but a loss to Providence in the first round of the Big East tournament might not sit well with the committee. Get that win and I think Marquette will likely be in. If they get two wins they'll be a lock.

Michigan- Throwing out Illinois who I think should be in, of the Big Ten bubble teams I have Michigan first in the pecking order on the strength of their season sweeps of Michigan State and Penn State. They have a nice win over Harvard and a non-conference win over bubble team Clemson. A win over Illinois to start the Big Ten tournament would go a long way towards locking up a spot, because despite having 3 top 50 RPI wins and 3 other wins against bubble teams it is possible none of those wins will have come against teams that make the NCAA tournament.

Washington- This is a team who nearly everyone agrees is probably better than their tournament profile indicates. Washington has a sweep of UCLA and a win over Arizona to give them a 3-1 record against the top teams in the PAC Ten. If they can manage to get to the PAC Ten tournament finals I am betting it is very likely they will end up in the NCAA tournament. They are 3-4 against the RPI top 50, though one of their losses is to fellow bubble team Michigan State. They also have two puzzling losses...one to Stanford (RPI 139) and one to Oregon State (RPI 228).

Florida State- The consensus seems to be that Florida State is in and I am not quite sure why (other than someone has to fill those bottom spots). Florida State is 2-5 against the RPI top 50 (their wins are against Duke and Boston College). I guess the 11-5 ACC record is impressive until we consider that 5 of those wins came against the three worst teams in the conference (RPI 238 Wake Forest twice, RPI 160 Georgia Tech, and RPI 188 NC State twice). They split with bubble team Clemson, beat bubble team Boston College and lost to bubble team Virginia Tech. They also have just a dreadful loss to RPI 255 Auburn. They may be a tournament team, but wow are they an underwhelming one.

George Mason- They dominated the CAA this season including a win over RPI 24 Old Dominion and scored a top 35 RPI win by beating Harvard. That is really all there is to their resume. In all honesty George Mason has to hope that the committee puts some weight to winning the CAA regular season title by 2 games. That separation from Old Dominion will be nice as both seem to be on the bubble and if Old Dominion gets in it would be hard not to take George Mason as well.

USC- Given the weak state of the bubble I think a nice case can be made for USC. They have top 25 RPI wins over Texas and Arizona as well as two other top 50 wins against UCLA and Tennessee. That's a solid group of wins. They have a few bad losses to Oregon State (RPI 232), Rider (RPI 104) and Bradley (RPI 237) that are holding them down somewhat. A run to the finals of the PAC Ten tournament would put USC in great shape as that would include another win over Arizona.

Boston College- Wow is the ACC bubble weak. Boston College's NCAA hopes at this point seem to cling to their season sweep of fellow bubble team Virginia Tech and a top 50 win over Texas A&M early in the season. Boston College is in the RPI top 50, but I am not quite sure how as that win over Texas A&M is their only top 50 win. I'm interested to see how the committee handles the very weak profiles from the ACC teams.

Colorado- It is certainly possible Colorado has too many bad losses on their resume to warrant a bid, but they do have wins that exceed many of the other bubble teams. Colorado swept Kansas State and beat Texas. They managed a split with Missouri. They have a loss to another fellow bubble team in Georgia. Will one more win over Kansas State earn them a bid? It is possible.

Virginia Tech- After beating Duke the Hokies looked to be in pretty good shape... then they promptly did the Hokie thing and lost back to back games to bubble teams Boston College and Clemson. Now the Hokies have that great win over Duke, a nice win over bubble team Florida State, and an alright win over borderline bubble team Penn State. They also were swept by fellow ACC bubble team Boston College and lost in their only meeting with Clemson. Troubling losses to RPI 135 Virginia (twice) and RPI 162 Georgia Tech make the Hokie's resume look even more baffling. Yeah the win at home over Duke is nice, but other than that there is not much there that says this is an NCAA tournament team.

Richmond- I look at Richmond's resume and it reminds me a lot of Florida State and Virginia Tech. They have one really strong victory that makes them look like a tournament team, in their case Purdue, and then not much else. Richmond is only 2-3 against the RPI top 50 (their other win was against VCU) having lost their regular season chances against Xavier and Temple. If Richmond wants to lock up an at large bid they'll need to beat Temple in the A10 semis (beating Xavier and they'd win the Automatic).

Clemson- The marquee win for Clemson this year was an 18 point home win over Florida State (they lost to Florida State on the road). Clemson also victories over fellow ACC bubble teams Virginia Tech and Boston College. Clemson has 3 bad losses to South Carolina, NC State and Virginia. They also lost to fellow bubble team Michigan. They will need to beat Boston College in the ACC tournament to be in decent shape for a bid and would likely lock up a bid if they could upset conference champion North Carolina to reach the semis. I do think there is a really good chance that Clemson v Boston College could be an NCAA play in game.

Butler- The defending National Championship runners up have seemingly righted the ship in the Horizon league. Butler finished the season winning their last 8 games and making an at large bid a sudden possibility (though a long shot) if they somehow get upset in their conference tournament. Butler is 3-3 vs. the RPI top 50 with a season sweep of Cleveland State and a win over Florida State to their credit (RPI top 50 losses are Xavier, Louisville, and Duke). Their loss to Youngstown State and getting swept by Milwaukee really is holding them back.

Michigan State- The Spartans have 13 losses and have struggled much of the year, but they are right on the edge of the NCAA bubble. They have 4 RPI top 50 wins (Washington, Penn State, Illinois and Wisconsin) to go with 12 RPI top 50 losses. Among those losses are a sweep to fellow bubble team Michigan who they have to be behind in the pecking order at this point. The committee has often rewarded ambitious scheduling and 16 games against the RPI top 50 is a crazy amount, but Michigan State's resume hardly looks like that of a tournament team.

Georgia- The Bulldogs are 3-9 against the RPI top 50 earning wins over Tennessee, UAB and Kentucky. That does not scream NCAA tournament team. To their credit they really have not suffered a bad loss as 9 of their 10 losses are to RPI top 50 teams and their only other loss was to SEC west champion Alabama. If Georgia could pick up one or two more scalps in the SEC tournament their resume would begin to look pretty decent a quick loss and they could be on the outside looking in.

Utah State- Every year their domination of the Big west puts Utah State on the brink of the NCAA tournament, but their refusal to schedule ambitiously always makes them a potentially controversial at large. Utah State has had an RPI in the 20s for a while now, their best win this year, however is against RPI 48 St Mary's, their next best win is RPI 95 Long Beach State... that is it for top 100 RPI wins. They have a close loss to BYU, they got solidly beat by Georgetown and they have a bad loss to RPI 129 Nevada. Basically they've done almost nothing to suggest they are at large worthy over the course of the season and very little to suggest they are not. With 68 teams getting in maybe that will be enough...hopefully they'll just win their conference tournament and save us the headache.

St Mary's- They earned a share of the very good West Coast Conference regular season title and made the finals of the WCC tournament. On top of that they have a great win over St Johns and a solid win over NCAA tournament bubble Gonzaga. They also gave BYU all they could handle in Provo (for what that is worth). Their loss to Utah State on bracket buster Saturday is looming very large after their loss to Gonzaga in the WCC finals.

Virginia Commonwealth- Their bid for an automatic birth fell short and ten losses is probably too many for a CAA team, but VCU does have some nice meat to their resume. VCU has 3 top 50 RPI wins over UCLA, George Mason and Old Dominion, all of which could very well be in the tournament. Losses to Georgia State and Northeastern (220 and 174 in the RPI respectively) are probably going to go a long way towards keeping them out.

Alabama- Alabama might end up being the most debated team on this years bubble. One one hand they were the SEC West Champs by 3 whole games. On the other hand the SEC West is a train wreck. One one hand they have conference wins over Kentucky, Tennessee (road) and fellow bubble team Georgia, on the other hand they really have not beaten ANYONE else. They have losses to Iowa (RPI 169), St Peters, Seton Hall, Providence (RPI 146), and Arkansas (RPI 120). They have an RPI lower than any team that has ever been chosen for the NCAA tournament. I think they'll definitely need to beat Georgia (assuming Georgia beats Auburn) and I think there is a chance they'll have to beat Kentucky in the SEC semis as well if Bama wants a bid.

Penn State- I'm feeling generous so I'll talk Penn State. They do have wins over Wisconsin, Michigan State and Illinois so that is the good. The bad is the losses. They have 13 of them. A few of them to the likes of Maine, Ole Miss and Maryland. They also lost return games to Michigan State and Illinois as well as games to bubble teams Michigan and Virginia Tech. Short of a run to the Big Ten championship I think Penn State is going to miss.

UAB- UAB sits at 29 in the RPI, but unless the committee values wins over Marshall and Southern Miss despite being the outright CUSA champions UAB will likely have to win the tournament title to earn a bid.

Cal- If we have USC maybe we should put Cal. Frankly I think Cal is a long shot, but possibly a run to the finals will do it for them. Cal has a nice non-conference win over Temple. Their two biggest wins in the PAC Ten are UCLA and @USC. They absolutely must beat Cal and then Arizona in the Pac Ten tournament and even then I think that might not be enough.

Harvard- If people are going to talk about UAB at all then we might as well go over Harvard's resume. They have a top 50 win over Boston College and two solid wins over Princeton and Colorado respectively. They are 1-3 against RPI top 50 and 2-1 against RPI 50-100. They will likely play Princeton in a one game playoff for a chance to go to the NCAA tournament, I doubt they will earn an at large with a loss.

Memphis- Will the committee care about a sweep of CUSA champ and RPI 29, UAB? Are wins over RPI 73 Miami(Fl), RPI 62 Gonzaga, RPI 53 Southern Miss and RPI 50 Marshall going to carry any weight. It looks to me like Memphis is sitting in pretty poor shape, especially with the couple of bad losses they had done the stretch against Rice (RPI 183) and East Carolina (RPI 110). I wish I did not even have to bring them up, but with 68 teams who knows.

Missouri State- The Missouri Valley conference has been a really good league in the past, but this year it is not strong enough to carry Missouri State to the tournament on the strength of their conference title alone. Missouri State did not do anything outside of the league to warrant a bid.

I'll have some bracket projections ready later this week as well as a breakdown of UC's resume and a few other resume's of teams at the top I found interesting. Until then keep on enjoying championship week.

March Madness Back in Cincinnati

Senior Day is always special. Fans get invested in the success of players that have represented their school sometimes for as long as 5 years. There is simply a different feel when you enter the arena on senior day. On Saturday, Bearcat fans were treated to a fantastic farewell to six seniors who have given much to the University of Cincinnati basketball program. The Bearcats capped off a 5-1 finish by absolutely blasting a very good Georgetown team.

This was the best senior night I have attended since Steve Logan went coast to coast to tie Memphis and then clinch a conference title in OT in 2002. This was the most electric the Shoe has felt since that day. Fans were loud, they were on their feet and they were invested. It took time to get there. It took having a team that has played incredible basketball down the stretch and had one hell of a season, but it is hard not to feel the program is well on its way back after a day like Saturday.

The game itself was a fabulous display of everything that has made this Bearcat team so good down the stretch. This Bearcat team can beat anyone in the country when they get top flight play from Wright and Gates. When they have won that has almost universally been the case. Wright played another very solid game at point guard. The Bearcats looked crisp in their offense getting very good looks throughout the night and getting stuff going towards the basket. I felt that early in conference play the Bearcats settled to often for shots that other teams wanted them to take. They launched quick semi-contested 3 pointers and did not get anything going towards the basket. They simply did not make defenses work.

Credit Cronin and the coaching staff, because this began to change drastically starting with the Pittsburgh game. From that point on I really feel this team's offensive discipline has gone up considerably. I know the Bearcats lost at Pitt and I know it was not exactly close most the game, but I remember watching the game and being very pleased with the way the Bearcats were working the ball and making an effort to score going towards the basket. Since that day it seems they are getting better and better in their execution. They do not settle for quick semi-contested jumpers. They work the ball and get the defense moving. This has led to better looks, it has led to opportunities for offensive rebounds and it has often lead to fouls on the other team.

To me the other major factor in this run of exceptional play has been the absolute force Yancy Gates has become, particularly on the defensive end. Gates absolutely changes the game inside and he has done it largely without fouling. He alters shot after shot and often comes up with very big, timely blocks. He has owned every big man he has been asked to guard in this great stretch run. On offense he has been solid. He has given UC an inside scoring threat, he has worked hard on the offensive glass to get put backs and to me even more to his credit he seems to always make the right decision when it comes to passing out of the low post. Gates gets doubled team often, but he has a feel for when to get rid of the ball and find the open man. This ability to throw it down low and either score or draw defenders and pass out has opened the offense up even more. I have been thrilled watching Gates' play down the stretch.

With Wright and Gates playing so well and giving the Bearcats the dominant players they need at two key positions the biggest strength the Bearcats possess has really been allowed to shine...their depth. What makes UC so difficult to play is they can play multiple styles and can come after you with so many different players. During this run there have been games where Thomas hardly plays at all and games where Thomas has been absolutely essential. We have seen moments of greatness from Dion Dixon and Sean Kilpatrick. Because they go so deep we get to see the Bearcats really extend the pressure on teams. One of my favorite things to watch is Wilks at the front of the press. It almost seems like he is freelancing at times just waiting for the perfect time to run over and give the double team. We have seen the Bearcats throw in some zone and seen them in their in your face man to man. We have seen them play big against Marquette or go smaller in the first Georgetown game. At this point in the year the Bearcat roster is so versatile and their ability to sub in and out allows them to play incredibly hard at all times and just wear people down. That has been an absolutely huge advantage.

In this sense the Bearcats could be a perfect team for Big East tournament play. They have the horses to really get after it and make teams work. Wednesday night whether it is Villanova or South Florida the Bearcats I strongly believe UC's depth could really wear them down particularly because they'll be playing for a second consecutive night. Villanova worried me a bit only because they have the type of in your face ball pressure that at times has given Wright problems and the Bearcats need Wright to play well to be at their best. That said I think the Bearcats are one of the teams that could go to NYC and win the Big East tournament. Hell, if they win a couple of games in NYC their seed line will really begin to move.

My firm belief is that the Bearcats are going to be a 6 seed at worst in the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats have a set of wins that puts them more in line with the 1,2, and 3 seeds than most of the 6 or 7 seeds. Also, 7 losses is not many especially when you consider that all of them are losses to top 35 RPI teams. The Bearcats are going to be penalized for their non-conference SOS and that is the only reason we are not talking about them as a 4 or 5 seed right now, BUT a couple more wins over these NCAA tournament teams and now the numbers will start to get gaudy. If the Bearcats can get two wins in the conference tournament I firmly believe they will be a 3 or a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. At that point they would have 7 RPI top 50 wins (6 would be top 25) and then a road win at NCAA bubble Marquette. You are not going to find 5 teams in the country that can say that. If the Bearcats make the finals I am willing to bet they'd be a 3 seed and if they could somehow win the entire thing in New York I do not think a 2 seed is out of the question. If the Bearcats make the finals of the Big East tournament there is a good chance they'd finish the year with more top 25 RPI wins than any team in the country. That combined with only 7 (or 8 if they lost in finals) losses would be incredibly hard for the committee to ignore.

So that is part of the fun we can have this week. I think they have earned a 6 seed or better already...the or better part is looking very exciting, because I think 2 seed is still in play (would take an obviously incredible run). I'll go over this in more detail later this week as I do my annual ranking of the tournament bubble and start putting out some bracket projections. Until then... Go Bearcats!

Bearcats Closing In On NCAA Tournament Bid

We have reached the time of year where it is time to talk NCAA tournament hopes. The Bearcats have put themselves in position to earn an NCAA bid. To do this they must take care of business down the stretch. A 2-2 finish would look awfully good for Cincinnati, especially in a Big East conference that has been particularly good this year compared to the rest of college basketball. I am not as confident that 1-3 will get it done, because of the committee's history of penalizing teams that have poor non-conference strength of schedules. Lets start off by looking at what UC has going for them..

3-6 vs. RPI top 25

Zero losses to anyone outside of RPI top 25

3-0 vs. RPI 50-100

Dominating home win over a Xavier team that is likely to get a good NCAA seed.

Road win over a St Johns team that looks better by the day

Home win over what will be a highly seeded Louisville team.

Looking at that resume Cincinnati has shown that 1. They can beat NCAA tournament caliber teams (very good tournament teams at that) and 2. They can take care of business in games they should win. 3. At 5-4 their road/neutral record is at the very least solid

Here is what will weigh on the Bearcats:

9 of their wins are against teams 214 and below in the RPI.

Non-conference SOS in the near 300

That non-conference SOS has been an anchor all season long. With a 1-3 finish I firmly believe it will take two Big East tournament wins to feel safe (I say two because the first game will be a game that losing would look very bad and the second would be one where the Bearcats could actually get a valuable win over a really good team). The shame of the whole thing is had UC scheduled more ambitiously there is a good chance they would be playing for a chance at a very good seed right now. Many bring up financial issues which is fair enough, but I think there is a cost/benefit thought process that does not get addressed. Had UC played mediocre teams instead of dreadfully bad teams they'd likely have about the same record, but would be well higher in the RPI. Is saving the expense on the front end (IE scheduling cheaper teams) worth the benefits you lose on the back end (better tournament position whether its from off the bubble to in or getting a better seed... the results of both are increased interest and exposure for the team that leads to more revenue). My own opinion is it is short sighted to make your schedule based on front end costs without factoring in the back end benefits.

In all honestly I think UC is one of the best 35 teams in the country. I think they are likely one of the best 25 teams in the country. I think their resume is undervalued nationally because of the number of dreadful teams they played to the point that the Bearcats do not get enough credit for the way they dominated Xavier, their big win at St Johns or taking care of Louisville at home. They do not get enough credit for not losing to any team outside of the RPI top 25. That said the Bearcats like every other team in the country know how the system works. They know what the committee values and they know that building up wins on the backs of bad teams is something that in the long run could be detrimental. If the Bearcats miss the tournament at this point it will be no ones fault but their own.

Many fans look at Xavier and wonder how anyone could put them ahead of Cincinnati. I myself believe that Cincinnati is a better team than Xavier and I think the evidence that is out their suggests it as well. The fact is though that Xavier has a better NCAA tournament resume when you look at the way the committee has traditionally evaluated tournament teams. Xavier has only played 4 games against teams seeded under 200 in the RPI while UC played 9. That factor alone is where the major difference in their resumes comes from. Both teams have the same record. Both have the same number of top 50 RPI wins. They even have about the same number of RPI top 100 wins (Xavier has 7, Cincinnati has 6). Now the Bearcats have beaten better teams (3 RPI top 25 vs. 0) and their losses came against better teams (All six to RPI top 25), and ultimately the difference between playing bad teams and really bad teams maybe should not matter as much as it does, but that is a reality that has always been known when the committee looks at NCAA candidates. It is up to the university to schedule accordingly and give themselves a chance to get the best possible evaluation from the committee. Xavier did a great job of that, Cincinnati did not.

In the end it might not matter that much. As it stands UC has some work to do, but they are coming off a week in which they played some of their best basketball of the season. Throwing out the eight minute stretch to end regulation against Providence the Bearcats looked like a really good basketball team. Offensively they worked the ball better than I have seen them most of the season and did not settle for the same forced threes they have when the offense has struggled (though Thomas still decided he needed to take his one three per game). They got contributions from guys across the board from Gates, to Kilpatrick, to Wright, and to Dixon. Their defense has been a great strength all year, but against Louisville it was absolutely suffocating. It was quite honestly one of the best defensive performances by any team this year. If the Bearcats continue this level of play I am confident they'll get at least 2 more wins and could conceivably make a run in the conference tournament. They could still not only make the tournament but end up with a decent seed.

It will always bug me that UC did not give themselves the opportunity to really put together the best possible body of work, because I definitely think this team is worthy of more than being the bubble team where people keep harping on their pathetic non-conference schedule. I think their non-conference scheduling is likely to cost UC two seed lines come selection Sunday. That hurts, it irks me, but the positive news is they still have every chance to play themselves into the tournament and I think it very likely that they will.

In my opinion last week was the Bearcats' best and most significant week of the year. It was definitely the most optimistic I have been after watching them. If they build on that and finish the way they are capable of we will all be watching meaningful basketball in March for the first time in the years. Now that is something all Bearcat fans can get behind.

PDoc Cannot Let Huggs v Zimph Go

The Cincinnati vs. West Virginia game is here again and once again Paul Daugherty has a message for all of you Bearcat fans who still love Bob Huggins and have stopped supporting the Bearcats because of the way he was dismissed from the program... build a bridge and get the fuck over it. Sadly Pdoc seems to not want to take his own advice.

You go to UC message boards and you do not see fans rehashing the Huggins dismissal. I talk to my Bearcat fan friends these days and none of the talk is on Nancy Zimpher (may she get what is coming to her some day) or the Huggins dismissal, but on topics related to the basketball team. They talk about how UC is playing, on whether UC can make the tournament, on the horrid non-conference strength of schedule, on the ridiculously strong Big East schedule, on avoiding a late season collapse, on the inconsistency of half court offense, the huge shot made by Yancy Gates against St Johns, the tremendous defensive effort night in and night out...the list goes on and on, but these are the topics among UC fans.

In the spirit of Pdoc's hypocrisy and in honor of the great writers who once graced firejoemorgan.com here are my thoughts on Daugherty's latest printed atrocity.

Doc: Why the Bob Huggins Nostalgia?

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110128/COL03/399990172/Doc-Why-the-Huggins-nostalgia

By Paul Daugherty • pdaugherty@enquirer.com • January 28, 2011

Mick Cronin, bless him, did the proper fawning again. His knees must ache from all that genuflecting. UC wouldn’t be in the Big East without Bob Huggins, according to the Bearcats basketball coach. Football and academics played a big role, too, but OK. We get it Pdoc... Huggins was not the ONLY reason UC was asked to join the Big East. Bob Goin being incredibly proactive in seeking membership and pushing forward varsity village was also instrumental, but Mick is not saying anything we do not already know when crediting Huggins. UC did not have a special program in any other sports and though I think UC academics have long been undervalued nationally they were not bringing new credibility to the Big East with their academics. Yea they had to show the conference these areas were strengths, but the selling point for the Bearcat program was its top 15 basketball program.

Meantime, fans who wouldn’t walk across the yard to attend the Rutgers game Wednesday night (attendance: 6,400 or so) will sell out Fifth Third Arena Saturday (13,176), to watch the University of Huggs, even as the game is no more vital to the Bearcats’ tournament interests. Yes, Huggins coming back is and will always be a big deal to Bearcat fans. He earned that much with both his success and loyalty to the Bearcat program. Still Rutgers and a West Virginia team that was in the final four and won the Big East tournament last season is not an apples to apples comparison. Here is a quick list of reasons this game would be a much bigger sell (not even factoring in Huggins).

1. WVU was a final four team last year while Rutgers was sitting at home

2. WVU is a tournament team nearly every year. When was the last time Rutgers made the NCAA tournament? Anyone?

3. Rutgers game was 9 PM on a weeknight, WVU game is 8 PM on a Saturday

4. WVU is a top 20 team according to the RPI and either the 3^rd or 4^th best team that will come to the Shoe this year.

I would argue that getting another top 25 RPI win is far more vital to UC's tournament interests than beating Rutgers...so not only is Doc's inept comparison between the WVU game and the Rutgers game asinine to begin with his point of their relevance to UC's tournament interests is wrong.

Two years ago, UC feted Huggins in a brief pregame ceremony. One object was to honor a guy who meant a lot to a lot of people around here, in the basketball program and elsewhere. He richly deserved the recognition.

The bigger motive was to try, please God, to close a book. It was the retirement party that would allow everyone to move on. It didn’t work. At least not among the faithful. (Or faithless, depending on your side of the fence.) I do not necessarily buy that this was the bigger motive though I am sure giving Bearcat fans a deserved sense of closure with a coach who they invested so much in was a huge factor (and rightfully so). As to it not working... by what standard Doc? I was thankful I was able to give Huggs the standing ovation before the game he so richly deserved and yet at tipoff every Bearcat fan was cheering heartily for the University of Cincinnati. After the win UC was in prime position to get a tournament bid and I would argue if the complete collapse had not occurred down the stretch you may have seen attendance start to build sooner rather than later.

Huggins has moved on. He put West Virginia in the Final Four last year. Do you think he sits in his Morgantown mansion pining for Clifton? He’s somebody else’s hero now. Fair enough and Bearcat fans have not been pining for Huggins, what they have been pining for is NCAA tournament basketball.

He reminisces when asked. He harbors some bitterness for how the breakup was handled. He doesn’t carry a torch for his old job. If he did, he couldn’t do his new one.

Nancy Zimpher has moved on. Do you believe Zimpher – who made UC a better school, by the way – is concerned with what you think about her now? It’s possible she wrings her hands each night as she tucks herself in, grieving over the tickets not sold because of festering local anger. But I kind of doubt it.

Please find a new Cruella. My favorite part of the Doc bullshit article we get every year is the way he tries to bate Bearcat fans and make them feel guilty for hating Zimpher. Doc always sided with Zimpher in the Huggs/Zim saga and part of the reason I think he brings this up every year just to throw it into UC fans faces.

The Huggs-vs.-Zim show has closed, ladies and gentlemen. Have a safe ride home. Tip your bartenders and waitresses. Doc you're several years late on this. The Huggs v Zim show closed in 2005 and yet for some reason you find the need to rehash it every God damn year. Follow your own advice. Tip your bartenders and waitresses? Doc you've been beating this dead horse for 6 years now...nearly everyone is over it but you.

Why all this ongoing, destructive nostalgia? The only destructive nostalgia is the drivel you and the other talking heads try to sell us every year at this time.

You still don’t go to UC basketball games because of what happened six years ago? Really? This seems like as good a time as any to talk about attendance. Yes many long time UC fans dropped their tickets to UC basketball after the Huggins dismissal. They were upset with how the program was being run, they were upset that not only did the administration ditch a beloved coach, but that it gave the UC basketball program a self imposed death penalty.

The irony is this is the exact attitude that Daugherty wants Bengals fans to use. He asks them to protest with their pocket books and to not buy a failing product. Hell, he wrote as much in his January 15 column about being addicted to the Bengals. http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20110115/COL03/301150016/ To add to the irony the Bengals have made the playoffs twice in the five year span since Huggins was fired. The Bearcats have not been to the tournament.

Doc wants you to believe that attendance is bad because Bearcat fans cannot get over the Huggins firing. That is good for his narrative. It allows him to write the same bullcrap article every year in some form or another. The reason attendance is not back at UC is very simple.

1. UC has not been to the NCAA tournament in five years.

2. UC played an absolutely abysmal non-conference schedule with very few appealing games

3. The economy has been poor and fans are more selective with their dollars

4. Even with success it takes time to build back the fan base. Yes UC is 18-3 right now and ideally more fans would be attending games, but the fact is many UC fans have not been following the program as they did when UC was making the tournament every year. As a result they do not have the attachment to the players, staff and program that was there when it was successful. Huggins did not build the program overnight...the fans did not immediately sell out night after night (and he had the luxury of a brand new arena).

   The fact is that if the Bearcats continue to win, if they finish strong this season (which they have not done when in very good position the last two years) that will start really bringing the fans back. When the program gets back to winning consistently the fans will come.

   You’re going Saturday, because of the. . . visiting coach? No doubt Huggins is part of the draw, but we are also going to see a top 20 RPI team who made the final four last year. We are going to hopefully see a good game and see the Bearcats get another quality win.
   
   How self defeating. How utterly useless, in a very Cincinnati way. Yes how awful that the Bearcats sell out what ultimately is a huge game in the Big East.
   
   We live in our rearview mirrors here, sometimes. We glorify our past. Things are never as good as they were in 1975. P-e-e-e-te!! Way to get a nonsense Pete Rose reference in the article which in this context is a terrible analogy. I guess the point you are trying to make is that both Rose and Huggins are flawed heroes. Isn't everyone?

The Way We’ve Always Done It rules the day. If you don’t like it here – and why on earth wouldn’t you? -- there’s the door. I’ve lived here 22 years and I’ve never understood our thinking. I only understand how it has affected our community. We’re not better for all the past-clinging. It keeps us from being as good as we can be. WTF is he talking about? “If you don't like it here there is the door.” Who are we showing the door? Are you going all the way back to the NZ references? Respecting the past and being loyal to those who were loyal to you and busted their ass for your school is not clinging to the past. It is being a fan. No one would ever confuse you with a Bearcat fan so maybe it is impossible for you to understand.

How can we move on when we’re always looking back? Some of us can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Do you cruise the highway staring at your rearview mirror? No, but I damn sure do use my rearview mirror...nevermind...why am I getting sucked into nonsensical analogy after nonsensical analogy?

Part of the reason Fifth Third Arena’s upper bowl looks like the mouth on a Halloween pumpkin is because the basketball team hasn’t won enough. Understood. Ok, because the first half of your article makes it seem like you do not understand. Glad to see you are not completely ignorant. This is the essence of why UC attendance has suffered. Glad to see Doc is finally ready to tackle the real issue. Part of it is because we choose to live in the rearview mirror. That’s not fair. Worse, it’s corrosive. Wait that's it? That's all the time we get on the issue that actually drives attendance for nearly every program across the country. One minor acknowledge and immediately Doc gets back to focusing on the minor issue of people liking Huggs. I'm sure there is a tiny percentage where Doc's point may be true, but if the team wins consistently, if Cronin turns UC into the perennial top 15 program they were under Huggins...this minority will be impossibly hard to find.

This is no shot at Huggins. He deserves the respect we’ve afforded him. But enough is enough. It isn’t 1975, or 1992. Johnny Bench is 61 years old, Nick Van Exel is retired from the NBA. Huggins isn’t coming back. Somehow, the Final Four has survived UC’s 19-year absence. No one is arguing this point Doc. Yes the date is January 28, 2010 (at least at the time I am writing this).

“It is Huggins who’s selling (Saturday’s) game out,’’ says UC archivist Kevin Grace. Grace is a student of city history, sports and otherwise. He doesn’t agree that we spend excessive time looking behind, but acknowledges it’s a reason for Huggins’ ongoing hold on the local affections. “He doesn’t have a good team, but he does have a larger than life personality. People are going because Huggins is Huggins.’’ I'm glad we got Grace's basketball insight to tell us WVU is not a good team (top 20 RPI mind you, but not a good team), but what Doc neatly glosses over here is the fact that the history “expert” Doc brings in to lend credence to his article about Cincinnati spending an excessive amount of time looking backwards DISAGREES with Doc's assertion that Cincinnati spends an excessive amount of time looking backwards. Way to lend credence to your position Doc.

Grace believes that a return to the NCAA tournament is all UC needs for its fans to cease romanticizing the past. “Let’s face it, the Big East is professional sports,’’ Grace says. “Pro sports fans want a winner.’’ Nail on the head...winning is how we get the fans back to the Shoe (and you know a better economy would help as well).

I’d suggest Cronin and his group of quasi-amateurs could win it all, and there would still be a large local voice mumbling about the way Zimpher dealt with Huggins. That local voice mumbling would be none other than Paul Daugherty. It’s how we are around here. You are a walking, hypocritical testament to that.

We’re the same people who, on the day Great American Ball Park opened, booed Carl Lindner and cheered Marge Schott. We still slide headfirst in support of Pete Rose. And we still love Huggs, which would be OK if it didn’t come at the expense of the progress happening now in the home offices of Fifth Third Arena. Well good... it is OK because loving Huggs does not affect the progress down at Fifth Third Arena. It does not in the least.

“It doesn’t reflect the community at large,’’ Kevin Grace insists. I wonder how many people Doc tried to find that would agree with his take before he finally settled on someone who seemed to believe the complete opposite. Great reporting as always Doc.

Man, I hope not. Somehow I do not quite buy this... I really cannot wait to read Huggs/zimph part 6 from you this time next year.

Xavier At the Shoe

In honor of tonight's shootout, a little Casey at the Bat style tribute.

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Xavier five that day

The Bearcats stood 14-0, a better team than they

And then when Lyons nervously cried and Freese did the same

The team just stared in the lockerroom, frightened, as they waited for the game

They left the lockerroom as one, determined to give their best

As they marched onward to the court to begin their impossible test

Yet somehow they won the tipoff and jumped out to lead

At least for a little moment they could fight off the urge to conceed

But then the mighty Gates did force his way into the lane

and stuffed through a shattering dunk right over top of McClain

Then Rashad Bishop stroked a three and Davis then drained two

The Bearcats were now in business; there was nothin X could do

Then from 13,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell

It shot throughout the rafters and the noise began to swell

It echoed at the Xavier bench and their players did go lame

For the Bearcats, the mighty Bearcats were taking control of the game

There was an ease in the Bearcats rhythm as they completely owned the court

Such pride in their performance as they dominated this sport

And when responding to the cheers they upped their game some more

Before you knew it another run, this one sixteen to four

Then the thug Tu Hallow threw a punch and earned himself a T

And in that classless moment the Cats stood tall, just letting it be

And when that final whistle blew the Bearcats won the day

15 and 0, now on they go...to dominate Big East play

Oh somewhere in this favored city the stars are shining bright

UC's band is playing somewhere, UC's fans hearts are light

The UC players now are laughing, and the muskies just lay and pout

Because there is no joy in Norwood... little Xavier just got BLOWN OUT.