We take a look at where some local college basketball teams stand and what they have left as the regular season winds down:

KENTUCKY (26-1)
RPI: 3

Remaining Games:
Feb 21 - @Mississippi St. - 9:00 PM 
Feb 25 - Vanderbilt - 12:00 PM 
Mar 1 - Georgia - 9:00 PM 
Mar 4 - @Florida - 12:00 PM

Outlook:  Winners of 18 straight, the top-ranked Wildcats must face the next best three teams in the SEC over their last four games. That will include two road tilts at Mississippi State and Florida.  They would have to absolutely collapse to lose a grip on a No. 1 seed, but the tournament’s top overall seed is well within reach.

CINCINNATI (19-8)
RPI: 79

Remaining Games:
Feb 23 - Louisville - 9:00 PM 
Feb 26 - @South Florida - 12:00 PM 
Feb 29 - Marquette - 7:00 PM 
Mar 3 - @Villanova - 2:00 PM

Outlook: As ugly as Saturday’s win over Seton Hall was the victory propelled the Bearcats up 14 spots in the RPI rankings.  It has been a roller coaster season for UC resulting in them being dead smack of the middle of the Big East standings. The November loss to Presbyterian (264th) is still hurting them.  Every game is an important one for the Bearcats, who are squarely on the bubble.

XAVIER (17-9)
RPI: 52

Remaining Games:
Feb 21 - @Massachusetts - 7:00 PM 
Feb 25 - Richmond - 8:00 PM 
Feb 28 - @St. Louis - 9:00 PM 
Mar 3 - Charlotte - 2:00 PM

Outlook: After being as ranked as high as eight in the polls earlier in the Year, Xavier has gone just 9-9 over their last 18 games. The Musketeers’ best win came at Vanderbilt, but they fell to Temple, Gonzaga, St. Louis and Memphis since.  That leaves them with just a 1-4 mark against teams currently in the top 30 in the latest RPI rankings and with little margin for error.  A road win against St. Louis would do wonders to their tournament resume.

LOUISVILLE (21-6)
RPI: 20

Remaining Games:
Feb 23 - @Cincinnati - 9:00 PM 
Feb 26 - Pittsburgh - 2:00 PM 
Feb 29 - South Florida - 7:00 PM 
Mar 3 - @Syracuse - 4:00 PM

Outlook: Four of the Cardinals’ six losses come to teams currently ranked in the top 15 in the latest RPI (UK, Syracuse, Marquette, and Georgetown). The three best wins all came at home to Memphis, UConn, and Vandy.  There is plenty at stake for U of L headed down the stretch they could climb to a No. 2 seed with a strong finish or fall to a No. 6 if they stumble.

OHIO STATE (22-5)
RPI: 7

Remaining Games:
Feb 21 - Illinois - 7:00 PM 
Feb 26 - Wisconsin - 4:00 PM 
Feb 29 - @Northwestern - 8:30 PM 
Mar 4 - @Michigan St. - 12:00 PM

Outlook: Their loss at home to Michigan State could have dampened the Buckeyes shot at the No. 1 overall seed, but that doesn’t mean a No. 1 seed is out of the question.  The road is going to be tough ahead though. In addition to rematch with the Spartans they also get a chance to avenge a loss vs. Illinois and have tilts with very capable Wisconsin and Northwestern teams ahead.  Worst-case scenario Ohio State is a No. 4 seed, but a No. 2 seed is most likely.

INDIANA (20-6)
RPI: 16

Remaining Games:
Feb 22 - N.C. Central - 7:00 PM 
Feb 26 - @Minnesota - 1:00 PM 
Feb 28 - Michigan St. - 7:00 PM 
Mar 4 - Purdue - 6:00 PM

Outlook: The Hoosiers are headed back to the Dance. That’s the most important thing.  With big wins over Kentucky, Ohio State and Michigan under their belt look for them to work their way into the field as a No. 3 to No. 5 seed based off finish. The schedule is weak down the stretch so to move up they’ll need to make some noise in the Big Ten tournament.

College Hoops kentucky wildcats, uk, cincinnati bearcats, uc, xavier musketeers, xu, louisville cardinals, ohio state buckeyes, indiana hoosiers

The Cincinnati Bearcats (15-4, 5-1) continued their hot play by coming up a with a huge conference road win on Wednesday night at Connecticut, 70-67.  It was a huge win for Mick Cronin and his team and takes them to 5-1 inside the Big East for the first time since joining the conference.

“It’s a big win for us," Cronin said. "But you’ve got to win these kinds of games if you’re going to compete for the Big East championship.”

Next up the Bearcats is another road tilt at West Virginia on Saturday before they welcome top-ranked Syracuse to Fifth Third Arena in a Big Monday matchup.

Check out some of these developing trends for UC (courtesy Lance McAlister):

--UC has won 10 of last 11 overall
--5-1 Road
--UConn was 10-0 home this season
--Won 7 row on road in Big East
--Won 3 straight road vs Top 25 teams (1st x 1998-99)
--6-2 in last 8 vs Top 25
--5-1 Big East for first time since joining
--UC had 6 turnovers vs UConn
--Turnovers last eight games: 9,8,8,9,6,9,3,6  (Total: 58)
--Opp last eight games: 18,17,17,13,19,17,17,11 (Total: 129)

College Hoops cincinnati bearcats, uc, mick cronin, big east

Bill Koch pointed out an interesting trend going on in the Big East so far. Pittsburgh, the defending regular-season champion, is 0-4. Perennial powers Louisville (1-3) and Villanova (1-4) are off to rough starts. Meanwhile, UC is in third place at 3-1 behind second-place Seton Hall at 4-1. It made me take a closer look at the early standings (thur 1/12) from the basketball super conference:

College Hoops big east, cincinnati bearcats, uc

Don’t look now but since the Crosstown Shootout turned in the Crosstown Brawl, the Cincinnati Bearcats have won eight of nine contests, including a huge conference road victory over the 11th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas on Monday night.

That's the second road win against a ranked team already early in the conference season as they also won on the road vs. Pitt on New Year's Day. If the Bearcats can keep it rolling for the next two weeks they will take a huge leg up in conference positioning as they host Villanova then have back-to-back road tilts against Connecticut and West Virginia before welcoming Syracuse, who is currently ranked No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches Poll.

Here's a look at their recent run of success:

College Hoops cincinnati bearcats, big east

Cincinnati beats Vanbilt in Liberty Bowl
Memphis Commercial Appeal
"Last year at this time (when Cincinnati finished the 2010 season 4-8), I text messaged everyone of our players and said '2011 -- be a champion, we're going to be back in a bowl game'," said Jones, whose '11 Bearcats finished at 10-3. "Our players answered everything we asked them to do."

UC wins Liberty Bowl
Cincinnati Enquirer
Ralph David Abernathy IV returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead score in UC's 31-24 win against Vanderbilt in the Liberty Bowl.

College Football cincinnati bearcats, liberty bowl. vanderbilt commodores

from ESPN.com...

Cincinnati Bearcats coach Butch Jones said Monday he had agreed to a contract extension that would keep him at the school through the 2017 season.

Jones, who led Cincinnati to a share of the Big East title in his second season with the Bearcats, had been approached by North Carolina, Illinois and UCLA but turned away their overtures.

"I believe in what we're building," Jones said. "I think there's so many great things to building a really successful football program and not just a successful team. We have great practice facilities now. We have very good facilities. We're in a conference that we can be extremely competitive in. We have a great fan base. We've got a great place to attract the top-caliber student-athletes to."

COMPLETE ARTICLE

College Football cincinnati bearcats, uc, butch jones

Saturday's Crosstown Shootout was far from spectacular and hardly memorable, at least until the last 9.4 seconds.  Xavier won the contest 76-53.

The game was dominated for the most part by Xavier, who entered the contest as the nation's 8th-ranked team.  However, the Musketeers' play on the court was overshadowed by their talking and taunting. 

Cincinnati was far from innocent in their part in all of this and when things reached their boiling point the Bearcats displayed a viciousness and physical demeanor that left many in shock. 

It admittedly left me wondering what if Yancey Gates actually appeared to be that forceful in the paint and during the play.

As the dust settled suspensions are going to be handed out on both sides and rightfully so.  Regardless, it will be a long time before that embarrassing memory is erased from basketball fans around the city:

College Hoops cincinnati bearcats, xavier musketeers, yancey gates, kenny frease, mark lyons, crosstown shootout

Isaiah Pead’s 50-yard touchdown run capped a comeback for Cincinnati as the Bearcats beat Louisville 25-16 Saturday at Paul Brown Stadium to win the Keg of Nails for the fourth straight time. 

The Bearcats trailed 16-7 at halftime, but held the Cardinals scoreless after intermission while getting touchdowns on runs by quarterback Zach Collaros and Pead to take command of the game. 

Cincinnati (5-1, 1-0 Big East) came in with the most potent offense in the Big East averaging 45 points, but had more than enough firepower to win against Louisville (2-4, 0-1 Big East), which lost its third straight game.

The Cardinals did not tally an offensive touchdown, getting all their points on a trio of field goals by Chris Philpott and a 63-yard pick-six interception return by Mike Evans right before halftime. Will Stein made a cameo at QB for Louisville, his first action since missing two games with a shoulder problem, but Teddy Bridgewater still got the bulk of the work under center.

Pead tallied a rushing touchdown for the sixth consecutive game as part of a 151-yard performance, and topped the 100-yard barrier for the third time this season.

Zach Collaros completed 18 of 26 passes, including a 26-yard touchdown to D.J. Woods in the second quarter.

College Football cincinnati bearcats, louisville cardinals, isaiah pead, zach collaros, keg of nails

After the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Tom Groeschen wrote a great article about the 1986 Miami-UC game in Friday’s paper, I reflected back on my impressions of one of the nation’s oldest college football rivalries.

The Miami-Cincinnati Victory Bell is the oldest current non-conference college football rivalry in the United States. The series ranks fifth on the list of most-played rivalries in college football and is the oldest Division I rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains. Of the more than 30 rivalries that include at least 89 games, none is older than Miami vs. Cincinnati (MORE HISTORY).

Growing up with my uncle, Tim Rose, as the head coach at Miami University, I had instilled at me at early age the intensity and the history of the rivalry. Long before mega conferences, BCS shenanigans, and there were 57 bowl games winning a game like that would define a season and the teams place in its school’s history.

That '86 game epitomized everything I remember out the rivalry during my childhood. Back-in-forth action. Great entertainment and pure hatered. Even though UC won that thriller, Miami went onto to be No. 8 LSU the following week on their way to the California Bowl, a big accomplishment at that time. During the 70's and 80's Miami dominated the series, but that has changed over the last 15 years. Aside from the Ben Roethlisberger years, Miami has only mustered a couple of wins.

Since UC has joined the Big East things have gotten rather one-sided in the matchup with Bearcats now having won six straight games and seven of the last eight meetings. When you beat your opponent by nearly 30 points a game, the rivalry loses its luster.

Saturday's 27-0 shutout by Cincinnati, only stengthened the argument that this series has lost its luster and I'm not sure it will ever come back.

College Football cincinnati bearcats, miami redhawks, ben roethlisberger, tim rose

from FOX19.com...

University of Cincinnati men's basketball head coach Mick Cronin has agreed to terms of a contract extension and will remain at the Bearcats helm. The new agreement will extend the term of Cronin's contract through the 2016-17 season. His guaranteed compensation will now be $1.25 million annually. The agreement is pending approval of the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustrees.

"I'm very happy to announce the news of this extension," said UC director of athletics Mike Thomas. "Mick Cronin has done an outstanding job over the past five years to rebuild the Bearcats program and return it to the NCAA tournament this year. I am excited about where he can take this program from here."

COMPLETE ARTICLE

***
MY TAKE: Mick Cronin is not an elite coach, but considering the cards that were stacked against him upon his arrival to the position and what he has been able to accomplish playing in the best conference in the country definitely justifies the extension. Cincinnati is not an elite job and taking a chance on another unproven is something that just doesn't make sense. It will be to see how much further he can take the program with the extra time.

College Hoops cincinnati bearcats, mick cronin, cronin extension, big east