Nearly six months after Xavier's 76-53 win over the Bearcats ended in a brawl at Cintas Center, school officials at Cincinnati and Xavier re-evaluated aspects of a series that began in 1927 and has been played every year since the 1945-46 season. The end result has the two schools playing at US Bank Arena, at least for the next two years, and has the series being renamed from the Crosstown Shootout to the Skyline Chili Crosstown Classic.

COMPLETE ARTILCE (WCPO.com)

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After an embarrassing brawl at the end of last year’s Crosstown Shootout between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Xavier Musketeers at the Cintas Center, the game will reportedly be moved to US Bank Arena for the next two years, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Neither school has confirmed the move and the two issued a joint statement in a press release yesterday stating that no official agreement has been reached and announcement will come at a later date.

The paper states that the rivalry game will be played on Dec. 18, 19 or 20 and will be televised on one of the ESPN channels, with an official announcement expected in June. 

The last time UC and XU played each other at the downtown arena was Jan. 29, 1987 when the building was known as Riverfront Coliseum and served as UC’s home court.

MY TAKE: I don’t have a problem with the move, but I don’t believe that moving it to a neutral location where the fan base will be closer to 50/50 is going to help make it a less hostile environment. I definitely side with keeping the game around more than suspending indefinitely altogether.

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The 2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football schedule has been released...

Thu., Sept. 6 PITTSBURGH (8 p.m., ESPN)
Sat., Sept. 15 Delaware State
Sat., Sept. 29 vs. Virginia Tech 1
Sat., Oct. 6 Miami (Ohio)
Sat., Oct. 13 Fordham
Sat., Oct. 20 at Toledo
Sat., Oct. 27 at LOUISVILLE (8 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2)
Sat., Nov. 3 SYRACUSE
Sat., Nov. 10 at TEMPLE
Sat., Nov. 17 RUTGERS
Fri., Nov. 23 USF (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)
Sat., Dec. 1 at CONNECTICUT (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

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Between Syracuse being without Fab Melo and North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall’s broken wrist, projecting the remainder of the NCAA Tournament gets tough. Let’s be honest though after shredding my brackets on Saturday I wasn’t that good on my first crack last week at the beginning of the tournament.

With that in mind is here are my updated Power Rankings heading into the Sweet 16:

1. Kentucky
2. Michigan State
3. Ohio State
4. Syracuse
5. North Carolina
6. Kansas
7. Baylor
8. Louisville
9. Marquette
10. Cincinnati
11. Indiana
12. Florida
13. NC State
14. Wisconsin
15. Xavier
16. Ohio

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Thursday, March 22
7:15 – 1 Syracuse vs. 4 Wisconsin (Boston) - CBS
7:47 – 1 Michigan St vs. 4 Louisville (Phoenix) - TBS
9:45 – 2 Ohio State vs. 6 Cincinnati (Boston) - CBS
10:17 – 3 Marquette vs. 7 Florida (Phoenix) - TBS

Friday, March 23
7:15 – 3 Baylor vs. 10 Xavier (Atlanta) - CBS
7:47 – 1 North Carolina vs. 13 Ohio (St. Louis) - TBS
9:45 – 1 Kentucky vs. 4 Indiana (Atlanta) - CBS
10:17 – 2 Kansas vs. 11 NC State (St. Louis) - TBS

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Tuesday, March 6 – First Round
(ESPN2/ESPN 3D)
No. 16 DePaul (12-18) vs. No. 9 Connecticut (18-12) - Noon
No. 13 Pittsburgh (16-15) vs. No. 12 St. John’s (13-18) - 2 p.m.
 
(ESPNU/ESPN 3D)
No. 15 Providence (15-16) vs. No. 10 Seton Hall (19-11) - 7 p.m.
No. 14 Villanova (12-18) vs. No. 11 Rutgers (14-17) - 9 p.m.

Wednesday, March 7 – Second Round
(ESPN/ESPN 3D)
DePaul/Connecticut winner vs. No. 8 West Virginia (19-12) - Noon
Pittsburgh/St. John’s winner vs. No. 5 Georgetown (22-7) - 2 p.m.
Providence/Seton Hall winner vs. No. 7 Louisville (22-9) - 7 p.m.
Villanova/Rutgers winner vs. No. 6 USF (19-12) - 9 p.m.

Thursday, March 8 – Quarterfinals
(ESPN/ESPN 3D)
8/9/16 winner vs. No. 1 Syracuse (30-1) - Noon
5/12/13 winner vs. No. 4 Cincinnati (22-9) - 2 p.m.
7/10/15 winner vs. No. 2 Marquette (25-6) - 7 p.m.
6/11/14 winner vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (21-10) - 9 p.m.
 
Friday, March 9 – Semifinals
(ESPN/ESPN 3D)
Thursday afternoon winners - 7 p.m.
Thursday evening winners - 9 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 10 – Championship
(ESPN/ESPN 3D)
Semifinal winners - 9 p.m.

*All games played at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

PROJECTED WINNER: SYRACUSE (TeamRankings.com)

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Heading into the final week’s action things are taking shape for local teams and their post-season outlooks. Here is a look at how CollegeHoopsNet.com breaks things down as of Tuesday (2/28):

LOCAL TEAMS
Kentucky - #1 seed
Ohio State - #3 seed
Indiana - #4 seed
Louisville - #5 seed
Murray State - #5 seed
Xavier - #11 seed
Cincinnati - #12 seed (play-in)

BUBBLE WATCH
Last In: Arizona, Texas, Mississippi St, Cincinnati

First Out: South Florida, St. Joseph's, VCU, Dayton

Further Four: Tennessee, Oregon, Colorado St, NC State
 
Dropped Out Of Field (at-large): NC State

New (at-large): Arizona

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
(Multiple Bid Leagues)
Big East - 9
Big Ten - 7
ACC - 5
Big 12 - 6
SEC - 5
A-10 - 3
MWC - 3
Pac-12 - 3
WCC - 3
CUSA - 2
MVC - 2

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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.

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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)

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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:

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