Three years ago Mick Cronin was introduced as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats. It was thought by most that it would take him four or five season to get the team back to a respectable status. Here we are three years into his tenure and there has been semi-serious talk about the Bearcats making the "Big Dance." That would be a huge step in the right direction for Cronin and his boys after not even making the NIT tournament last season.

The Bearcats are 17-9 overall and 7-6 in the Big East, arguably the toughest conference in the country. After starting 0-3 in the conference, the 'Cats have won seven of their last ten. Three of their conference wins have come against two of the more respected teams in the conference, Notre Dame and twice over Georgetown. They beat Georgetown on the road which is not an easy task no matter how much the Hoyas have struggled this season. Of the Bearcats nine losses, all but two have come against teams currently ranked in the Top 25. The other two losses came against Providence, a team that could be considered as a bubble team to get into the tournament come mid-March.

The reason for the resurgence of the Bearcats is due to them finally gelling as a team. Early on in the season the Bearcats relied heavily on their top scorer, junior Deonta Vaughn (16.1 points per game). As he went, so did the team. If Vaughn went cold, the team struggled. If he was hot, the team was on fire. The maturation of freshman big-man and local talent, Yancey Gates, has made for a great inside-out game. Gates is averaging just over 10 points and 6 rebounds per game, but his emergence over the last few games has allowed the outside game to heat up even more with Dion Dixon and Larry Davis along with Vaughn. Throw in Mike Williams and you have a starting five that can play with almost any team in the Big East. Even better is that Cronin has another big man he can sub in for Gates if need be in Steve Toyloy and not miss a beat.

Before the season even started the Bearcats lost their highly touted freshman, Cashmere Wright. He was to be the man running the point, allowing Vaughn to get freed up even more and help with that outside game. Wright blew out his ACL in practice and thus had to miss the entire season. So the fact that they are having the success they are having sans Wright speaks a lot to the kind of coach Cronin is as well as how good his guys can be when they play as a team.

Can this team make the dance? It will all depend on how they play down the stretch. They started a tough stretch in their schedule last night when they took on Pittsburgh on the road. The 'Cats hung with the Panthers for a little while, even late into the second half, before PITT pulled away to take the win 85-69. That loss was somewhat expected, especially considering PITT is a top five team in the country and a team considered as being one that could make a run to the national title this year. What the Bearcats do from this point on could make or break their chances of making it into the NCAA tourney instead of the NIT.

They have a week off before they play Louisville at home. The rest of their schedule has them playing West Virginia, Syracuse, South Florida and ending the season at home against Seton Hall. Getting to 20 wins is the key. They need three wins to get there which means they will have to pull off an upset against either Louisville, West Viriginia or Syracuse, which is very possible. Making it to 20 wins and then winning a game or two in the Big East conference tournament will undoubtedly put them right there for consideration into the tournament.

Even if this team doesn't make it into the NCAA tourney, this has been a season that fans can be happy about because they weren't supposed to be here just yet. Cronin has turned this program back around quicker than anyone though he could. That makes for a very exciting end to this season and for something to look forward to next year.

College Hoops cincinnati bearcats, mick cronin, deonta vaughn, yancey gates, dion dixon, larry davis, mike williams, steve toyloy, cashmere wright, big east