6. If the Bearcats get every player back who can come back, they are going to be a factor once again in the Big 12 in 2024-25. The core of next year’s team, potentially, will have a year of Big 12 experience under their belt. That is a huge advantage to have.
7. My word of advice to Bearcats fans for next year: hope for everything, expect nothing. If this team underachieves next year, which some fans believe they did this season, there’s going to be backlash from those fans. That’s just not a good way for Bearcats fans to be. It is going to be difficult for the Bearcats to make the NCAA Tournament next season. Hope they can, but keep your expectations low.
8. Historically, I think the Bearcats can be misinterpreted about where they stand as a basketball program. Yes, they went to five straight Final Fours from 1959-1963. But they’ve only been to one Final Four since, in 1992. They only went to the Tournament four times between 1963-1992. There’s been more parity in college basketball over the last 60+ years. And when you go 29 years making just four Tournaments, it can be hard to truly consistently stay among the elite blue bloods in college basketball. A lot of fans have been waiting for the Bearcats to get back to the Final Four for the first time since 1992. And when they don’t, it’s disappointing. It’s hard to get to the NCAA Tournament, even if the blue bloods make you think otherwise. It’s also hard winning in the NCAA Tournament. Making 23 of 28 NCAA Tournaments is hard, but teams also go through hard times. Appreciate how far the Bearcats have come in three seasons under Wes Miller in a whole new era of college basketball.
Further, look at the list of the winningest programs in college basketball history. The top five are Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke and UCLA. Those are five of the blue bloods in college basketball (you can debate if UConn and Villanova are also blue bloods). But look further down the list, and there aren’t that many Final Four appearances between the teams. Temple hasn’t been since 1958. Syracuse has been to six Final Fours, the same number as the Bearcats. Notre Dame hasn’t been since 1978, their only Final Four appearance. St. John’s has only been to two Final Fours and none since 1985. Indiana has been to eight but none since 2002. Purdue only has two Final Four appearances and none since 1980. Again, look past the blue bloods and you see how difficult it is for even the winningest programs in college basketball to consistently make the Final Four. You get frustrated by the Bearcats having not been to a Final Four since 1992 and going five straight seasons without making the NCAA Tournament. The latter is understandable, but what I mentioned in this paragraph should illustrate how hard it is to win once in the NCAA Tournament. And again, remember where the Bearcats were three years ago and be thankful they’re now going to get more opportunities and exposure playing in the Big 12. Programs can enter dark times, like the Bearcats did in 2021. Those rebuilds aren’t culminated overnight with an NCAA Tournament berth.
9. I found it interesting that every game but two in the Big 12 Tournament- including Cincinnati and West Virginia- was decided by double-digit points. I thought a lot more games would be competitive, down to the wire. But every game was comfortably won by one team. Every game felt that way in the Big 12 regular season, but once a team got ahead in a Tournament game they never relinquished the lead.
10. Here’s one stat as to why the Big 12 is the best conference in the country: Kansas, the conference’s hallmark program, went 2-3 against the four newcomers in the regular season and lost to Cincinnati by 20 in the Big 12 Tournament. Plus, three of the four newcomers advanced to the Quarterfinals with Houston advancing to the Championship.
11. Iowa State was impressive in so many ways at the Big 12 Tournament. They are one of the most balanced teams on both sides of the basketball I have ever seen. Plus, their fanbase is awesome. I have never seen a fan base take over a conference tournament the way Cyclones fans did in Kansas City. When they played in the Tournament, it felt like an Iowa State home game.
12. The way Kansas City embraces the Big 12 Tournament is awesome. Kansas City is a football and baseball city, but it’s also home to the College Basketball Hall of Fame. The hotel I stayed in had the Big 12 Tournament logo all over the lobby, and there were fans in the lobby and elevator every time I was there. From the fan fest outside to the merchandise sold inside the arena to the Big 12 Eats to the fans wearing school merchandise on every street, you could feel the passion that all the schools’ fans have for their schools and Big 12 Basketball. It feels good to finally spend a week in March at a Power Five Tournament.
Next Game: If you’re a fan of College Basketball and appreciate its’ history, this game Wednesday night is for you. Cincinnati will now host San Francisco in the First Round of the NIT, two of just 15 teams to win multiple national championships. The Dons most famous player: Bill Russell, the winningest player in NBA history with 11 NBA Championships. The Dons, like the Bearcats, went back-to-back with national championships in 1955 and 1956. I’ll have more in my Forensics, but at first look the Dons are a really good shooting team with about half the players on their roster averaging over seven points per game. They also played Gonzaga tough three times this season and went 11-5 in the underrated West Coast Conference. And further, if you know the history between Cincinnati and San Francisco as a Cincinnati sports fan, this matchup can either excite you or make you nervous. Yes, you can be nervous for an NIT game. If the game counts towards something, then nervousness is understandable.
