Remember to submit your choices for the Down the Drive Ring of Honor! You can submit up to 3 players who you think should join the Bearcats elite. You have until July 10th to submit your nominees.
By the way, if you haven't watched these, you should. They're phenomenal.
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Bearcat News
Cincinnati Preview | AthlonSports
Really can't say anything bad about this article and pretty much covers what all of us know already: UC's offense is dangerous as long as it doesn't turn the ball over, UC's defense will rely on its strength in the D-Line to dictate how the entire unit will play, and since Mardy and Jake Rogers graduated, the special teams is looking for a reliable return man and kicker, respectively.
Most underrated players in college basketball - College Basketball - Rivals.com
Some love for Yancy Gates from Jason King at Yahoo. True, Yancy might not get that much publicity from the sports world prior to the season, but the biggest thing hold Yancy back has been Yancy. If he can figure out a way to get out of his own head, he can be one of the best post players in the Big East next season. There were signs that he was making a progress in the second half of last season and lets hope he can keep that mentality heading into his senior season.
Kiszla: K-Mart too old for new Nuggets - The Denver Post
Man I feel old. Kenyon Martin is apparently getting shown the door in Denver with the youth movement going on there. At $16.5 a year, he also isn't exactly cheap nor his 21 year old self anymore. He's had a great career in both college and the NBA but it's coming to an end.
Recruiting
Middletown DB verbally commits to Illinois | High School Sports Blog
A lot of people (myself included) believed that Troy Everhart's promotion to head coach of Middletown would start a local pipeline with UC. Evidently that pipeline is bone dry right now. I would have really liked UC to grab Quinn as he seems to have pretty good technique in pass coverage and tackling despite being on the lighter side. Although this staff is branching out Cincinnati recruiting more so than ever before, I've always been a proponent of owning your home recruiting grounds, first. Luckily, from Middletown, there is still hope in WR Zach Edwards.
Around the BEast
NCAA, Team, Ratings | Tradition Sports Online
If you're a NCAA Football game junkie like me (I've bought the last 7 and will absolutely buy '12), this interests you. Remember, these ratings are done by a bunch of guys sitting in front of a computer, so take it with a grain of salt. You can see ratings for all 120 schools via the link but I broke down the Big East schools below. You're welcome:
| Overall | Offense | Defense | Special Teams | Prestige | |
| West Virginia | B+ | B+ | B | B | **** |
| Pitt | B+ | B+ | B+ | B- | *** |
| UConn | B+ | B | B+ | B | *** |
| South Florida | B+ | B | B | B | *** |
| Cincinnati | B+ | B+ | B- | B- | *** |
| Rutgers | B | B+ | B- | B | *** |
| Louisville | B | B- | B | B | *** |
| Syracuse | B- | B | C+ | B- | *** |
Bill Stewart Out At West Virginia - The Smoking Musket
I guess I should probably put in my two-cents on this whole matter since everyone else is and we can finally end that circus. West Virginia is better off in 2011 now that Holgorsen has taken over as the only head coach (what a concept!). I fully believe that 2011 won't be the season that some WVU fans think will happen (70+ pts/game, undefeated, BE title, National Championship) because transition years are always tough. But look out for the Mountaineers in 2012 and beyond because they are going to be a force with that offense.
Around the Nation
Dallas Mavericks beat Miami Heat to win first NBA title in franchise history | Dallas Mavericks News - Sports News for Dallas, Texas - SportsDayDFW
Love it Finally, the good team won. The Mavericks may have become 'America's Team' in the NBA right now. As for the Heat, LeBron is 0 - 1 in his championship prediction right now but I'm sure they'll win a few in his time there. Maybe they would be able to move on quicker if LeBron could show up for the 4th quarter or sulked every time they lost. One things for sure, there will be celebration on the streets of Cleveland today.
LA stadium planner: Talks had with 5 NFL teams - ESPN Los Angeles
Rumors of LA wanting an NFL team since the Raiders and Rams left have been swirling for years but it looks like they are starting move forward with actual plans to get an NFL team in LA. Personally, I'm pulling for the Bengals to move out there but they weren't among the 5 teams supposedly in talks with the planners for the move. Considering the planners are throwing $1 billion at a brand new 72,000-seat stadium, it might be hard for some NFL owners to turn down.
MLB needs geographic realignment - The GM's Office by Jim Bowden Blog - ESPN
Great idea by the Jim Bowden of a realignment of Major League Baseball. It essentially evens out the 30 teams into 6 divisions of 5 teams (instead of the 16-14 format as it is now). The current format is stupid for 2 reasons. 1.) 6 teams in the NL Central and 4 in the AL West makes no sense when 2.) Houston is sitting in the NL Central and fits more geographically with the AL West. I like Jim Bowden's idea but, man, if Toronto didn't like the AL East, they're going to have a hell of a time competing with the spendthrifts of his Eastern Division.