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Bearcat News
The Ten Games That Will Determine the Big East in 2011 - #5 - Louisville at Cincinnati - Big East Coast Bias
Big East Coast Bias tabs the Cincinnati-Louisville game next season as the 5th most important game in determining the Big East in 2011. I will definitely be travelling down to see this game in part because I missed Oklahoma at PBS last year and the last time I went to a UC game downtown was in 2002. But I'm hoping when I get there that I don't see more than 20k Cardinals fans, as this blog is suggesting. To the game, Cincinnati's offense vs. Louisville's defense will very interesting to watch as these are the strengths of each team. Let's say it's a wash. What it will come down to will be UC's defense (which should be improved) vs. the ground pound Cardinals offense that is looking for answers at both quarterback and wide receiver. Lot's of young talent there but can they adjust quickly enough for Cincinnati? We'll see.
Cincinnati Bearcats: 2011-2012 College Football Betting Preview
A betting man's preview of Cincinnati football next season, who have tabbed the Bearcats as huge underdogs to win a Big East championship next season. They even mention UC's chances to win a National Championship in 2011, which is just malarky. Anyways, this might be the first preview I've read when mention the improved depth on the defensive line so, yea, big props to these guys. Ultimately, he thinks the Bearcats will finish 4thnext season with an 8 - 4 overall record while going 4 - 3 in the Big East. Pretty fair prediction.
Big East position rankings: Receiver - Big East Blog - ESPN
The Bearcats' wide receiving corp is ranked 3rd in the Big East according to Andrea Adelson at the ESPN blog. Rutgers' wideouts were first but are in the same boat as Cincinnati in that they won't get their stats if the O-Line doesn't protect the quarterback. As for UC, the one position that the Bearcats continuously (and some say easily) attract talent to is WR. Therefore, they should start and finish in the top half of the conference year-in and year-out. For 2011, the base 4-WR set of Thompkins, Woods, Lewis, and McClungshould cause headaches for opposing defenses. Now if only the offensive line would come around so Zach could get some time to get them the ball...
Recruiting
Enquirer spring sport all-stars | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer came out with their spring sport all-stars yesterday. Among them, UC football recruits Rodriguez Coleman for track and Matt Staubach for football. Staubach will be a preferred walk on this year and is expected to get playing time at tight end. He's a very gifted athlete with a big body that converted from quarterback in high school. You all know about Coleman. Extremely talented kid with great speed that helps him excel at both wide receiver and in track and field. But his academics have always been an issue and it remains to be seen if he can clear the NCAA and join UC's football team this fall.
Around the BEast
Rutgers athletic department needs fees, funds to stay afloat - USATODAY.com
If you needed an example of doing less with more, Rutgers football would be it. They continue to pour millions of dollars into expanding their football field, adding football amenities, and getting highly touted recruits, but have yet to win a Big East title and fall short more years than not. In 2009-10 alone, Rutgers used almost $27 million dollars from government support or student fees to fund athletic projects. That's almost double the 2nd school on the list (UConn). By the way, of the top 10 schools on the list, 4 are from the Big East, which shows how not self sustaining Big East programs really are. Cincinnati also made the list from 2009-10 at 6th, which shows the kind of money is being brought into the department through student fees, when people complain about the lack of donations.
WVUfootball: FedEx date with James Madison set for 2012 - WVU Sports - Charleston Daily Mail - West Virginia News and Sports -
I think this might be the first time I've ever heard of an FBS team playing an FCSteam on neutral turf before (please let me know if there are other instances of this). But, James Madison is not your typical FCS team andcould easily compete with teams from the Sun Belt, MAC, and WAC at the FBS level. They even beat Virginia Tech last year! As you can see, they're no slouch. James Madison will basically treat this like a game in their home stadium as they will get $10 for each ticket sold after 42,500 and up to 57,500. WVU, on the other hand, will make about the same amount of money as a game at Mountaineer Field so the only real advantage I see from this is expanding their recruiting base to the Washington D.C. area. I'm sure Oliver Luck has some ingenious reason for why he would accept this deal.
Around the Nation
College football is better than NFL, and it's not even close - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com
Kind of an interesting debate between whether college football or the NFL is better, although it seems like it's just a forum for Gregg Doyle to rant about the money in the NFL. This, of course, is a moot point because it's like arguing about which is more important, billions of $$$ (NFL teams) or millions of $$$ (college football teams). To us peasants, it really doesn't matter. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of college football as I've had to deal with the eye raping that is the Cincinnati Bengals. Therefore, I'm really in NFL fan limbo right now. Any takers?