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Cincinnati Bearcats Link Jump Off | January 26th

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Basketball

Kilpatrick trying to play through pain | UC Athletics Blog

"I’m playing," Kilpatrick said. "Injuries are part of the game. I would do anything and everything to help my team. These guys are guys that I battle with every day. I’m not going to just give up on them now."

Kila is less than 100 per cent right now. But this one game in 13 days stretch that the Bearcats are currently in the midst of should help get him near enough to full bore for the stretch run. What's important to remember though is that while Kilpatrick was off offensively, he still contributed in other ways against Syracuse. He played 32 minutes grabbed 9 rebounds, two of them offensive, and he pitched in 4 assists with no turnovers. I can live with 8 points from Sean if he fills up the box score like that.

UC Ticket Office Announces "Bearcats Friday Workday Special" Ticket Promotion - University of Cincinnati Official Athletics Site

On the heels of the extremely successful "Bearcats Happy Hour", the UC Department of Athletics has announced that they will be holding a "Bearcats Friday Workday Special" promotion for anyone who missed out on the great deals two weeks ago. Head Coach Mick Cronin, the Men's Basketball team, and the entire Department of Athletics appreciates the support from the fan base at the BIG MONDAY game against Syracuse and want to see a similar environment for the home stretch of the BIG EAST Conference schedule.

Whit Babcock is the shit. Moving on

Basketball Recruiting

Chris Obekpa taking his time with process - CBSSports.com

Chris Obekpa is currently hearing from St. John’s, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Providence, DePaul, Seton Hall, West Virginia, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Kentucky and others.

By most accounts Obekpa is someone near the top of Mick Cronin's board for the class of 2012. UC is in the running and has a (relatively) strong position, but there is still work to be done.

Notebook: Balamou getting high-major interest - CBSSports.com
A couple of interesting Basketball recruiting nuggets here. Mick Cronin has extended an offer to Jaylen Brantley who is one of the top three point marksmen in his class. The other is Chier Ajou a 7'2" center who is a native of the Sudan and a cousin of Luol Deng. Ajou has received some interest from UC, but no offer, nor does one seem likely to arrive.

Football

Bearcats' Pead bets versatility will help job search | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com

"I’m not really the biggest back but my fundamentals and technique have to be perfect. I have to be physical and still sharpen the strengths I have," Pead sadid. "I have to have excellent body position as far as running through contacts and blocks."

I continue to think that the best situation for Pead in the long term is as what Chris Brown calls a space player. The quintessential space player right now is Darren Sproles.

Five questions with ... Mark Dantonio | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com

I think they've had good coaches in there with Brian Kelly and Butch Jones, and just like everybody they have had a plan and worked the plan. Obviously, the new practice facility and getting into the Big East has a lot to do with it. It's become a place where you can get better players, I think.

I suppose one of the best things about the way Brian Kelly departed UC has been it has tempered almost all of the hate and vitriol that were lobbed in the general direction of Mark Dantonio. That's a good thing because ultimately Dantonio (along with Rick Minter) will be remembered as the architects of what is turning into a truly great era in UC history. I know some people who root for a plane to crash into the stadium whenever Notre Dame and Michigan State play. I am just not one of them.

Around The Big East

Greg Schiano is off to the NFL. Is he taking Rutgers’ bid for relevance with him? | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports

Obviously, Schiano's exit leaves a lot more hanging in the balance than the fate of a recruiting class. After nearly a decade of trying to keep up with the Joneses, Rutgers has a sea of red ink and zero championships or BCS bowl appearances to show for it. In two years (possibly sooner), it will be the only charter member of the Big East in football left in the conference, which has been forced to expand to the far corners of the continent for the sake of an automatic BCS bowl bid that's about to fall by the wayside, anyway, along with the millions it brought into the athletic department on an annual basis. At this point, the university has to step back and ask itself: Can we really afford to be a big-time football program?

Now the legacy writing will begin. On a relative level the Schiano era at Rutgers is/was an unparrallelled success. He drove the program to new heights, heretofore unsurpassed, and finally turned Rutgers, which for a very long time was considered the sleepiest of all possible dragons into a dragon that wasn't really awake, but at least awake enough to keep hitting the snooze button. On the other hand for the massive sums of money Rutgers poored into the sport, always either right above or right below West Virginia and Louisville, there is nothing to show for it in terms of wins or conference titles.

Greg Schiano leaves: What's next for Rutgers recruiting? - MaxPreps News
Greg Schiano's decision is puzzling to me, and it may wind up killing a great recruiting class.

I Find These Interesting

Lists of Note: Basket Ball
The original rules from James Naismith for Basketball. Amazing stuff

The Most Important Game in the History of the Spread Offense, and its Legacy | Smart Football

The game was dramatic not only because of what it was — a great football game, where a "David" used used an underdog strategy to topple a "Goliath" — but when it happened: Immediately before the internet, the cloud, iPhones, iPads and all of the good stuff that has increased our interconnectedness over the same time period. Instead of having to spend four years visiting spring practices to learn a new technique, all the cut-ups, all the drills, all the background, the history, film and information one needed were accessible immediately, at minimal cost.

As always a fantastic write up from one Chris Brown. This is a must read if you are at all strategically inclined with Football. But also worth while if you are wondering how we got to here from the Wishbone of old.

With Xavier faltering, who’s the new A-10 favorite? | The Dagger: College Basketball Blog - Yahoo! Sports

And against Saint Louis, coach Chris Mack did not start Kenny Frease and Mark Lyons because he was unsatisfied with their practice habits and the team didn't show sufficient attention to detail, missing numerous box-outs and committing 17 turnovers.

Frease not a good practice player? Well I never...

The New York Giants can teach college football a lot about how not to conduct a playoff | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports

So when playoff opponents in college football chant "Every Game Counts," this is what they mean: The 9-7 New York Giants (or their campus equivalent, in the event of an FBS playoff) have not advanced a legitimate claim on a championship, did not deserve the opportunity they have now taken advantage of and threaten to cheapen the concept of a championship season. To which I have to say, as an advocate of level playing fields and the virtues of competition: They're right. It's thoroughly frustrating to glorify teams for "getting hot" at the expense of superior outfits that have consistently outperformed them on the whole, effectively overturning three or four months of results in three or four weeks.

That paragraph sums up, in a nut shell, what has become my biggest problem with the NFL

THE VERY REASONABLY TIMED TOP 25 FOR 2031 - Every Day Should Be Saturday