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Big East Tournament
The senior point guard declared he would have the Pirates ready for Tuesday night and ONCE AGAIN, backed up his words. Earlier in the season, Theodore made a similar guarantee before leading the Pirates to a road win at Piscataway. JT set a new career high in assists and finished just one shy of the Big East Tournament record, dishing out 13 dimes versus just one turnover. Theo also made good on 5-of-11 from the floor to finish his night with 13 points and 4 rebounds.
Jordan Theodore was magnificent. Though it has to be conceded that being magnificent against Providence isn't the same as being magnificent against say, Syracuse.
UConn 81, DePaul 67: What a difference a Hall of Fame coach makes - The UConn Blog
Still, it was just DePaul and we'll learn a lot more tomorrow when the Huskies square off with West Virginia. If UConn does win it will be the first time all year they've beaten three straight Big East teams and I'll allow myself to fully buy in to their resurgence.
WVU-UConn is probably the most compelling match up of the day
One Down, Four To Go: Pitt Beats St. John's 73-59, Georgetown Next - Cardiac Hill
Ashton Gibbs led the team in scoring with 20 and Nasir Robinson added 15 as the pair picked up their first Big East Tournament win of their careers. Think about that for a moment. For all the success that Pitt has had over the previous 3 seasons, they've yet to win a game in March at Madison Square Garden. But that's all over now.
It's crazy to think that Gibbs and Robinson never won a Big East Tournament game until yesterday. But then again it is Pitt. I suppose it's not that crazy after all.
Pitt-Georgetown: Big East Tournament Second Round - Cardiac Hill
A pittish look at the Hoya's V Panthers. I would rather play Pitt, obviously.
Big East Tournament Preview | Bearcats Blog
Scott King has been doing some color coded tempo neutral work
Cincinnati to Play in Quarterfinals of BIG EAST Championship - University of Cincinnati Official Athletics Site
The UC men's basketball team will play Thursday, March 8, in the quarterfinals of the 30th annual BIG EAST Championship after earning the double-bye Saturday. The quarterfinal contest will be televised by ESPN at approximately 2 p.m. ET.
College Basketball Bubble Watch - Champ Week means there's a whole lot of sweating going on along the bubble line - NCAA Men's Basketball - ESPN
The Bearcats are an NCAA tournament lock according to the fine people at ESPN.
Football
Scout.com: The Top Non-Conference Games - No. 11 to 20
13. Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech (in Landover), Sept. 29 Shhhhhhh, but Cincinnati might really, really good, and with the right breaks, this could be a preview of the 2013 Orange Bowl. It’s a rematch of the 2009 Orange Bowl – at 20-7 Hokie win – with Virginia Tech winning five of the eight meetings going back to 1985. The Bearcats have a relatively easy rest of the non-conference schedule, but this is the game they need to get on the national map. Tech will play Pitt from the Big East in mid-September and will start out against Georgia Tech, and this is the end of the non-conference schedule before going off to North Carolina the week after.
It's refreshing to see a publication acknowledge the latent potential of this Bearcat team.
Football In Full Pads For Practice Three - University of Cincinnati Official Athletics Site
It was the first time in pads for the Bearcats since the 2011 AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31 and much of the pre-practice chatter was filled with anticipation. The coaching staff started things out early with the circle of life drill, pitting the players in 1-on-1 hitting situations. From there, the team worked through live periods in special teams, 7-on-7 and 11-on-11.
Some pads were popping
Football Scheduling News, Or Intentions More Accurately
A Letter From Director of Athletics Whit Babcock - University of Cincinnati Official Athletics Site
2012 Football Schedule: Amidst the changing conference realignment landscape of the past year and a restructured BIG EAST Conference, a finalized football schedule has been challenging to complete for the upcoming season. We are working on this daily. We currently have six home games on the docket against: Delaware State, Miami OH, Syracuse, South Florida, Rutgers and Pittsburgh. It is our desire to secure a seventh home game if at all possible to complete our 12-game schedule. We also will play a "neutral site" game vs. Virginia Tech in Washington DC this season (see below) and true "road games" at Toledo, Connecticut, Louisville, and (hopefully) a BIG EAST Conference replacement for West Virginia. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this very unique scheduling situation. Either way, no matter our opponents, we hope that you will be excited to support the Liberty Bowl and BIG EAST Champion Bearcats in 2012 and beyond.
A 7th home game is a must from a revenue perspective.
Football Recruiting
Changes In Cincinnati Recruiting Scene | Cincinnati.com
"UC football is UC football," Bolden said. "They will win with guys like Andre." Still, Bolden didn’t see Coombs’ departure coming. Coombs, who lives near Colerain High School, visited the school in late January. "I was probably as shocked as Andre to be honest with you," said Bolden. "The more I work it over, the more I understand … (Kerry) held this one pretty close to the vest. I had no idea."
Thanks Tom, you are exactly right.
Other Bearcat News
UC sends three to NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships | UC Athletics Blog
UC’s Jasmine Cotten, Kathy Klump and Terrance Somerville will compete at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships March 9-10 in Nampa, Idaho.
All three Bearcats have resonable chances to earn All America status which is finishing in the top 8, or among the top 8 Americans if one of the top 8 finishers hails from outside the country. Somerville was an All American last year for Outdoor.
Expansion Is Like Instability In The Middle East. It Never Stops, and There Is Never a Good Reason For It.
You read that right, there's a rumor with a little more smoke than the other one mentioned that involves said four-letter TV network pushing on the Big Ten (or so) to add Notre Dame, Rutgers, Maryland, and Georgia Tech by the year 2016.
(shakes head sadly)
Nationally Recognized
Charlie Coles retires following Miami of Ohio loss in MAC tournament - The Washington Post
Athletic director Brad Bates called Coles "an iconic figure in the history of Miami University as a student, athlete, server, leader, mentor and coach."
Coles is also a hall of fame wise ass. And I mean that in the fondest sense possible. I am a wise ass fan, being one myself.