Bearcat Bits for June 20th

ESPN has done actual reporting for a change on how moving conferences affects finances for athletic departments. The numbers that everyone focuses on revenue, expenses and net revenue will (usually) go up when moving to a new conference. This is not in and of itself a surprising thing. Afterall moving to a new conference is 100 per cent a money grab, despite University Presidents protesting so vociferously that these changes are motivated by anything but money. Protesting with little to no success mind you.

What is most surprising about this though is that changing conferences will not affect a programs standard of living won't really change relative to a schools peer group, because the peer group itself changes. That is a fancy way of saying that if a schools revenues and expenses are below average before changing conferences. They will still be below average after the move. As Cincinnati fans can attest that is 100 per cent true. The Bearcats still have to do more with less.

whatever lingering concerns you might have had about the Bearcats ability to recruit Cincinnati with Kerry Coombs at Ohio State should be gone now. Not really an issue so far. The Bearcats have 9 commitments in the class of 2013, five of them from Ohio and three from greater Cincinnati in Rasheen Jones, Ben Flick and Dylan Weisman. Ohio State has one tri state commitment in Jalin Marshall, but Marshall was going to be a Buckeye even if Kerry Coombs was still in Clifton. Cincinnati is simply not Ohio State country and hasn't really been for years. So Buckeye fans should enjoy not being able to recruit in Cincinnati while at the same time having one of the worst coached secondaries in the region.

The Bearcats are still in solid position with a number of the top players in the city. Keith Watkins, and Alex Gall from Moeller, Trey Kilgore from St. Xavier and Jaleel Hytchye from LaSalle. And don't forget about Chris Davis from Colerain either. He is still recovering from last years knee injury but if he shows that he is healthy this year he will be one of the best players in the area. The Bearcats are far from done with the Cincinnati area.

Lastly there is some bad news on the Football front, Caleb Stacey is no longer on the official Football roster. All kinds of rumors are swirling that Stacey quit after the first day of the off season program for the freshmen who reported over the weekend. The validity of that is obviously up for discussion. What isn't debatable is that Stacey is not on the roster. If Stacey has left the Bearcats that is a big blow down the road as he is one of the most highly regarded linemen to come to Cincinnati in several years. More on this as details emerge.

Et Cetera

David Payne is looking at another run for an Olympic medal...this picture of Haruki Nakamura and Snoop Dogg is real. I just felt that the world needs to know that...Howard Schnellenberger remains arguably the most fascinating coach in college football history....why won't Florida let Uncle Luke coach Football...god bless Charles Barkely....I only pay attention to Baseball when cheating is involved...Harvey Updyke still poisend Toomers Oaks and actually admits as much....a great performance from Russell Westbrook was squandered last night...why won't Florida let Uncle Luke coach Football.

Video of Interest

Follow Down The Drive on Facebook/Twitter and check out the DTD Store