Whit Babcock Takes Blame For Bearcats Wonky Schedule

From the Enquirer

"I'll take whatever blame anybody wants to give," Babcock said, in a recent telephone interview with The Enquirer. "I can understand where coach Tuberville is coming from. I certainly know the schedule is not ideal, and I don't have any issue with his comments."

When Babcock canceled Stony Brook and added the Miami Hurricanes, he said he had the indication that the American Athletic Conference would move one of UC's league games to be the 2014 opener.

"A year ago at this time in Newport, Rhode Island (AAC media day), we were told we couldn't move a conference game there (as the opener)," Babcock said. "That's when it got to a code red. There also was some membership turnover in the conference. With everybody going in and going out, we couldn't make it happen."

That is a more complete explanation of what happened with this than anyone has given prior to this. That also makes the outcome more forgivable than it was before knowing the whole story. When the Bearcats swapped Stony Brook for Miami* they did so on the assumption that the AAC would work with them. But, surprise surprise the AAC office dropped the ball.

*A switch that you make 100 times out of 100

That much we knew before. The Bearcats tried like hell to get a conference game into one of those first two weeks. They asked Houston, Tulane and (I think) South Florida to move their game with UC up into the first week. They all declined for different reasons. Houston couldn't move their Grambling State game to a more accommodating date. Tulane was concerned that their new stadium wouldn't be ready in time, a concern that has proven to be overblown.

It sucks, but it is what it is at this point.