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It’s that time of week again. After seven days of voting, the The All-Time Favorite Cincinnati Bearcat Basketball Player Tournament is ready to advance to the third round aka the Sweet 16. Up first as always is the Ed Jucker Region, which has been dominated by Oscar Robertson, to nobody’s surprise, but has also featured an upset and strong showings from Eric Hicks and Dontonio Wingfield.
Before we reveal the updated bracket, here are the results from second round voting.
No. 1 Oscar Robertson defeats No. 9 Rashad Bishop
After taking down Octavius Ellis in the first round by a narrowish margin, 2010-11 team captain Rashad Bishop dared to challenge the Big O. Things did not go so well, as Robertson, the human triple-double, won for the second-straight week by unanimous decision.
No. 4 Eric Hicks defeats No. 5 Dontonio Wingfield
One great year from Wingfield did not equate to a victory over four seasons from Hicks, including a stellar 2005-06 campaign. Hicks picked up 91.9 percent of the vote against Wingfield, matching his margin of victory in the first round over Dick Dallmer.
Even if Wingfield lost, we’ll always have his amazing debut.
No. 2 Paul Hogue defeats No. 10 Anthony Buford
In the first round, Buford pulled off an upset, dominating Roger McClendon en route to the second round. However, the road ends there for him, as Paul Hogue earned a 66-34 percent victory. Winning two national championships and being named an All-American trumps a Final Four appearance.
No. 6 LaZelle Durden defeats No. 3 Jim Ard
Don’t worry, folks, we still have an upset and its brought to you by the 29th-best scorer in program history. Durden netted at least 17 points per game in each of his last two seasons and is one of the best three-point shooters in program history. Jim Ard once blocked 10 shots in a game and is higher than Durden on the all-time scoring list, but unfortunately, he will not be marching forward.
Phew. Those were some matchups, huh? OK, OK you just want to see the bracket. Well here it is.
Now you’ll have to read a little more before you vote. (Or you can just scroll to the bottom. It’s your choice really.)
No. 1 Oscar Robertson vs. No. 4 Eric Hicks
Is Hicks going to be the first player to even get a vote against Robertson? It seems unlikely. Sure, Hicks was a durable and consistent post player and played more recently than Robertson, but how is anyone going to beat the legend that is Oscar Robertson? He is UC’s all-time scoring and rebounding leader and had more triple-doubles in his career (10) than the rest of the program combined (five).
No. 2 Paul Hogue vs. No. 6 LaZelle Durden
Hogue still has that whole two-time national champion thing going for him. Durden does, uh, not. But that doesn’t matter. Everyone should vote with their heart and Durden clearly has many of yours as evidenced by his advancement to this round. He was more than just a fine three-point shooter, as he was named to the All-Great Midwest first team in 1995. But I’m not just going to boast about Durden. Hogue was also great. In fact, he was better, topping Durden in all-time scoring, rebounds, oh, and national titles, in case you forgot in the last 10 seconds.
By now you know what to do next (other than read everything else on DTD). Voting is now open.