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Big East Tournament

It's not last year, but UConn has tourney magic - CBSSports.com

It's already begun, with people tossing around the name "Kemba" after the UConn Huskies have reeled off two wins in the Big East tournament. It's in reference to last year's ridiculous run to the tourney crown, but this isn't the same team. Jim Calhoun knows it and so do veterans like Alex Oriakhi, who was around for last year's memorable five victories in five days.

Seton Hall misses opportunity; will wait and pray - CBSSports.com

The Pirates have wins against Georgetown, UConn and West Virginia. They also have losses to DePaul, Rutgers and Villanova.

Losing to DePaul is like a gorgeous woman who's smart and funny but smokes. Total buzzkill. Right Buzz Killington

Cincinnati Bearcats eager to live up to elite Big East seed | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com

"They’re a team that relies on offensive efficiency, and they always shoot a high percentage," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "The one thing we did last time, we got 20 points off their turnovers with 13 steals. That’s going to be a huge key. Easy baskets are going to determine who wins the game. If one team is struggling to grind it out to get a good shot and the other team is getting easy baskets, that’s a tell-tale sign."

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Big East Tournament

Seton Hall Basketball: Seton Hall 79, Providence 47; Theodore Defines Perfection in Manhattan - South Orange Juice

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.

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Today starts the best five days of the year, the Big East Tournament. Well that is the reckoning of some. Recent UC history suggests its a day of fun followed by a day of soul crushing depression followed by two days of general numbness that seems like it might be triggered by weapons grade morphine. But hey, to each their own.

Big East Tournament/Stuff

Big East Tournament 2012: Cincinnati Basketball Preview - SB Nation New York

Playing For: Securing NCAA Tournament at-large bid. If everything goes right for Cincinnati, it could earn its first ever Big East Tournament crown. However, most Bearcat fans are hoping their team can just win their first game, so they don't need to worry come Selection Sunday.

Unless Pitt or St. John's are the opponents a loss Thursday wouldn't put the Bearcats on the bubble. This team has proven their worth beyond a doubt.

Big East Pays the Price for Not Embracing Football - NYTimes.com

Tranghese tried to tell the Big East’s university presidents and athletic directors as much as early as 1989 when he was Gavitt’s assistant. Gavitt thought the conference needed to bring Penn State into the fold. Penn State was an independent at the time, looking for the security of a conference. The membership voted no, with St. John’s, Villanova and Georgetown leading the resistance. At the end of the meeting, Gavitt asked Tranghese what he thought about the decision. "I said, ‘We will all rue the day about this decision,’ " Tranghese said. "I understood how big football was. I didn’t understand how big it was going to become.

Understatement of the millennium. Easily the dumbest decision made by a conferences membership ever. Now it goes without saying that if Penn State goes to the Big East UC would probably still be stuck in Metro/Great Midwest/C-USA hell so I'm not that upset about it still. That was the Bowie over Jordon moment of the last 25 years of conference upheaval.

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We have an abbreviated jump off today

Football

Spring Practice: Day 2 Report | Bearcat Lair

The quarterback play might have been described as dreadful on Saturday. Munchie Legaux was again taking the No. 1 reps, but the junior-to-be was again inconsistent often overthrowing receivers with his passes. He got picked once, but he really should have been intercepted twice. On a positive note, Legaux did have one excellent throw down the right sideline when he connected perfectly with Thompkins, who had beaten the defender.

Coach Jones Gives Early Impressions

With the recent departure of Coach Coombs to Ohio State, Coach Jones was asked when he was expecting to fill that vacancy on his staff. "We hope to have that done on Monday," he said.

That's obviously good news.

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Big news day today. Lets start by wrapping up the Kerry Coombs situation

Kerry Coombs

Coach Kerry Coombs Appears to be Headed to Ohio State

This now presents an intriguing problem for the Bearcats as the timing of this news is just horrible. Not only did Coombs fulfill a number of positions but spring football practice started today. It’s unclear to me just who will take over coaching the secondary for UC and Jones may even opt to hire someone from the outside. Although, it might be too late to do even that and we could see former UC cornerback Mike Mickens get a more hands-on role with the Cincinnati DBs. It’s unclear who will take on the special teams duties.

The timing does give a ring of truth to the voluminous rumors that Coombs looked for an exit because he was pissed off about not being named defensive coordinator. No offense but I wouldn't want Coombs within 100 miles of calling defenses in games.

Kerry Coombs Bolts for Ohio State | February

My twitter friend Eric Lilly made a great point when he said this was a Mick Cronin move. If you forget, Cronin was on Bob Huggins' staff, then left to be a Rick Pitino assistant at Louisville. Cronin wanted more experience to get a head coaching job. He got hired at Murray St and ended up at UC. Coombs has a higher profile at OSU which he can use to springboard to the MAC, specifically Central Michigan, and can be hired in 6 years when Butch Jones leaves after winning 6 national titles in a row.

I would be stunned if Kerry Coombs was ever a head coach at this level. He started his career track so late and frankly isn't that good.

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Marquette Reaction

Poppin' Bubbles: Winners and Losers - CBSSports.com

Cincinnati: The Bearcats were the first team to take advantage and get a marquee win on Wednesday night, getting off to a great start against Marquette and blowing out the Golden Eagles. It could be the win that gets Cincinnati into the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats have now defeated Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette and Notre Dame, and are 11-6 in the Big East. They face Villanova on the road to end the season; a win there, and Cincinnati will be in good shape despite its horrendous non-conference schedule.

Cincinnati Bearcats knock off Marquette with ease | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com

"We couldn’t ask for more," said Gates, who received a huge ovation, with the crowd chanting his name when he was removed from the game with 4.5 seconds left. "We all played great. Everybody did what they had to do to get a win. It’s something I’ll remember forever."

Cincinnati 72, Marquette 61: Let’s Dance

From and X’s and O’s standpoint, the Bearcats simply played a cleaner game. The guards, particularly Jaquon Parker and Dion Dixon (more on them in a minute), drove the lane with aggression and picked up hard points in the paint. The transition game was also night and day from game 1. Marquette obliterated UC’s full-court offense with a suffocating press. Not tonight. The players didn’t bunch up and made smart passes which led to easy buckets. The Bearcats essentially used the Golden Eagles’ game against them.

Parker, Cincinnati upset No. 8 Marquette | wzzm13.com

The Bearcats are 8-4 over their last 12 games against ranked foes...

That's good no?

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Basketball

Scouting the Marquette Golden Eagles: Payback Time

- Jae Crowder (#32): This guy is just a scoring machine. As a small forward he can make buckets from anywhere on the floor but most importantly threes from the top of the key where Cashmere Wright has found a nice rhythm from recently. The problem is that spot is a great area for players to decide if they want to stop and take the three or drive the lane for a tough layup. Crowder can do both and he leaves defenses guessing as to whether they should crowd him to prevent the three or give him room in case he goes for the two. The Bearcats need to establish early the fact that they will crash the lane hard on him to make him think twice about doing it later in the game. This will allow UC’s guards to cover him tight on the perimeter.

I am more worried about Darius Johnson-Odom than Crowder. I think it's easier to weather a big night from Crowder than DJO

Beating Marquette takes precedence over Senior Night | UC Athletics Blog

"You know that it’s Senior Night and we feel it," Gates said, "but I think we’ll feel it more when we get on the court tomorrow. Right now, our focus is so much on we need this win that we really don’t have time to sit back and think, ‘Oh, tomorrow’s Senior Night.’ "

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A relatively light day on the news front

Football

Cincinnati Bearcats Wrap Up NFL Combine

Overall, the player who most improved his draft stock was Isaiah Pead. He’s been gaining more and more attention from NFL scouts since his performance in the Senior Bowl and his numbers this weekend could push him into the 2nd round of the NFL Draft.

Wake-up: Bengals eyeing RB-by-committee - AFC North Blog - ESPN

The team's website speculated that Cincinnati could split carries between a big-back rookie -- a 205-pounder like Virginia Tech's David Wilson, a 215-pounder like Boise State's Doug Martin and a 200-pounder like Cincinnati's Isaiah Pead -- and returning backup Bernard Scott.

Unlike most of you guys I wouldn't be all that thrilled with Pead on the Bengals being a Browns fan and all.

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