Cincinnati Bearcats A 10-Seed In NCAA Tournament, Will Face The Creighton Bluejays
By Chris Bains
The NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed today and the Cincinnati Bearcats grabbed a 10-seed in this season’s rendition of the Big Dance. UC was the lowest seed of the Big East conference to earn a spot in the tournament. But their slotting shouldn’t be surprising. The Bearcats’ played a dream season for the first two-thirds of the year or so. Then an injury to Cashmere Wright and a brutal schedule knocked Cincinnati down to Earth as they limped into the Big East tournament. After beating Providence and losing to Georgetown last week, a 10-seed is about right for the Bearcats.
Their opponent will be the 7-seed Creighton Bluejays who have had a very impressive season. A fast-paced, quick-scoring offense has guided them to a 27-win season and marquee victories over Wisconsin and to a lesser extent California. The Bluejays basically ran over the Missouri Valley Conference en route to a regular season and tournament championship. The catalyst of that offense is junior forward Doug McDermott who’s leading the team in points per game (23.1) and rebounds per game (7.5). He can be a physical nightmare for opposing teams and will present a matchup challenge for Mick Cronin’s squad.
The Cincinnati Bearcats and Creighton Bluejays hook up at roughly 2:45 PM Friday 3/22 on CBS. Kevin Harlan, Len Elmore, Reggie Miller, and Lewis Johnson will be on the call. Keep an eye out for a more in-depth preview of this game later this week.