Cincinnati Bearcats Find Rims Lowered At Shoot-Around At SMU

The Cincinnati Bearcats are in Dallas, Texas to take on the SMU Mustangs tonight and got a bit of a surprise during their regular pregame shoot-around this afternoon.

UPDATE: The original tweet from the Cincinnati Equipment Managers’ account has been deleted but thankfully Eric Lilly (@EricLilly7) took a pic.

Yea, that’s called cheatin’ if SMU (known cheaters) set the rims 3 inches lower on purpose.

NCAA rules allow both the home and visiting teams to hold a final practice in the hours leading up to tip off. They also mandate that the rims be regulation height, 10 ft on the spot. Not 10 ft, 1 inch and certainly not 9 ft, 9 inches. That goes for both teams, not just the host school.

3 inches doesn’t seem like a lot but players are creatures of rhythm. Invigorating muscle memory for shots that have to travel sometimes 20 feet to the basket means training it differently for a 10 ft high basket compared to a 9 ft, 9 inch high one. The trajectory on the ball is just different and that could mean the difference between 4-5 made shots during the actual game.

Who knows if the Mustangs purposefully lowered the rims or this is all just a big mistake. I’d be curious if Cincinnati reports this to the NCAA but here’s what Troy Caupain thinks about it.