The Cincinnati Bearcats are scheduled to play in the 2016 Hall-of-Fame Tipoff Classic at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and could face the Duke Blue Devils, according to Jon Rothstein at CBS Sports.
Duke, Cincinnati, URI, & Penn St headline the 2016 Hall-of-Fame Tipoff Classic at Mohegan Sun, sources told @CBSSports. Matchups still TBD.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 28, 2015
Of course Rhode Island and Penn State are included in the early season tournament, along with four other teams who won’t make the trip to Connecticut, but Duke is clearly the headliner.
As such, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised that the schedulers place the Bearcats and Blue Devils on opposite sides of the bracket such that they’re slatted to face off in the championship game. You know putting UC against Rhode Island in the 1st game of day one and Duke against Penn State in the 2nd game, or something like that. After all, in this year’s Hall-of-Fame Tipoff Classic, Florida and Purdue are separated in the bracket this season, set to play Saint Joseph’s and Old Dominion in game one, respectively. The same thing happened with ranked North Carolina and Louisville in 2013.
So that’s what I’d anticipate for Cincinnati and Duke next season.
This news of course spurs memories of the last time these two teams hooked up, in the 1998 Great Alaska Shootout, when Melvin Levett made all the lil’ Cameron Crazies cry. You can watch the whole game below or just skip ahead to the one hour, 11 minute mark. Look at all that hair on Mick’s head!