(Courtesy ESPN)
The Bearcats have further bolstered their basketball schedule for the upcoming season. It was rumored for months but announced at noon today that Cincinnati will travel to New York City to take on the Pitt Panthers in the Jimmy V Classic on December 17th. The annual event at Madison Square Gardens honors the late, great Jimmy Valvano and raises millions of dollars every year for cancer research. Traditionally it is one of the most sought after events for college basketball programs looking to build their NCAA Tournament resume early in the season. In addition to UC-Pitt, Memphis and Florida will also participate this year and last season Texas, Georgetown, NC State, and UConn all played.
Give that list of schools, this is a strong indication about the company Cincinnati basketball now keeps and speaks volumes about how high the perception of this program has risen since Mick Cronin took over. And on another note, how nice is it that the Bearcats and Panthers will be hooking up one more time? Since the Big East was annihilated, I’ve been hoping that Whit Babcock, ESPN, anybody would try to keep some semblance of a rivalry with UC’s former conference foes. Louisville and West Virginia have yet to be scheduled but playing Pitt next season might spur both universities to collaborate on games sometime down the line.
In the immediate future, though, this is an excellent addition to UC’s 2013-14 basketball schedule.