UC Bearcats Basketball: Cincinnati Lands At #13 In Last Regular Season AP Poll
By Chris Bains
Mar 8, 2014; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats forward Jermaine Sanders (15) brings the ball up court during the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Cincinnati Bearcats defeat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 70-66. Mandatory Credit: Jim O
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The last AP Poll of the 2013-14 regular season has been released and the Cincinnati Bearcats have risen to 13th in the latest one, receiving 922 votes. Their 97-84 win over Memphis on Thursday and Rutgers on Saturday certainly helped boost them two slots from the previous week. I would anticipate we see them tabbed around 12th or 13th when the final Coaches Poll is released in a little bit.
As I’ve been beating into the ground for the last few weeks, the rankings themselves don’t really matter too much for this team right now. It’s all about lining themselves up for a favorable seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Certainly they have to buckle down and focus on the AAC Tourney this Thursday where UC will face the winner of Temple and Central Florida on Wednesday night. But as of now, a slot as 13th best in the country sets the Bearcats up to climb into the top-10 if they go deep in the conference tournament. As such, they would make a strong case to earn a 2 or 3 seed come March Madness time and play on the opposite side of the 1 seed in their quadrant of the bracket. That would definitely help Cincinnati’s chances of them going far in March Madness.