Former Bearcats head coach Bob Huggins to be inducted into athletics hall of fame

Former Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Bob Huggins will be honored this October 23rd by being inducted into the James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame at the University of Cincinnati. Huggins first season as the head coach of Cincinnati was in 1989 where he would stay until 2005.

Before Huggins arrived, Cincinnati had not made the NCAA tournament since 1977, when Gale Catlett was head coach. By the time Huggins left, Cincinnati was regarded as one of the best college basketball programs in the country. Huggins didn't make the tournament for the time with Cincinnati until 1992, winning the regular season Great Midwest Conference title and tournament title. The Bearcats went 29-5 that season, earning a 4 seed in the tournament. Cincinnati would make it all the way to the Final Four, beating Delaware, Michigan State, UTEP, and Memphis State, setting up a matchup against the famous Michigan "Fab Five," where they would lose 76-72.

Cincinnati would make it back to the tournament in 1993, this time as a No. 2 seed, winning the Great Midwest Conference for a second straight season. The Bearcats would defeat Coppin State, New Mexico State, and Virginia on the way to the Elite Eight, where they would face off against t3he No. 1 North Carolina, where they lost 75-68 in overtime to the eventual champions.

Cincinnati would make the tournament in 1994 and 1995 but would lose in the round of 32 and 64 back-to-back seasons. In 1996, the Bearcats joined Conference USA, where they would win the regular season title and conference tournament title in their season, earning a No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament. Cincinnati would make it all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to the No. 5 seed, Mississippi State. In 1997, Cincinnati was the No. 1 preseason-ranked team and would go into the tournament being the No. 10-ranked team nationally, earning a No. 3 seed. Cincinnati would lose in the round of 32 to the Iowa State Cyclones, 67-66. Huggins' team in 1998, though, was special. Going 27-6 and earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, Cincinnati was a national title favorite. Cincinnati would avoid a loss to No. 15 seed Northern Arizona 65-62 but would lose to West Virginia 75-74 off a banked-in three-pointer with less than one second left.

Cincinnati would make it back in 1999, which might be the most infamous 'What if?' years in Cincinnati Bearcats history and college basketball history. The Bearcats went 29-4 this season, a perfect 16-0 in Conference USA games. Cincinnati was the No. 1-ranked team in the country entering conference tournament weekend and was going to receive the top seed in the tournament. In the Bearcats first game of the C-USA tournament, All-American and Naismith Player of the Year, Kenyon Martin would break his leg setting a screen. Cincinnati would receive a No. 2 seed in the tournament and would lose to Tulsa in the round of 32.

Cincinnati's last great team under Huggins came in 2001-02, where Cincinnati would earn a No.1 seed after going 31-4 and sweeping the C-USA regular season and tournament titles. However, Cincinnati would lose to an under-seeded UCLA team 105-101 in double overtime.

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