A user on X has recently gained traction for a series they have been posting for the past couple of weeks. College Basketball Review has been ranking every college basketball program, with the Cincinnati Bearcats finally coming in at No. 17.
CBR notes that the reason Cincinnati is ranked so highly is mostly due to its history between two players, Oscar Robertson and Kenyon Martin, two of the greatest college basketball players ever. From 1956 to 2001, Cincinnati had some great players, Jack Twyman, Danny Fortson, Nick Van Exel, Steve Logan, and Ruben Patterson, just to name a few. During this era, the Bearcats were dominant with this talent, making 6 final fours and winning back-to-back national championships in 1961 and 1962.
To go along with all of those accomplishments, CBR explains why Cincinnati has received a ranking of No.17. He notes that Robertson was actually not a part of the 1961 and 1962 national championship teams, playing at Cincinnati from 1957-60. He says his averages of 33.8 points per game and 15.2 rebounds per game are "among the craziest stat lines of all-time." He then moves to the Bob Huggins era at Cincinnati, where he brought them to the NCAA Tournament in 14 of his 16 seasons as head coach.
He finally brings up the 2010s under Mick Cronin, when Cincinnati was a contending program for several years in the Big East and American Athletic Conference. He finally says that even though the Bearcats have missed the last seven NCAA Tournaments, they are headed in the right direction with head coach Jerrod Calhoun.
No. 17 in our all-time college basketball rankings is Cincinnati!
— College Basketball Review (@CbbReview) July 14, 2026
From Oscar Robertson to Kenyon Martin, the Bearcats have had some great talent, leading them to six Final Fours and a pair of National Championships coming in 1961 and 1962.
Many people think the Big O was part… pic.twitter.com/nbBrywIxK3
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