As the college basketball season becomes closer to tipping off, expectations become clearer, fans become more restless, and players become eager to show off what they have been working on. With the Cincinnati Bearcats going into the first year under head coach Jerrod Calhoun, with a brand-new roster turnover, what would make a successful first season for Calhoun and the Bearcats?
With an expanded field in the NCAA Tournament from 68 to 76 teams, a birth for the first time in 7 seasons needs to be the goal, and a lot of college basketball analysts agree. CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, was quoted saying "If Cincinnati makes the NCAA Tournament in 2027, prior to the 2027-28 season, I am going to fly to Cincinnati, and i'm going to put my credit card down at that Graeter's Ice Cream in fountain square and I'm buying ice cream for all the Bearcats fans."
The Bearcats need to make the expanded tournement to have a successful season, but you can also throw in things like "beat Xavier" or "Finish top 7 in the Big 12". If the Bearcats do make the tournament, the most important criteria would be making it out the play-in if they are a team that plays in Dayton or Wichita.
"Now there's no where to run.... I am one that believes that this program under Jerrod Calhoun will be different moving forward. But the facts are the facts, Cincinnati has been mostly nationally irrelevant for the last 7 years, will that change in 2026-27?" Said Rothstein in his final remarks about Cincinnati.
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