Comments on: An Open Letter To Cincinnati: Please Stop Scheduling Kennesaw State

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 19:38:56 +0000

Mike,

Thanks for your candid response and I appreciate your willingness to admit the phrasing was extreme. As a lifelong resident of the Northeast and huge Big East fan (grew up on the 80s teams), I always thought Cincy was very under respected nationally the past 5 or so years. Mick Cronin inherited as bad of a situation as any in recent memory- leftover academic violations from Andy Kennedy, 1 scholarship player, followed a legend, and had to rebuild in one of the strongest conferences ever. He rebuilt Cincy to respectability and the top of that conference- a feat past powers like Seton Hall, St. John’s, Providence, DePaul all could never accomplish consistently.

They were were one of the toughest outs in that conference for a team the old guard- Pitt, UConn, Georgetown, Cuse hated playing. From that respect, I can understand why its hard for them to get marquee opponents- because what is their to win for a powerhouse like OSU, MSU, UNC, etc? 1) you are expected to beat them, and 2) they likely play harder and tougher than you do 3) they slowed games down into Jon Rothstein’s “rock fights” and played a very difficult style if you liked to push the ball. Basically, nothing to gain for a powerhouse. I do agree though, their non-conf schedule has cost them and I think at the very least they need to schedule better “buy” games against directional schools. More teams like North Carolina Central who I believe I saw they play tonight won their conference the year prior.

I’d be interested to hear more of your thoughts.

By: mlemaire

mlemaire — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 22:35:21 +0000

Jack,

Alright, you win, your point is a good one. They are certainly not comparable to Virginia Tech in that sense. I think my larger point still stands but I will watch the language I use more carefully.

D.E.,

No one said they should be compared to the teams you mentioned above, but they were not great last year and they don’t look like they will be a tournament team this year, which in my book counts as mediocre. I am not saying they can’t turn it around quickly or that they have gone from “good” to “terrible” in a short period of time. It’s why I said “slow” descent.

By: D.E.

D.E. — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 17:35:58 +0000

“Xavier’s slow descent into mediocrity” – C’mon – they missed the tournament one year. And if you’d bother to scroll down those kenpom rankings for 2014 you’ll notice X w/pre-season ranking of 57 – hardly slumming it with the likes of W Michigan, Wyoming & Wofford.

By: Jack

Jack — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 22:11:46 +0000

I agree 100% with that assertion that the non-conf schedule has hurt them in in regards to seeding. However, even last year as a 10 seed there were 9 at-large teams below them on the S curve, so they weren’t even sweating by those standards last year either. Therefore, they were never sweating out selection sunday any of the three years. I just don’t think its fair to publish something saying they are “sweating it out” and treating them like they are VT circle 2008-2011 when in none of those years were they ever close to not making the tournament.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 19:57:30 +0000

Fair enough Jack, maybe sweating out isnt the right turn of phrase. But its hard to deny that Cincinnati’s soft scheduling has hurt its resume in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament Committee.

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 19:49:40 +0000

still waiting for your response…

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 16:40:36 +0000

They were a 6 seed two of the past three seasons…how exactly does that equate to “sweating out” selection sunday?