On Saturday the Bearcats will head to Lincoln, Nebraska to play the Cornhuskers for their first taste of a hostile road-game environment. Nebraska limps into the game Saturday after losing a late-game shocker to the University of the Incarnate Word. And yes, that is the name of a real school. The Cornhuskers were up 5 points with 33 seconds to go in the game, and lost a heartbreaker.
Despite their tough loss to UIW, Nebraska was projected earlier this season to finish between 2nd and 4th place in the Big 10. They feature one of the Big Ten’s premier scorers in Terran Petteway, and a coach that was Co-Big 10 Coach of the Year.
Over the course of the season thus far, the Bearcats have fared better when they have shot the ball well from behind the arc. In the Bearcats’ three lowest scoring outputs this season (52 – Saint Francis, 54 – Eastern Illinois, 54 – Ole Miss), they shot between 10-15% from three point land. In order to beat Nebraska, they’re going to need to make some shots.
While I did my best to persuade Coach Cronin to discuss the potential realignment (see video above at 11:30), he stayed on this weekend’s task, preferring to not engage in any hypothetical scenarios. Since he won’t, I will…
Imagine a basketball conference that included Cincinnati, Memphis, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Kansas State. That’d be worth the price of admission.
By: Brian Fox