Not sure who those guys wearing the Bearcat unis were, but surely they weren't really a Big East team that UConn was facing. The real Bearcats must have still been stuck at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. The worst team UConn faced this season -- Maine, RPI: 329 -- "only" lost by 45 points. Cinci matched that by falling 96-51.

This game was a laugher after the first few minutes. UConn had a 6-5 lead and then went on a 30-0 run over nearly 11 minutes. By halftime it was 47-15. Cinci shot below 27% and UConn was over 55% in this blowout.

Two weeks ago, the Bearcats were 8-5 and their coach was suggesting that Cinci was NCAA Tournament worthy. Well, a 5-game losing streak later and Cinci won't even be getting an NIT bid.

The only good thing for Cinci is that the season doesn't actually end with this thud. They still have at least one more game on Wednesday in the Big East Tournament.

The Cincinnati Bearcats were supposed to play their final game of the season against UConn today at 4pm. The big winter storm that blew into all of Ohio yesterday and is still going on changed everything. The Bearcats were supposed to leave yesterday evening, but had their flights canceled. The winter storm has continued to pile up the snow and the Bearcats were unable to leave this morning, or even this afternoon.

That has forced a postponement until Sunday at 6pm. The game has little impact regarding the NCAA Tournament -- beyond seeding for UConn. With regards to the Big East Tournament, it has a lot of meaning for Cinci in the seeding. Right now, they are a 10 seed. They could fall to 11 or even rise to maybe an 8 seed.

Okay, still not much. Most important for Cinci, though, would be making the case that they should get into the NIT. Something that doesn't look likely without at least a .500 record in the Big East.

The Big East, SEC and ESPN have already decided on the 8 teams that will participate in the Big East-SEC Invitational for 2008.

December 16 at the Sommet Center in Nashville
South Florida-Vanderbilt
Marquette-Tennessee

December 18 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati
Mississippi St.-Cincinnati
Ole Miss-Louisville

Since this "Invitational" is effectively operated and controlled by ESPN, the exciting press actually made the ESPN network crawls as news this evening. This series is a half-hearted effort from both conferences to have their own conference challenge like the ACC-Big 10 and now the Pac-10-Big 12 have. Except, with very limited involvement.

The first year was not exactly a ringing success with half-empty arenas at the semi-neutral sites. This time they might actually sell-out with a good Marquette-Tennessee game and the teams playing in Cincinnati

They blew the chance to make at least one really interesting match-up among the teams -- and guaranteeing coverage. Ole Miss facing Cinci instead of Louisville would have been much more interesting. The Rebels are coached by Andy Kennedy who served as an assistant at Cinci and was the interim coach for the year after Bob Huggins was fired from Cinci. That would have been a meaningful game.

In the days leading up to the game between WVU and Cinci, Bob Huggins maintained that he had just treating it like another game when asked about facing his old team.

When asked if there would be any emotions when he plays the school where he built so many great basketball memories for himself and the community, Huggins said, "No. It's a game we need to win."

That was standard coachspeak, but his wardrobe betrayed him. Any coach that comes out in a suit and shoes that are in the school colors screams "big game."

Huggins came out garbed in a gold 4-button suit with matching shoes. You can catch a bit of the suit in the opening seconds of the highlight reel. Considering Cinci destroyed the Mountaineers 62-39, the suit was probably the highlight for West Virginia fans.

That quote came from Dennis Hopper in Flashback. It is also the feeling of most BIg East teams to this point. I'm actually quite fond of the book.

You know, last week, I said the road would be key to distinguish the best teams from the middle teams and the bad teams. Naturally, (almost) everybody lost on the road to keep things totally senseless. After 44 conference games through Sunday, the road team is 10-34 (.227).

For so many of the teams it was about how good they looked at home and at least being close in a road game to make an impact in the power poll.

Cinci lost to St. John's and Notre Dame in the Big East. They have beaten Louisville, Syracuse, Villanova and today, Pitt -- 62-59. Playing at home clearly helped as Cinci is now 3-0 at home in the Big East, versus 1-2 on the road. Yet another team that plays so much better at home versus the road.

As in the Louisville win, Cinci played great defense throughout. Despite not having the size inside, they collapsed and harassed Pitt's Sam Young and DeJuan Blair to contest shots and limit chances at offensive boards. On the perimeter, they closed quickly to prevent open looks. They didn't gamble on steals. They just maintained strong defense that forced Pitt to keep moving the ball, looking for a shot.

The defensive effort allowed them to completely dictate the pace of the game. This worked for Cinci on offense as Pitt's impatience allowed the Bearcats to penetrate and draw fouls on shots. Despite actually fouling more than Pitt, Cinci shot twice as many free throws.

The Bearcats aren't going to the NCAA Tournament this year, but the progress they have made just in this season has been impressive. No body in the Big East will be looking forward to trips to the Queen City.

The Bearcats have been bad. Last year, they went 2-14 in the Big East. This season, they have lost games to Bowling Green, Belmont and St. John's. So, the belief was that they were still several years away from being rebuilt. That is, assuming Mick Cronin proves to be the right hire as head coach. Right now, he's starting to look like it might work.

The Bearcats have gotten off to a 3-1 start in the Big East. Not by beating the lower tier teams. Instead they knocked off Louisville, Syracuse and now Villanova.

The Bearcats won a thriller, 69-66. Raymond Bishop, a freshman forward who had been 0-3, hit an open 3 with 22 seconds left. Deonta Vaughn passed to him as the defense collapsed on him. Villanova couldn't get the tie as Scottie Reynolds threw up a 3 in the midst of 3 defenders that clanged off the backboard and rim at the end of the game.

Cinci controlled the tempo to keep the game close. Villanova could not get out on transition for quick scores too often. Instead, they had to run half-court. The good news, was that guard Scottie Reynolds broke out of his recent shooting slump to go off for 32 points. The bad news, was that it was mostly from the outside.

The Cinci defense kept Villanova on the perimeter on offense. The Wildcats only had 9 assists on 26 field goals. Villanova's forwards often found themselves settling for short jumpers rather than attacking the rim.

The Bearcats were more balanced, though guard Deonta Vaughn had 25 points. The difference for Cinci, was that they were driving to the basket. The Villanova frontcourt struggled and committed a lot of fouls trying to stop them. This gave the Bearcats a lot more chances at the free throw line.

I was ready to suggest that Syracuse was one of those teams not getting a lot of attention or respect. Despite having two starting guards out for the season, they were 12-3 going into tonight's game with Cinci. The losses were not to bad teams, and the Orange have been damn fun to watch with the way they can score.

Freshman Donte Green has been fantastic and has helped take pressure off of Paul Harris. Jonny Flynn, an outstanding freshman point guard, has been great at getting everyone involved even while he gets his shots. A lot of talent on this team.

The problem for Syracuse, and likely to be magnified the further they get into the conference season -- a deep, abiding avoidance to playing defense. Syracuse allows 75+ points/game. They count on outscoring opponents and doing so by running the opposition ragged as one of the fastest tempo teams. They get out on transition and with the Boeheim 2-3 zone, they don't count on second-chance points.

If they can't dictate the tempo, they lose control of the game. Worse still, they get frustrated and they take bad shots. Tonight, they had no control over Cinci. The Bearcats play slow, grinding tempo because they don't have enough talent or experience. Cinci barely scores enough points, so they have to keep it slow to have a chance.

Offensively Syracuse went stone cold halfway through the first half. Cinci went on a 25-5 run to go into the half up by 12. They just hung on the rest of the way, Syracuse couldn't get the pace to pick up to their liking and could never get close enough, losing 74-66.

Way back in the days of Conference USA with Bobby Huggins still coaching, the Bearcats, Louisville-Cincinnati games were heavily promoted, primetime ESPN games. Today it was a New Years day showing opposite the Capital City and Gator Bowls. Add in the fact that Cinci has become a major rebuilding project the last couple years and Louisville has won the 4 of the last 5 games. Oh, and Louisville was at home and getting healthy with the return of their inside players of Padgett and Palacios. There's a reason why Louisville was a 14 point favorite.

Instead Louisville got shocked 58-57 in a game that was exactly the way Cinci wanted. Slowed down, hard defense. Louisville was enamored with the outside shot, but couldn't hit anything. They only went 3-22 outside the arc while shooting 18-38 everywhere else. James Smith and Juan Palacios were the extreme examples. A combined 1-10 on 3s, but 8-8 inside the arc. They were also aided by Terrence Williams taking and missing the most shots by the Cardinals. He couldn't hit, but kept firing to the tune of 2-14.

Cinci played harder and battled for rebounds, despite the bigger inside presence by Louisville. They took far less shots and free throws, but actually sank them. Whether this was just a big upset for Cinci or a sign of how dangerous they could be in the Big East is still quite debatable. This is still a 6-7 team that lost 5 straight including to Illinois State and UAB.