The Cincinnati Bearcats’ AAC schedule begins on Tuesday night when they host the 5-5 Temple Owls, kicking off three months of conference games that will make or break their NCAA Tournament. That wasn’t the case for UC last year and the root cause is the lack of quality wins for them this go around.
When the Bearcats faced the #1 ranked Xavier Musketeers in terms of RPI in the Crosstown Shootout, they lost. Against #4 Iowa State? Lost. #23 Butler? Lost. Their only top 50 RPI win this season was the George Washington Colonials (#26) and even VCU, which last year would have been considered a quality win, are only ranked #132.