The Day After, Still a Big Win

UC assistant athletic director Mike Harris summed it up best Friday when he said, "it's a great day to be a Bearcat fan".  It's the day after a big win against West Virginia and the players are not caught up in the celebration, instead they are looking back at it with appreciation.

It was a sign this team is maturing.  The youngsters are growing up.  Thursday night they went into a must win game without one of their senior leaders, Mike Williams was on the bench with a sore knee.

Deonta Vaughn said the teams recent confidence helped them, but so did following the game plan and playing defense.

What about the Game, It's a BIG one

Last year when UC beat West Virginia the Bearcats were able to hold Bob Huggins to o points, but Mick Cronin was also scoreless in his teams win.

Enough with the coaches, neither of them will hit the winning shot Thursday night.    The Mountaineers come into the game in a much better position for the NCAA Tournament than UC is, that's why this is a must win game for the home team.

Coach Cronin knows that West Virginia is a very good basketball team, here is his view of the Mountaineers.

On Tuesday when we spoke with the team they were just about to look at film of their up coming opponent, but they already know what WVU is all about.

That's a look at the opponent in this very important game.    As for the degree of "importance", it must be big.  ESPN is sending the team of Brent Musburger and Bob Knight. Which leaves one very big question.  UC has only played Ohio State once in the past 50 years, how will Brent work the Buckeyes into the conversation?

Game Time:  7:30   TV:  ESPN   Radio:  WLW

Louisville Let Down....No Way!

Bearcat Sports Page.com was at the Bearcats football practice today. Just from watching the action on the field, the excitement the guys have leaves you with the feeling that they will be up for the game Friday night in Louisville.

We spoke with several players after practice and to a man they spoke with passion about getting The Keg of Nails back in Clifton. Brian Kelly has done a tremendous job instilling pride and accomplishment in these young men. If they were 2 and 9 they would be just as eager to get that trophy back. Especially the seniors that have never beaten the Cardinals and have never touched the trophy. Are we guaranteeing a win, that's impossible but from what we saw and heard today it would shock us if there was any kind of let down from this group.

Look for video interviews we will post tomorrow including several seniors. Great reactions looking back at the West Virginia game as well as comments on not looking too far ahead and playing "one game at a time".

Orange Bowl?

Not that these "experts" have a clue about what team ends up in what bowl, here is a sample of what they are thinking. Of course UC winning the next three games leaves only one question, Sugar or Orange. Interestingly enough the majority seem to agree that the Big East Champ goes to the Orange Bowl with Utah ending up in New Orleans against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

NBC: Gator against Virginia Tech

College Football News: Meineke ( Charlotte) against Georgia Tech

Bowl Projections.com: Meineke against Florida State

ESPN U ( 2 experts): Orange against Florida St

Meineke against Maryland

Rivals.com: Sugar against Alabama

SI.com: Orange against North Carolina

Other sites are still behind last weekend and have West Virginia n the BCS and UC in Toronto.

Either way it does not look like the "experts" think UC can take care of business. We will see.

#22 and Tied for 1st

The polls came out Sunday and UC is #22. However, the number that matters is the #1t beside UC in the Big East standings. There is currently a three way tie for 1st:

1. CINCINNATI 3-1

2. Pittsburgh 3-1

3. West Virginia 3-1

We all know what could happen and the simple way to get there. Win all three remaining games.

Here is look at the remaining conference games for the top three:

UC: @ Louisville , Pitt, and Syracuse

Pitt: @ UC , West Virginia. and @ UCONN

WVU: @ Louisville, @ Pitt, and South Florida

Pitt has a bye this week leading up the game at Nippert with UC.

Bearcat Sports Page. com will have coverage of the press conference Tuesday as well as interviews with players after practice. Looking back at the win Saturday and looking ahead to Louisville Friday night.

Swim Team Has Busy Weekend

The Bearcat swim team was in the water twice this past weekend. Friday night they traveled up I-71 to take on the Buckeyes. Then they returned home Saturday afternoon to open up Big East action by hosting the West Virginia Mountaineers. Unfortunately the cats dropped both contests. Here is a recap of the weekend.

Swim Team Looses at OSU

Both the men's and women's swim teams lost in a dual meet against Ohio State in Columbus Friday. the men won 5 events and the women won 4. A complete run down of events are available at www.gobearcats.com.

The Bearcats are back in the water Saturday as they welcome in West Virginia for a dual meet.

Action at the Keating Aquatic Center on campus kicks off at noon.

"Historic Game" This Weekend

Tuesday afternoon at the weekly press conference Senior defensive back DeAngelo Smith referred to the game this Saturday against West Virginia as " a historic game" for the program. He might be right. With a win Saturday night at Morgantown the Bearcats would control their own destiny. Three conference games with two at home. A BCS bowl game and the huge pay out that comes with it would allow history to change in Clifton.
After practice this week we talked to a few of the players about the trip to Morgantown.

12 In A Row Hits The Road

The women's volleyball team hits the road this weekend after playing 9 of their last 12 games at home in Fifth Third Arena. By the way all 12 of those games have been victories. Right now the Bearcats have a 9-2 record in the Big East, just one game behind St. John's. This weekend opponents are WestVirginia Friday night then Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon. The Montaineers

are

0-10 in conference play while Pitt is one game behind UC at 7-3. The Players view this as an important weekend with only one game left on the schedule before the Big East Tournament.

Track the Cats on the road by visiting: http://www.gobearcats.com

The Big Game, Healing QB's and the Hot List

Tuesday afternoon the UC football team had their weekly news conference. Along with Head Coach Brian Kelly Senior Defensive Back DeAngelo Smith met with the media.

Here is a recap of some of the topics that were discussed.

Going to West Virginia. It's a big game and a big game atmosphere.

DeAngelo Smith said that this is a"historic game" for the school. Coach Kelly said that games like the one at Oklahoma help prepare the team for games like this.

Early season losses by West Virginia.

Coach Kelly addresses why he thinks the Mountaineers lost two games back in September. At East Carolina 24-3 then at Colorado 17-14 (OT).

Dustin Grutza back on the field.

Senior QB Dustin Grutza is back on the practice field. Today Coach Kelly will determine if he will be the #2 quarterback this week or #3. Pike will start, but Grutza could be in a position to start next week against Louisville if the circumstances dictated.

Tony Pike almost 100%.

Coming off of a tremendous outing last Thursday night against USF Tony Pike is down to just a soft wrap on his left forearm. The hard cast is gone, however direct snaps are still not in the cards. Coach Kelly is looking forward to the day when he has a choice between Pike and Grutza.

Being on the Hot List.

With big time head coaching jobs opening up across the country Brian Kelly's name is being brought up the media already. At today's press conference he was asked about being on the "hot list" and joked that it's better than being on the list of guys that got fired. As expected he can't address this topic because it's so early in the process to know who's on what list. Here is his banter with the reporters on the subject. His focus is clearly on his current team and their trip to West Virginia.