After a few weeks off, the Inside the Bearcats Podcast makes a triumphant return with a special guest. All of you that read this blog regularly should be very familiar with him because he used to hold down this space himself.

I caught up with my predecessor and current national NFL blogger for CBSSports.com, Josh Katzowitz. Josh wrote Bearcats Rising -- which is still in stores and available for purchase today. His second book is coming out this July. It is on innovator of the passing game and former UC football coach, Sid Gilman.

Josh catches up as we talk about Gilman, the direction of UC football, the changing landscape of the sport and why there's a reason we don't make as much money as college athletic directors.

Katz is never afraid to share his unique, truthful perspective and it was fantastic welcoming him back to GoBearcats.com, even if only for a half hour.

You can read his NFL blog here, follow him on Twitter here and purchase Bearcats Rising here -- seriously, buy it, it's a fantastic read and still extremely relevant. Plus, it will help Josh feed two beautiful twins. If you hate smiling children, then don't buy it.

Here's the rundown of the show and a quick apology on some of the audio issues -- which even caused me to go far out of character and jump on top of Josh's thoughts a few times.

I should warn you, this podcast involves about 10 minutes of me talking to myself about UC basketball. Spending 10 minutes inside of my brain is not advisable for small children, adults with a heart condition or anyone who cherishes their sanity.

Here's the rundown:

Minutes 1-9: Myself, talking about UC basketball and the path to the NCAA tournament. This is seriously me talking to myself. My feelings will not be hurt if you jump immediately ahead to Josh's arrival.

9-18: Exchanging pleasantries, compliments, catching up with Josh's whereabouts since leaving GoBearcats and discussing the slippery slope of modern male neckwear.

18-27: Sid Gilman, who is he and why write a book about him?

27-35: How has the path of UC football been surprising from the point his book leaves off until now. We discuss why there are still major questions surrounding the future of the program -- and others like it of this size.

35-40: Why the Big East needs to see about three or four more [Insert school here] Rising books to become the power it hopes to be.

40-41: Valentine's Day lovefest between two Bearcats bloggers as we bid a fond farewell.

Again, huge thanks to Josh for taking the time to join.  

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I hope you all do something nice for the one you love. For those of you who read this blog everyday, well, you're probably single. So, get out there and find somebody tonight. There are plenty of frustrated, single ladies out blowing off steam with love on the mind.

Let's eat...

--- Last night I wrote about the Bearcats returning to a familiar position of their back against the wall. Both Dion Dixon and Yancy Gates acknowledged it as the path appears to have cleared. Six games left, go 4-2 and enjoy The Dance. Anything less and the sweat starts running down the forehead Selection Sunday.

The question for Mick Cronin regarding the topic is not necessarily if UC will bounce back against Providence Wednesday night, rather, if they will be able to sustain the urgency over the final three weeks of the regular season.

"Bounceback is one thing," he said. "Showing up every night and playing the way you need to play every night is the challenge. Not just for us, I think for everybody. We are like most good teams, we don't have enough talent to win when we don't play really well."

One look around college basketball this past weekend proved that. There are four or five teams in the country that can get away with not playing well and winning. Most of the others sit in the same category with UC. The parity of the national landscape this year from 6 to 60 is remarkable.

This weekend, five Top 25 teams lost to unranked teams -- all but one at home.

Miami 78, @No. 5 Duke 74
Tennessee 75, @No. 7 Florida 70
Wichita State 89, @No. 15 Creighton 68
Georgia 70, @No. 18 Mississippi State 68
@Princeton 70, No. 21 Harvard 62

"So, I think there's very few of us out there that are maybe like a Syracuse that can not play well and still win," Cronin said. "Our guys, we got enough older guys, they understand why you win and why you lose. It's all about the next game, making sure you are ready to play against Providence."

--- Speaking of, the Orange did exactly what Mick was talking about last night at Louisville. They didn't play well, necessarily, but found a way to stop the Cards' seven-game win streak.

--- Bill Koch writes about UC's tournament chances being in doubt. True moral of the story in this blog, though, don't listen to Jerry Palm. Ever. Remember, this is the same guy who claimed at midseason UC needed at least 12 Big East wins to make the tourney last year. (For the record, they won 11 and were a solid six seed)

He's fixated with non-conference schedules and lives to crush UC for theirs. He also runs a site called CollegeRPI.com. Considering he stands for one of the most outdated, unrepresentative stats used in sports, it all makes sense.

--- Dana O'Neil breaks out the Big East conference rankings and places UC sixth.

--- Yancy Gates talked yesterday about why he thinks UC can make a run and get into the tournament:

"I think one of the big things is we got enough guys from last year that felt it and they want to feel it again and I think they are willing to do whatever it's going to take to make it back to the tournament. I think that's the most obvious thing we got right now is us guys who felt it and know what we got to do to get there. Kind of grab the young guys and bring them along with us carry them and get us there."

--- The NY Post's Lenn Robbins wrote a piece about NY native Sean Kilpatrick for Valentine's Day. SK loves his mom and basketball. What else can you ask for?

--- Did you know Cashmere Wright loves to bowl and averages nearly 200? You do now.

--- Down the Drive does a nice job breaking down the turnover margin issue. That's the stat which was driving this team during their run earlier in the year and it's the one hurting them now.

--- Yahoo! takes a look at the five Big East bubble teams, including UC.

--- Don't forget the 90s at 9 promotion is going on Wednesday night for the Providence game. French roll your jeans and bring your favorite 90s pop culture icon big heads. And, if you can pull off what UNLV did and get Flavor Flav in the student section, that would be even better.

Also, can we please get a Darnell Burton and LaZelle Durden Big Head? With all do respect to everyone else from those teams of the 90s, Burton and Durden were electric and could change a game faster than anyone else.

--- CBSSports put together a team comparison bubble machine. It's fantastic. Go ahead and
compare UC against other bubble teams. They are clearly on the inside looking out...for now.

--- Randomness...

--- I love the concept of a Back to the Future hover board being released...assuming it actually hovers.

--- The self-leveling pool table on this cruise ship makes me love technology even more.

--- Shark on shark crime!

--- Lieutenant Dan put the money in some kind of fruit company. He said we don't have to worry about money no more, which is good. One less thang.

--- Valentine's Day Candy Hearts to give to your favorite athletes.

--- Reminder again, 90s at 9 tomorrow. Getting back to the 90s jams, this song always makes me feel relaxed. Nobody can claim the lead singer from PM Dawn wasn't a fan of fashion accessories.

The dominant theme coming out of Monday's media session revolved around these Bearcats feeling the pressure of the situation they've placed themselves in.

They are 17-8 overall and 7-5 in conference with six games to go. Four of those are at Fifth Third Arena. They need to go 4-2 in the final six to assure making the tournament. No Big East team to go 11-7 has EVER been left out of The Dance. It certainly won't happen this year with a soft bubble.

If they go 3-3 over the final six games (Providence, Seton Hall, Louisville, @USF, Marquette, @Villanova) they bring the Big East tournament and discretion of the NCAA committee into play.

These are the facts of the case. They are undisputed.

By the KenPom computer, the Bearcats a heavily favored to beat Providence (82%) and Seton Hall (70%). Each of the last four are essentially coin flips.

This week, in these two games, the Bearcats backs are against the wall.

"This is it right here," senior Dion Dixon said. "Do or die right now. Our back is against the wall. We let a lot of games slip away from us that we know we could have won. We don't know what it is..we can't let it keep happening with our careers going down."

In the wake of the most lopsided loss of the season, a sense of stark reality officially infiltrated the UC locker room. All season, opportunities have been on the horizon. It was only a matter of time until their run to the tournament began. Now, with six games left, and wins a necessity, the undeniable fact of what could happen should the Bearcats not come through has sunk in.

Before the season started and UC was ranked among the 15 to 20 best teams in the country, this concept seemed unfathomable. The Bearcats might not make the NCAA Tournament.

"It could happen," Yancy Gates said. "It's not like it's impossible and it can't happen. It actually could happen. You try to use that to keep you going and keep your focus level up to have you ready to go out and do what we got to do in the last six games."

As the pressure-cooker boils over, the Bearcats calm down. Their ability to win as chaos surrounds them has been remarkable. Last year, with six games left coming off an ugly loss to St. John's they reeled off five wins in six games to close the regular season and secure their return to the tournament.

With everyone burying UC following the Crosstown Shootout brawl, UC played loose, inspired basketball and won seven in a row.

After suffering an ugly home defeat against St. John's, they earned their signature win to this point -- a 68-64 victory at Georgetown. It's the only loss the Hoyas suffered at home this year.

Now, with six games left, here they are again.

"We handle adversity well," Dixon said. "When our back is against the wall we play great. Right now, we know our backs against the wall so I figure everybody is going to be locked in and paying attention to everything to get wins."

Trying to find proper perspective among 20- and 21-year-old kids can be harder than finding a free Saturday night. Yet, Gates and Dixon -- enduring the final chapter of their college careers -- sounded like two players who found the urgent frame of mind.

They plan no speeches or motivational ploys. They feel this team understands what hangs in the balance.

"Me and (Dion) was talking in the locker room, we feel we still have a great opportunity," Gates said. "It's on us. We have to take it upon ourselves. It's nobody else but (this team)."

Let's start with the good. Nobody wants to open Monday morning thinking about the worst part of the weekend. Makes life feel too much like the walls are caving in.

So, I'll point in the direction of Sunday's Playdate with the Bearcats to raise money for Mitch's Mission. Having all the UC student-athletes out to play with the kids for a great cause is one of the finest event the athletic department puts on every year.

Paul McKibben at The Enquirer wrote this piece on it.

The event raised $10,000 last year to send patients at Children's Hospital to Camp Joy. They hoped to double that this year and there was a fantastic turnout.

Standing slow clap for UC athletics on this one.



Let's eat...

--- All right, on to the bad. No need rehashing the Marquette game, other than to relay the moral of the story.

The Bearcats weren't prepared for this level of intensity. Those were the words of Mick Cronin. When the Eagles turned up the heat down 16-4, a barrage of turnovers and defensive meltdowns arrived.

The 95 points allowed were the second-most in the Mick Cronin era.

If you masochists out there want to relive it, here are the highlights. Hide the knives.

Even in defeat this year (outside of the Xavier game), the Bearcats fought and were close. They did neither Saturday. All their defeats were by single digits. Four of the eight came either in overtime or by one possession.

Maybe UC is having problems dealing with being respected, as Bill Koch writes here.

Maybe the dog days of this grinding schedule that included seven of the first 12 games on the road finally caught up with this team.

Maybe Saturday was the perfect storm of missed shots and death by momentum.

Regardless, it's over now and UC has to deal with the repercussions of where they sit now: Squarely on the NCAA bubble.

--- Following Saturday's games, Joe Lunardi has UC among the last four in the tournament and the Big East sending nine teams to the Big Dance.

For all the traditionalist RPI lovers out there, understand that while the committee looks at this formula, it is FAR FROM their bottom line any more. With so many more accurate analytics, it falls into a pile with Sagarin, KenPom and many others.

Yes, UC's current RPI is 95. They are behind powerhouses as LSU (78 RPI, 13-10, 3-6), Dayton (77 RPI, 14-9, 4-5) and South Dakota State (69 RPI, 17-7, 11-3). Yeah, sounds like an accurate evaluator to me.

It's exactly what you would expect, however, from a system that doesn't take scoring margin into effect at all. So, UC's overtime loss at West Virginia and it's 95-78 drubbing at Marquette count exactly the same. That's how you end up with jacked up ratings.

ESPN invented a stat of its own this weekend it thinks perfects the selection process. It's also 98.9 percent the same as KenPom.

KenPom lands UC at No. 42. Sagarin places UC at 46. Yes, that's a difference of about 50 spots. That's not a typo.

For all those floating the doom and gloom RPI number out there, it's A) inaccurate B) will change dramatically as UC's strength of schedule increases with every game and C) doesn't place proper perspective on one of the weakest bubbles in recent memory.

As Cronin said a few weeks ago when asked to look at his team's chances, "who else is going to get in?"

Take a look at the eight teams Lunardi currently has as the last four in and first four out and their resume numbers.

Last Four In
Cincinnati (17-8, 7-5, KPom: 42, Sag: 46, vs. top 50: 3-3)
Seton Hall (17-8, 6-7, KPom: 59, Sag: 51, vs. top 50: 2-5)
North Carolina State (18-7, 7-3, KPom: 53, Sag: 51, vs. top 50: 2-5)
Miami (Fla.) (15-8, 6-4, KPom: 41, Sag: 47, vs. top 50: 1-7)

First Four Out
Xavier (16-9, 7-4, KPom: 57, Sag: 57, vs. top 50: 3-5)
Washington (17-8, 10-3, KPom: 68, Sag: 66, vs. top 50: 1-4)
Northwestern (15-9, 5-7, KPom: 60, Sag: 56, vs. top 50: 2-9)
Belmont (18-7, 11-2, KPom: 24, Sag: 36, vs. top 50: 1-3)

--- Stats to note from those numbers: UC is the only team to be at .500 or better against the Sag top 50. That means something. By the way, two of those three came on the road.

--- UC is pitted against teams like Northwestern and Miami that are 2-9 and 1-7 against the top 50, those are damning statistics.

--- The Bearcats still have two games left against Top 50 teams as well, both at home (Marquette, Louisville).

--- One loss would not dramatically alter these numbers -- depending on who it comes against. The margin for error is now razor thin. Bad defeats, particularly at home, like the two which face UC this week, would be disastrous and force them to win tougher games down the stretch and probably a game or two in the BE tourney.

--- On the flip side, this team is only a game and a half back of a double-bye as one of the top four teams in the Big East tournament -- a feat they've never accomplished. This season will be defined by what occurs in the final six games. Much as last year's was.

--- Ah yes, last year. Take a look at where this team stood at this point in time last year. They were 19-6 overall and 6-6 in the conference. They were coming off an ugly loss against St. John's where Yancy Gates was booed in a miscommunication trying to check in late in the game. The sky was falling to Mayan prediction levels.

That's right, this team was in worse shape at this point last year. The same team that everyone looks back lovingly on, the one that Cronin insists could have gone to the Final Four had it not been for an unlucky pairing with UConn, they were worse off.

Perspective, people. Perspective.

Will this team recreate last year's magical finish? I'm not saying that, only saying it's not as if their position is unprecedented or unfamiliar.

--- OK, enough bubble chatter, I'm moving on to a few more quick points elsewhere. I'll have more on UC hoops tonight after the player/coach media availability this afternoon. (Reminder: Follow me on Twitter (@pauldehnerjr) for instant updates of any news/developments coming from the presser.

Also, feel free to send me an email if you have any questions you'd like answered by myself or any coaches/players. (pauldehnerjr@gmail.com)

--- Tom Groeschen does a fantastic job taking on Oscar Robertson, his battle with cancer and unprecedented triple-double season.

--- Baseball held a kickoff dinner on Friday night at GABP and it was a huge success with a record turnout. Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison was in the house following his strong MLB debut last year.

Excitement is building for Brian Cleary and company. This from John Erardi.

--- Make it four Big East wins and two in a row for the Bearcats women's team. Jamelle Elliott now with more wins (13-12, 4-8) than any season at UC.

--- Some serious reporting from Kyle Veazey on how Memphis got into the Big East, including the role UC's Greg Williams played in their addition.

Randomness...

--- Clear winners and losers at the Grammy's last night. Adele and Jennifer Hudson stole the show with their voices. Bruce, Paul McCartney and a host of others providing a fantastic finish.

Nick Minaj and the freakish Mousehead DJ still have me looking for my passport to get out of this country.

--- Nothing brings out the fire in Phil Mickelson like playing with Tiger Woods. Guy did everything but break out "Tiger Who?" on the 18th green yesterday.

--- I feel like as a cameraman, you have to have better anticipation of a monster truck running you over.

--- Louis CK won a grammy for best comedy album. Deserved.

--- Have to put up Jennifer Hudson's ode to Whitney Houston from last night. That was a tough moment and she absolutely nailed it. One of those Grammy performances you don't forget.

Buh-bye, West Virginia.

The Mountaineers reportedly agreed to a $20-million settlement, according to CBSsports.com. They will be out of here for this coming football season and officially a member of the Big 12. Enjoy Austin, Norman and Stillwater.

I have a feeling reality is about to hit WVU like a battery to the back of the head.

Sorry, do you prefer that their seat will be hotter than a burning couch?

Losing WVU is a loss for UC fans. They provided a quality test in football and basketball and brought up the profile of the league. The presence of Bob Huggins always made for a great storyline and trip down memory lane for basketball fans (with zero official knowledge of this, methinks a hoops non-con series between UC and WVU should be in the works).

Some of UC's biggest football wins came against the Mountaineers, namely the 2008 and 2009 victories. And some of their most heart-wrenching defeats, namely 2011.

They are gone now, though. The world will change for both schools -- as is the case for seemingly everyone in the absurd new world of college athletics. The best news is now the reading level of the Big East fan bases jumped up three levels.

Let's eat...

--- With two games against Marquette, the Bearcats would probably view splitting those as a success. By all conventional knowledge, you would think their best shot at gaining a win against the Eagles would be at home in a few weeks. After all, Marquette is undefeated at home in Big East play this year.

Yet, with the way the Bearcats play on the road, you almost feel like going into the Bradley Center is the opportunity UC needs. And don't forget the value of the tough, road win when the selection committee sits down next month.

If you can wheel out wins at Georgetown, at UConn, at Marquette and at Pittsburgh, the committee will work hard to find a spot for you.

--- Not only has Marquette been winning at home in Big East play, they've been doing so convincingly.

Take a look at their home slate:

Opp          Score    Comment
Villanova     W 82-78  Led entire game, including double-digits with 4min
St. John's   W 83-64  Went on 40-16 run coming out of halftime
Pittsburgh   W 62-57 Led by at least five the final five minutes
Louisville    W 74-63  Lead never less than six final 16 minutes
USF            W 67-47  Double-digit lead entire second half
Seton Hall W  66-59  Had 16-3 run with 14min left, never closer than six after

As stated before, these are not Big East world beaters. You can argue that when they played these opponents, at the time of the game, UC will be the best team to come into the Bradley Center.

You can also point out Marquette did lose at home to Vanderbilt 74-57 (back in 2011). Those are all valid points, but the way they have cruised through the Big East at home to this point speaks the only storyline that needs to be heard on the subject.

Only Marquette and Syracuse are undefeated at home in conference this year.

The Bearcats have their hands full.

--- Flipside fact: Marquette is 12-1 at home this year. Who else is 12-1 at home this year? Georgetown.

--- Dan Hoard with a column about how UC focused on stopping St. John's best player and other musings from the road. Thankfully, no giant Filet O'Fish sandwiches in this post. I'm still queasy from the last one.

--- ESPN The Magazine's rivalry edition brought out two more stories on The Brawl. Wayne Drehs with a full recount of all that happened and the fallout since. It includes quotes from Mick Cronin saying he'll lead the crusade against playing the game if it's not turned into a positive.

Dana O'Neil offers her latest fantastic piece. This time on the inner-workings of Tu Holloway. I heard some Twitter backlash when I retweeted it yesterday, claiming it was a pro-XU, pro-Tu piece. I'd disagree. It offers a peak inside the mind of the Xavier's star and illustrates how his head has been and continues to be effected by the incident.

--- Cracked Sidewalks (a Marquette blog) points out how large this game is for the Eagles if they want a top four double bye. He knows the team well and he's extremely nervous about the Bearcats game.

--- The health of Davante Gardner will loom large. Buzz Williams called the chances he plays "slim." Remember, Gardner (6-foot-8, 290 pounds) ranks 20th in the country in offensive rebound percentage (15.3%).

For maybe the only time the rest of the season, UC will hold a significant height advantage. The duty of slowing Yancy Gates and the Bearcats bigs will fall to Jamil Wilson (6-7, 220) and Jae Crowder (6-6, 235).

Potential exists for Gates to own the interior. This has double-double game written all over it and will probably need to be for UC to win.

--- Williams said he would arguably give his Coach of the Year vote to Mick Cronin. It should be noted the two are pretty close friends and Cronin will probably take a backseat to Jim Boeheim or Mike Brey, but he's certainly in the conversation.

--- Huge congratulations to JK Schaffer who received the Big East Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award yesterday. I've said it before and I'll say it again, JK is as good a representative of the university and the city as you will find. I think he'll get a chance in somebody's NFL camp next year and he'll make the most of it.

You can't say enough good things about what he's meant to Butch Jones and UC.

--- With John Goebel winning the same award last year and UC winning the team GPA award this year, that's three academic awards for Jones since his arrival. Jones constantly talks about building more than just football players and he's backing it up with results.

--- The dates are officially set for UC at Ohio State. They will be Sept. 27, 2014, and Sept. 8, 2018. Book your hotels today.

--- Randomness...

--- Huge congrats to my buddy and Reds scoreboard employee Rich Linville on his run to the second round of the Baseball IQ game on MLB Network last night. He ended up falling one name short on the top 20 home-run hitting catchers category and will be cursing the name Mike Piazza for years, but he is the man and showed off some ridiculous knowledge in making it that far.

Here he is talking about the experience on FOX19 this morning and breaking out a correct answer of Frankie Frisch on live TV.

--- Got to love the fact that Clarence Clemons nephew will be one of two people to replace the Big Man on Bruce Springsteen's tour this summer. Only fitting.

--- Why doesn't Minnesota just put together a normal floor so people don't have to do this? There is no cool factor or novelty to having a court that dramatically drops off.

--- I assume after completing every renovation on his new show called The Bronson Pinchot Project, the former Perfect Strangers star does the Dance of Joy. Don't be ridiculous.

--- Don't forget the 90s at 9 theme is still pumping for UC's 9 p.m. home game against Providence next week. Big Head Initiative folks, you did so well for the Syracuse game, let's break out the 90s pop culture faces for the Providence game.

For now, more 90s jams. And this one for the late Heavy D.

You. Are. On my mind.

The Bearcats provided a nice change of pace for hearts of Bearcats fans last night. Game after game this Big East season, UC keeps its fans standing in a pool of sweat with seemingly every game coming down to the final minutes. Wednesday they left no doubt.

In a game they couldn't afford to lose, they didn't give the referees a chance to blow a call or the ball a chance to bounce the wrong way. Momentum can change in an instant, but for now, the three-game losing streak seems like it's officially forgotten for this team.

It won't be a game people look back on and remember once this season concludes, but Wednesday's game could go a long way to a Bearcats surge. Only time will tell.

Let's eat...

--- Here are the highlights in case you missed it.

--- If any team allows UC to rebound 16 of 29 misses, they will lose. The Bearcats biggest weakness, by design, is the trouble rebounding the basketball. They are near impossible to beat if the opponent doesn't make them pay for their height disadvantage.

A big reason for that was the play of Cheikh Mbodj. Over the past few weeks he's shown flashes of why Mick Cronin was so high on him. the recurring theme from Mick when talking about Cheikh has been that he doesn't have his lift due to the ankle sprain he suffered early in the year.

Everybody saw the lift last night as he blocked five shots, grabbed five rebounds and scored four points in 16 minutes.

His play allowed Yancy Gates extra minutes to rest and he proved to be much more efficient with the limited playing time. Gates went for 14 points and 9 rebounds in his 21 minutes.

--- Two days after I showed the stats of Sean Kilpatrick's lack of efficiency when shooting more than 50 percent of his shots from 3, he disproved the theory for the first time this year. Six of his 10 shots came from deep and his finished with 14 points. The numbers still stand pretty strong, but Kilpatrick proved them slightly wrong on this night.

SK admitted to this being a big night for him, though. When you grow up in the shadows of New York City, there's nothing like playing in the Garden.

"Going back into the locker room coach was just telling me I was rushing it a little bit. I was a little too anxious.  In an atmosphere like this you tend to do that. You get so excited to be here and play here, especially being a New York kid. My teammates just told me to calm down. When the shots were there I was just taking them."

--- UC passed the ball as well as they have all season. Cronin has been stomping for improved passing repeatedly over the last few weeks. The struggles doing so was one of the biggest reasons they lost the first game against St. John's.

Their 18 assists were the most in any regulation Big East game this season (they also had 18 in OT at WVU).

Compare that number with the fact in five of the previous 10 Big East games UC didn't even top 12 assists and you have a major step in the right direction offensively. You can credit hot shooting all you want, it's a lot easier to shoot 51 percent from the paint.

"Our attitude was much different (than the first game)," Cronin said. "When you lose you got to give the other team credit. I don't like coaches who only say "we stunk". Maybe it's because of what they did. We tried obviously to be a little more prepared for their match-up type zones and their switching man-to-mans. Our passing was much better and obviously our rebounding was much better. We played a lot more zone tonight than we did before. It's easier to find D'Angelo (Harrison) in the zone."

--- St. John's is down to six scholarship players?!? Boy, all the good luck they enjoyed last season is really flipping on them this year.

--- Here's the game recap from Bill Koch.

--- Bill also gave an update on Shaq Thomas. It will be exciting seeing the lift he provides next season.

--- Drew Cannon for ESPN Insider likes the Bearcats chances of getting into the Dance.

--- KenPom now has UC up to No. 41 overall.

--- South Florida is tough at home this year. They beat resurgent Pitt by 12 last night. Outside of a wild three-point loss to UConn, they haven't lost at home in Big East play. That includes wins against Pitt, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Rutgers. Not exactly world beaters, but a huge step forward for the Bulls.

That will be a difficult game Feb. 26.

--- A brief glance ahead to Marquette, yes, they have won eight of the last nine games, but if you take a look at the competition, the jury is still out on how good they actually are.

In Big East play they have four games against teams ranked in KenPom's top 50. They are 1-3 in those with the lone win coming at home against Louisville when the Cards were a disaster area. (Lost 73-70 @Georgetown, Lost 73-66 @Syracuse, Lost 76-59 @Notre Dame)

They've done a great job of beating the teams they should and are great at home, but haven't beaten the top teams in the league. Should be an even matchup, but pollsters and the like who believe the Eagles should run away with it aren't looking close enough.

--- Also, as a child of the 90s, I am jacked up to hear about UC's latest promotion. They are breaking out the 90s at 9 promo for the Providence game (9 p.m. tip, get it?)

Anyway, all 90s music and 90s themed activities will be happening during the game. This seems like a perfect time to reset the Big Head Initiative with 90s pop culture icons. Yes, I'm looking at you, A.C. Slater.

So, everybody get to rasterbating and I'll be keeping an eye out for Ren and Stimpy.

Randomness.....

--- Will Ferrell announced the visiting team lineups last night in New Orleans. Typical strong Ferrell.

"No. 1, whose favorite movie is The Notebook, Derrick Rose!"

--- Austin Rivers vs. Tyler Zeller. Hand down, man down.

--- Gary Busey files for bankruptcy. Just goes to show, you can't list "Crazy" as a profession and get away with it.

--- I want no piece of the world's largest dodgeball game.

--- Typically, you can't go wrong with bacon. The bacon milkshake tests that theory.

--- Is there really need for another golf network?

--- The Internet continues to bring the weird out of people.

--- In honor of the 90s at 9, I have to offer one of my favorite 90s jams and really all-time jams. What is Method Man doing these days? Can I please get another album?

Turns out Cincinnati is still capable of snow. I am typing with one hand and knocking on a giant slab of wood in my office with other as I say this, but the fact we are yet to have a significant snowfall and we're sitting at Feb. 8 is the biggest shocker since The Voice survived into a second season.

A piece of me wants to see a giant snowfall just for the chaos it provides in keeping life interesting, then the other piece of me pummels that piece into the ground with his empty snow shovel. This may have been the most delightful Cincinnati winter I can remember in a long time.

Hey, I just made small talk about the weather. It's like we were in the elevator together. You're going to talk trash about me when I get off on my floor, aren't you?

Let's eat...

--- The Sporting News ranked the Bearcats as the top recruiting class in the Big East.

First off, this is good. To claim otherwise would be silly. The better the talent -- perceived or otherwise -- entering the locker room, the better the chances of victory.

That said, UC fans -- of all college football fans -- should know to take that with a grain of salt, the same way they took it with a grain of salt when their classes were ranked fourth and fifth and they continually won Big East titles.

Unless you are snagging top five and ten draft classes nationally, rankings mean little. When selecting from the middle tiers of high school football players it's all about what you do with them when they arrive. UC has been proving that for years. It doesn't change now because they are finally receiving some respect.

As Butch Jones likes to say, praise and blame is all the same.

--- Welcome, Memphis. Long speculated, lobbied and discussed, the Big East is adding the Tigers.

Great for basketball, not so great for football will be the snap analysis. That's certainly a different stance considering what's driven every move to this point in conference realignment.

One point brought up as a defense of Memphis, which has lost 31 of its last 36 games, was that UC wasn't a great football school before it entered the Big East, either.

Yes, but they weren't Memphis level bad. Since you can't look at these moves through a narrow lens, let's take a look at the last seven years of UC in Conference USA (1998-04) vs. the last seven years for Memphis (2005-11).

Stat                         UC/Memphis
Winning seasons.......3/2
Seasons <4 wins.......2/4
Overall record............38-46/25-59
Bowl games..............4/3
Draft picks................12/3

--- Neither were exactly Alabama and LSU, but UC clearly was in far better shape than the Tigers. Memphis entering on the brutal run of the last three years doesn't help, though they look more attractive in a broader spectrum.

Also, neither team experience one season with more than seven wins.

--- UC and Memphis frequented the same bowl circuit in that time frame. Memphis played in the Motor City Bowl, New Orleans Bowl and St. Petersburg Bowl. UC played in the Motor City Bowl (2x), New Orleans Bowl and Fort Worth Bowl.

--- The Cats clearly possessed more elite talent than Memphis has run through its program. Granted, only one of UC's draft picks were taken earlier than the third round (Hawkins, 2nd round, 1998), but sending 12 players into the draft during a seven-year period in C-USA is no small feat.

--- The Tigers did run DeAngelo Williams through their program and turn out the only first-round draft pick, but quantity trumps quality in a big way in this case.

--- By the way, how did the 1998 Bearcats go 2-9 with four NFL draft picks? (Artrell Hawkins, Brad Jackson, Jason Fabini and Derrick Ransom)

--- At the end of the day, expecting a program like Memphis to rise from the ashes in a similar fashion as the Cats did upon entering the conference seems like a bit of an unfair parallel. Can the program improve in a new conference? Certainly. But they aren't 2004 UC.

--- The Memphis Commercial-Appeal discusses this move being a major asset to new coach Justin Fuente, who can walk into the house of a recruit and tell them at Memphis they can compete for a national championship. He couldn't say that before -- at least, not without lying.

--- Geoff Calkins of the C-A provides 14 reasons the Big East is great for Memphis. Yes, clearly, but vice versa? Only time will tell.

--- No secret here, this is a big win for Mick Cronin, Rick Pitino and the rest of the Big East basketball coaches concerned about football diluting their product. It certainly helps make up for the loss of Cuse, Pitt and WVU.

Pitino, in particular, has been lobbying hard for Memphis. The US Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn) even thanked Pitino as the news broke.

"I am thrilled that my hometown team and alma mater the University of Memphis is being invited to join the Big East. Joining the Big East will not only be great for the University of Memphis, but it will be an economic catalyst for the City of Memphis.

"Thanks to Louisville Coach Rick Pitino for his strong support. And Congratulations to Dr. Shirley Raines and R.C. Johnson."

--- Gary Parrish at CBSsports.com talks about how this isn't all rainbows and lollipops for Memphis hoops coach Josh Pastner.

--- Jeff Eisenberg on the impact of Memphis to the Big East.

--- Moving on past all the Memphis hoopla, UC at St. John's tonight.

UC/STJ at Madison Square Garden on ESPNU at 7 p.m.

The prominent storyline surfacing is the Bearcats in search of revenge of the buzzer-beater loss at home last month. Fair enough. These types of fabricated motivations tend to be overrated, but it does make Cronin's job easier entering tonight's tilt.

"I don't have to worry about having my guys focused," he said.

--- Chad Brendel also talked about revenge.

--- As for the Johnnies, they've lost six of their last eight. However, they've won two of the last four with both coming at home against DePaul and West Virginia.

Make no mistake, this is a game UC badly needs to win. At 6-4 in conference and living on the bubble, losing twice to one of the youngest teams in the conference would be a brutal blemish on the resume.

Big night for the Bearcats. Just find a way to win. At this point in the season, beauty means little. Only one stat matters.

--- Bearcats Nation with an x and o preview if you're into that type of thing.

--- UC pumping a new promotion that essentially allows you to hang out with me. Well, OK, that's not exactly how they are selling it, but that's the truth. You can win two media credentials and all the food and access that comes with it. That includes hearing the lame gags Bill Koch and I tell to each other every game.

Apparently the title "Listen to Lame Gags Promotion" was widely panned in test groups.

It's a pretty sweet deal though as your seats will be upgraded to lowers for the game and you'll have access to postgame pressers, media dining and other amenities. Here's the deal for those interested.

--- Time for people to start noticing the Bearcats women's team. They just won three consecutive Big East road games for the first time in school history. Congrats to Jamelle Elliot.

--- Randomness...

--- Metallica is starting its own music festival this June in Atlantic City. They're promoting it as acts different their the standard metal they churn out. I think this could be a cool festival to attend if they can deliver on the variety. Plus, if you haven't been to a Metallica show -- if you like metal or not -- it's worth it for the unique experience alone.

(Attn old people like myself: bring earplugs)

--- Billy Eichner reported from the Super Bowl for Conan O'Brien. He asks Giants players about the Madonna concert on the field after the game. Worth watching.

--- Line nobody says while taking this picture: Let's wait for Chris Hardwick.

--- If you have ever rhetorically asked, how do you even spend $67 at Taco Bell? -- you now have the answer you never wanted.

--- If only...

--- As for that Metallica concert, have to admit, when this song came on it would be fun to be a part of the crowd going bonkers.

I never realized how much I missed writing this blog until a week away from it. In a weird way, this blog has become like my pot of coffee every day. Without it, I just don't feel right.

I imagine, it's what Oprah talked about all those years with that life journal she always pushed (yeah, I know about Oprah's life journals, let's just move on amicably). I guess this blog is like my life journal except about sports. And 80s power ballads. And facial hair.

Point being, as I mentioned yesterday, happy to be back on the blog after being wisked away by other job obligations to cover Super Bowl week in Indy. I can only say that it was all anybody says it's cracked up to be. While eating at a restaurant I witnessed Plaxico Burress exchange a bro-hug with Jared from Subway. In many ways, that epitomized the week. Welcome to the matrix. Surreal.

Regardless, I'm back now and thanks to Chris Gundrum you stayed up to date on all things Bearcats last week. For that reason, I won't delve too much into stuff I missed while I was gone, instead keep looking forward.

On that note, let's eat...

--- I posted a blog last night on the concept of recreating last year's late Big East run that cinched up the return to the tournament. UC needs a run of the same ilk this year.

--- If you are looking for the video of yesterday's media availability, which includes Mick Cronin getting a nice dig in on Ken Broo and Sports Rock, there is the link. (For the record, since Mick asked, the Bobcats have won six straight and are second in the MAC. Yet, I digress)

--- Bill Koch wrote a story about the increased maturity of Sean Kilpatrick. Another nice piece from Bill giving perspective behind the scenes to what makes SK tick.

Cronin talks in the piece about trying to extract that contested 3-pointer from Kilpatrick's arsenal. It reverts back to a discussion I had often on this blog about SK's need to take the ball to the bucket more than he fires away from the outside.

Finding the perfect balance of outside shooting to driving to the basket will make him the most efficient, the ultimate measure of a player's offensive worth.

There is an interesting correlation for SK between shooting 3s and possession efficiency.

Take a look at these Big East numbers. On some nights he scored a high number of points, but takes too many shots to do so and hinders a team with three other double-digit scorers.

It's broken down into points/field goal attempts/3-pointers attempted/percentage of shots that are 3s and then points per shot to measure efficiency.

Game           Pts/FGs/3FGa/%3Ps/Pts per shot 
Pitt                  19/18/11     61%   1.06     
Notre Dame     9/10/6      60%   0.90  
St. John's       21/21/15    71%    1.00
Georgetown    27/16/5     31%   1.68
Nova              14/7/3        43%    2.00
UConn           16/15/9      60%   1.06
WVU               12/11/7      64%   1.09
Syracuse        8/8/5        63%    1.00
Rutgers          11/12/8       67%   0.91
DePaul          16/12/6      50%    1.33

--- What really jumps out at you about those numbers are notice his three best games as far as being an efficient scorer: Georgetown, Villanova and DePaul. In each of those, 50 percent or less of his shots were from 3-point range.

In all the rest of the games, the percentage of shots taken from 3-point range were 60 percent or above and his efficiency number never topped 1.1.

Those numbers are NOT a coincidence. Shooting more 2s than 3s=higher efficiency for Kilpatrick. These are the facts of the case and they are undisputed.

--- While not addressing Kilpatrick in particular, rather talking about the guard play generally, Cronin touched on this topic. Working with guys on finding the right level of efficiency occurs every day in practice.

"Looking at our offensive efficiency at Pittsburgh, at Connecticut at Georgetown, our guards were really making plays," Cronin said. "Me getting those guys to where they can make the right plays, we work on every day the development of those guys.

"We are still taking way too many tough shots. Part of the guards playing well is throwing the ball inside when we are open on the interior. that is one area where we struggled against St.  John's zone int he first game. Whenever we struggle it is when we are taking tough shots instead of putting in more effort on the offensive end to break down a defense. My feeling is we have the talent to do it we just take the easy way out. Take the semi-open shot."

--- Bill also mentions in the story that Kilpatrick is on pace to own 814 points in his first two seasons. To advance those numbers a bit from what he came up with, he has a chance to be one of the top scorers in UC history.

If you place him at 814 (that is without any postseason numbers factored in), and have him average the 16 points per game his final two seasons at an average of 32 games (will likely be more with postseason), he would finish his UC career with 1,838 points.

That would place him fourth on UC's all-time scoring list. Not bad company

UC career points leaders

Player                    Points
Oscar Robertson     2,973
Steve Logan           1,985
Deonta Vaughn       1,885
Danny Fortson        1,881
Roger McClendon   1,789

To take it even a step further, if you factor in three postseason games for three seasons, that's nine more games for 144 more points which would put SK at 1,982, only three points shy of Logan for second in UC history --- otherwise known as the only attainable number considering how absurd the Big O's numbers were.

Again, pretty special career he built the foundation for here.

--- While we're on numbers, Yancy Gates seems to pass one or two players on the all-time points list every time out now. As for where he's at in the climb, here you go.

16. Bobby Austin        1,385
17. Derrick Dickey      1,328
18. Yancy Gates         1,321
19. Levertis Robinson  1,320
20. Leonard Stokes     1,318
21. Damon Flint          1,316

If you keep Gates on his current pace of 13 points per game over the next eight regular season games and add in at least two postseason contests, you have 130 more points. He would eventually land at 1,451 and tied with Dwight Jones for 14th in UC history.

For the "oh, by the way" stat of the day, he will also be the only player in school history to lead his team in rebounds all four seasons.

--- The theme repeated year-in and year-out across college basketball is that guards win games in March. On that note, the conversation moved to the play of UC's guards, in particular Cashmere Wright. When asked to assess the play of Wright, who saved the day against DePaul on Saturday, Cronin offered this:

"The one thing he improved at is where he has struggled in games and kept playing and played well at the end," Cronin said. "DePaul, Oklahoma, just a few. He has definitely improved in his mental toughness, his belief in himself, not hanging his head, finding a way. As I tell guys, stat sheet is overrated. you got to make your team win. Make winning plays. Earlier in a career was a problem for him."

--- Scott Springer wrote about the impact Justin Jackson can have on this team. His 14 and 8 sure changed the complexion of Saturday's game against DePaul. (Includes video interview)

--- Basketball Prospectus found a statistical answer to fix the RPI deficiency and predict the bubble better. It also contains bad news for this year's Bearcats.

--- ESPN's Bracketology offers some optimism, though, with the Cats in the tourney as of today.

--- UConn=dumpster fire. Of course, it's not like they were tearing it up at this point in time last year, though. Still, there don't appear to be any answers in sight.

--- Oklahoma nearly pulled off an RPI booster for the Bearcats, but a 3-pointer at the buzzer against No. 4 Mizzou bounced off the mark. It's a shame, too, because it was one of the most perfectly executed intentional miss free throws I have ever seen.

--- As we have known for awhile, Isaiah Pead, Derek Wolfe and John Hughes will be at the NFL Combine. Here is the official list.

--- Randomness...

--- Congrats to former strong Moeller Crusader Greg Jones for winning a Super Bowl and getting engaged on Sunday. And here is the video. One of those rings he's guaranteed to see for the rest of his life.

--- Jimmy Kimmel asked his readers to pull the plug on their TVs during a critical moment of the Super Bowl and film it. Hilarity ensues.

Opening on a personal note, it's great to be back on the blog as I return from covering the Super Bowl in Indianapolis last week. Huge thanks to Chris Gundrum for holding down the fort while I was gone.

My first stop on the ride back into town was Clifton for UC's media availability discussing the current state of the Bearcats (16-7, 6-4) as they head to St. John's on Wednesday tied for fifth in the Big East conference.

My concept going in was to talk to the players and Mick Cronin about how to recreate last year's late run that landed them in the Big East tournament and if they can pull anything from how they accomplished it. The answer was, well, not exactly as I expected. Sometimes you show up expecting one story and another pops up.

Remember, it was about this time last year the Bearcats were left for dead following a home loss to St. John's. Then, over the final six games of the regular season, they located an extra gear. The Cats went on to win six of their next seven and enter the NCAA tournament one of the hottest team's in the country.

With eight games remaining in the regular season, how much of what inspired some of the best basketball played during the Cronin era could be utilized in repeating the same task this season.

"You really expect me to remember that?" Cronin said. "I can't remember what happened two weeks ago."

Coincidentally, two weeks ago the Bearcats looked about as different from the current model as last year's group. They fell from the confident group that topped UConn to move into second place in the conference to a team seeking answers after losses to West Virginia, Syracuse and Rutgers.

For Cronin, the key to recreating last year isn't revisiting the origins of what caused their late surge, rather, forgetting about all of it.

"I'm not interested in last year," he said. "I'm just worried about tangible things with each guy. I don't look at the big picture at all. I don't look at the Big East standings. When people are worried about the wrong things it's hard to be effective. Our guys come in (the interview room) they get asked about the NCAA tournament, they go everywhere and they ask about the Big East standings. I got to get Dion Dixon to worry about getting a defensive rebound because he had as many as my mother did the other night."

In the game of motivating and inspiring streaks during the most pivotal time of the year in college basketball, Cronin chooses to keep the tasks as simple as possible. Find a way for Dixon to rebound. Find a way to take better shots. Find a way to increase offensive efficiency.

All the talk about hustle and effort determining wins made for warm, cuddly talking points in November and December, but at this time of year the art of motivation only takes a team so far.

"You can't just play hard," Cronin said. "You got to play well."

Both came at the same time during last year's run. Somewhere at the intersection of effort and execution, UC took off. Sean Kilpatrick believes that was based in the wake-up call of realizing the NCAA tournament was slipping out of their grasp.

The same urgency has begun to seep into his veins as the clock ticks away on UC's season. In today's ESPN Bracketology, UC was placed as the No. 12 seed and far from secure in their standing.

"We know that we want to get there this year and get there and win more than win game," Kilpatrick said.

If so, they will need to replicate last year's surge. Can this team, with many different components, pull that off?

"I don't know," Kilpatrick said. "We are going to have to see."

In the meantime, while they wait to see, others will debate the big picture of how to make the tournament happen again. Just don't expect it to be Cronin or his players.

"That's why they have the Sports Rock, Sports of All Sorts, Sports Authority," he said. "We need to worry about making free throws and executing our offense."

With their backs against the wall, the Bearcats fought back to avoid losing their 4th straight