Cincinnati Basketball: 2017-18 season preview for the Bearcats

SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 17: The Cincinnati Bearcats cheerleaders perform against the Kansas State Wildcats during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Golden 1 Center on March 17, 2017 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

4 of 5

SACRAMENTO, CA – MARCH 19: Head coach Mick Cronin of the Cincinnati Bearcats reacts against the UCLA Bruins during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Golden 1 Center on March 19, 2017 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Key Non-Conference games

Dec. 2 – at Xavier

Dec. 9 – at Florida

Dec. 12 – Mississippi State

Dec. 16 – at UCLA

The first month of the season doesn’t have much worth seeing. Cincinnati will be playing in the Cayman Island Classic on Thanksgiving weekend, but a possible finals matchup against Iowa is the only noteworthy part of that tournament.

While November will be boring, December will more than make up for it. Four games in two weeks against teams who all could end up in the top-25 will play a big role in tournament seeding for the Bearcats. It also will have them ready for conference play which will be right around the corner.

Key Conference games

Jan. 7- SMU

Jan. 16 – at UCF

Feb. 3 – at UConn

Feb. 6 – UCF

Feb. 11 – at SMU

Feb. 18 – Wichita State

Mar. 4 – at Wichita State

We’ll have to wade deep into conference play to see arguably the top two teams in the conference go head-to-head. Two of the last five games on Cincinnati’s schedule are against the Wichita State Shockers, who by then will be fully acclimated to their new conference.

The Mustangs of SMU have competed with Cincinnati for conference supremacy for the last couple of seasons, and it is starting to become a decent rivalry. Figure in upstarts UConn and UCF into the fold and there will be many more games worth watching in conference play.

Home/Cincinnati Bearcats