Cincinnati vs Houston: 2019-20 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
Cincinnati has one last chance in the regular season for a major win with a road trip at Houston. Can the Bearcats get one more signature victory for their resume?
TV schedule: Sunday, March 1, 1:00 pm ET. ESPN
Arena: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX
No team had a more stressful month of February than Cincinnati (18-9, 11-4 AAC). The Bearcats had a stretch of four straight overtime games, while the other three’s final margins were each fewer than three points. The team went 5-2 in that run, including wins over Houston and Wichita State twice, while also suffering defeats to both UConn and Central Florida.
The ups and downs have Cincinnati right on the bubble, with our very own Bracketology having them as “First Four Out”. And with there not being many opportunities in the American Athletic Conference to get the signature resume wins needed, the Bearcats have to take advantage of its next opponent.
Houston (21-7, 11-4 AAC) isn’t on the bubble, projected currently as a 7 seed. But that certainly doesn’t mean that the Cougars don’t have work to do themselves, recent losers of two out of three games and slowly creeping towards that dreaded 8/9 seed range. They also could use a good win to move on up the seed lines and more importantly… get the edge in the regular-season title race.
Houston and Cincinnati, along with Tulsa, are tied at the top of the standings at 11-4. Houston already split with the Golden Hurricanes, while the Bearcats beat them in their lone regular-season matchup. Considering that Cincy has the earlier 64-62 home win already, a win here could give the decisive edge over Houston to be the 1 seed in the AAC Tournament.
AAC Bubble Bracketology. dark. Next
In the first meeting between these teams, forward Tre Scott was the big difference in the Bearcats winning, producing 16 points and 11 rebounds. He’s only kept this up since, making an argument towards being this year’s AAC Player of the Year. A strong performance for him in this game could go a long way towards the senior getting the nod. With the Bearcats a bit more desperate and these teams evenly matchup overall, I have Cincy getting another hard-fought win.