15. Cincinnati (6-1)
This season began with higher expectations than in recent years for Cincinnati and the early showing has been good. The Bearcats survived an unblemished November, though their schedule wasn’t exactly a murderer’s row. They looked great a few weeks ago on the road against inferior teams but we don’t quite know yet how this strong lineup will hold up in the rigors of Big 12 play.
We didn’t get an answer to that question this week, but we did see Cincinnati pushed harder than in their first six contests. The Bearcats suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday night, falling 68-60 at Villanova in a game that was part of the Big 12/Big East Battle. Jizzle James had 19 points and 5 assists while Simas Lukosius added 13 points, but Eric Dixon went off for Villanova in what was Oregon’s worst defense performance of the season.
The Bearcats passed each challenge without issue until that trip to Villanova and now a few question marks have emerged. Can that defense hold up on a regular basis against a Big 12 schedule or was that just a case of Dixon going off? Will their offense have enough in the tank to push stronger teams? Whether or not we get answers to these and other questions, the Bearcats have a highly-anticipated matchup with rival Xavier next weekend and getting a win is very important.