Confliction on the Court

They lost to DePaul. How the hell did that happen?

Last week, UC lost to DePaul in the first round of the Big East Tournament. In case you didn’t know, the Blue Demons went 0-18 in conference play. Yet somehow, the Bearcats broke down.

UC head coach Mick Cronin has yet to get past the first round of the conference tourney. He has gone 0-10 in March, during his three year tenure. And the program has yet to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament, after getting there almost every year under Bob Huggins.

The fact is that UC had a winning basketball tradition. It was one of the premier programs in the country. While I do agree that Huggins deserved the axe for off-court issues, Cronin has done a horrible job filling his shoes.

Yes, taking the place of a local legend is not easy, but the name University of Cincinnati, alone, used to be able to get some of the country’s top recruits. Now, it struggles. Kids look at it and say “No.”

Maybe if the Bearcats were still in Conference USA it would be different, but the Big East is a whole other animal. It is the best and toughest conference in the country. And under Cronin, they can’t even break into the middle of the pack.

Here’s the big problem quickly arising with UC basketball: UC football. With a limited amount of money it’s kind of hazy how much money the school will be able to allocate to the two programs. While the school is traditionally known as a basketball school, their recent failures may have hampered the program for a while. On the other hand, the football program is on the rise and starting to bring new money to the school that it didn’t have before.

Can we blame Cronin for this? No. But the students and fans are quickly turning against him. Calling out cross-town rival Xavier (who he has yet to beat) doesn’t help you out, buddy. And when Huggins was here, he was the most beloved coach at the school. With the success on the gridiron, the fans won’t hesitate to turn on Cronin as they’ve fallen in love with Brian Kelly.

Basically, my opinion is that UC should give Cronin one more year, but they have the keep close tabs on him. No more stupid sound bites. Maybe one win in March. The guy needs a lot of help if he wants to keep coaching after 2010.