Cincinnati Bearcats Mens Basketball Tickets
The Cincinnati Bearcats men’s basketball team is a Division I program for the University of Cincinnati. The team is located in Cincinnati, Ohio and play their home games at the Fifth Third Arena. The Fifth Third Arena has a capacity of 13,176 people and was built in 1989. Despite a handful of years with only tepid success, the Bearcats have compiled a sparkling 205-27 record since the opening of the last 20-plus years since the arena opened. The team plays in the Big East Conference. The team is currently coached by Mick Cronin. Cronin has led the team to a record of 108-83 during his six-year tenure as coach. In that time, he has coached the team to two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances including a Sweet Sixteen berth in 2012.
The team played its first game in 1901, and over the past 110 years, have garnered quite a bit of success. The team achieved its first conference championship in 1926, and throughout the 1920s, won three out of the last four conference championships in the decade. The team’s next big run of success was under the direction of John Wiethe, who led the team to five straight conference championships and their first postseason berth, a trip to the NIT’s Sweet Sixteen. Under George Smith, the team made the transition from the Mid-American Conference, to an independent, back into a conference where they joined the Missouri Valley Conference. Under Smith, the team made their first three NCAA Tournaments, racking up a Sweet Sixteen berth, and two Final Fours. After George Smith left, the team found itself making three more Final Fours in the following years, winning the National Championship in 1961 and 1962.
Throughout the course of the team’s history, the team has made 26 NCAA Tournaments, winning twice and making six Final Fours. The team has featured two players honored as Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson in both 1959 and 1960, as well as Kenyon Martin in 2000. The team has featured 49 players selected in the NBA Draft, including one first-overall pick in Oscar Robertson.
While Cincinnati has a variety of rivalries, none are quite as intense as their rivalry between the Bearcats and the Xavier Musketeers. Both teams are located in Cincinnati and the “Crosstown Shootout” as its known, has been played 79 times, with the Bearcats holding a decisive 48-31 lead; however, Xavier has won eleven of the last fifteen. This game took on even more national prominence when at the end of their last matchup; a bench-clearing brawl took place between the two teams. This brawl has led to the move of this game to a neutral site for the next two years.
