http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketb...y/11204482

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Mick Cronin had just finished the non-league portion of his schedule, and he was standing in a hallway inside FedExForum, rattling off stats, lamenting an opportunity wasted, then smiling a great big old smile when told to cheer up because, you know, it only gets tougher from here.

"It's daunting," Cronin said with a grin. "There's no question."

The Cincinnati Bearcats lost to Memphis 60-45 on Monday night, largely because they couldn't make shots (26.1 percent from the field), rebound (grabbed 32, allowed 44) or protect the basketball (20 turnovers). Consequently, they are now 10-3 with wins over UNLV, Mississippi State and UAB. The losses are all reasonable -- to Florida State, Xavier and in front of a rowdy crowd of 18,071 at Memphis, where the Tigers have won 70 of their past 74.

In summary, things have gone OK at Cincinnati considering Mike Williams is the only senior and the point guard, Cashmere Wright, tore his ACL in October. So Cronin should feel pretty good about where he sits heading into the New Year, and he probably would if not for the fact that he's about to embark on a Big East schedule that is daunting, deadly and damn-near impossible to navigate.

I mean, Connecticut lost its league opener.

And Connecticut might win the national championship!

"That's what the Big East is," said Cincinnati junior Deonta Vaughn. "It's a tough schedule."

Tough doesn't begin to describe it, and I'm not even talking about what it's like for Jim Calhoun, Jamie Dixon, John Thompson III, Mike Brey and Jim Boeheim; those guys should be fine because they have experienced and talented rosters that could take any of them to the Final Four. I'm talking about what it's like for a guy like Cronin, a guy who has a team that could finish second in Conference USA, first or second in the SEC West, in the top half of the Pac-10, but can't reasonably be expected to finish better than 10th in the Big East.

"The kids don't know that," Cronin said. "The kids are oblivious."

For now, at least.

But if you stretch the AP poll into the Others Receiving Votes territory, what you'll find is that nine of the top 27 teams are from the Big East, and 10 of the Bearcats' next 16 games are against those teams. One four-game stretch features Georgetown, Villanova, Notre Dame and Georgetown. Another four-game stretch features Pittsburgh, Louisville, West Virginia and Syracuse. And so here is Cronin, with his best team in three years at Cincinnati, trying to re-establish the powerhouse Bob Huggins created under circumstances that aren't conducive to such things, and do you now understand why Providence had a hard time finding a coach last offseason, or why Tom Crean couldn't bolt Marquette quickly enough?

In the Big East, not everybody can finish first, but almost anybody can finish eighth.

Or 10th.

Or 12th.

And that's the reality that'll eventually cost men jobs and ultimately split the league, because various schools are going to get tired of pouring millions of dollars into their basketball programs only to watch their programs alternate between third and 11th. Going forward, success will be difficult to achieve for those climbing and hard to maintain for those already near the top, which is why it was understandable that Cronin spent part of his postgame press conference wondering what could've happened had Yancy Gates finished around the basket or Antonio Anderson not hit those pull-up jumpers.

A couple of breaks here or there, and Cincinnati might be 11-2 instead of 10-3. And though that might not seem like much, it's a lot when you're about to tackle a league schedule that provides one tall hurdle after another, some of which are impossible to jump.

"You can't fake it in our league," Cronin said. "It's hard for everybody."

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I thought that was an interesting comment by Parrish. For schools like Providence, Depaul, Seton Hall, etc whose whole athletic identity hinges on ncaa appearances, the Big East may prove to be a deadly blessing. They will continue to get exposure and money, but without improvement, they'll be left with nothing to sell.