Interesting article on how it has always been a struggle for us to find a proper home. Ideally we'd be in a league with Tulane, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Pittsburgh and other schools located in pro-sports towns
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http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130...d-Bearcats

The University of Cincinnati won two national championships in men’s basketball and made five straight trips to the Final Four while playing in the Missouri Valley Conference, but after 13 years in the MVC, the Bearcats decided in 1970 that they needed a change of scenery.

UC’s departure from the MVC was the beginning of a nomadic conference existence that has led the Bearcats to the new American Athletic Conference.

Since leaving the MVC, UC has competed in four different basketball conferences, with a fifth on the horizon this fall. The American will be the school’s third different football conference since it left the MVC. UC played as an independent from 1970 to 1995.

In every instance, until UC was forced to find a new home after the Big East Conference broke up last year, one of the major reasons – if not the major reason – behind its change of conferences was a desire to find a conference home for its football program....

[rest of the article at link above]

A really good book to read on the often star-crossed history of UC Football is "Bearcats Rising" which was written at the apex of the Brian Kelly tenure.

A sequel could well be entitled "Bearcats Falling."

Due to copyright issues, we can't copy/paste entire articles on the board. I've truncated the OP to just a teaser. Follow the link if you want the whole article.

Thanks!!

UC waited to late to get its football program into high gear. Had they gotten that done earlier and be playing in 40-50k crowds they could had been in a better situation.

(05-14-2013 10:05 AM)NJ1 Wrote:  Due to copyright issues, we can't copy/paste entire articles on the board. I've truncated the OP to just a teaser. Follow the link if you want the whole article.

Thanks!!

Sorry, I will keep that in mind for the future.

(05-14-2013 10:26 AM)Cubanbull Wrote:  UC waited to late to get its football program into high gear. Had they gotten that done earlier and be playing in 40-50k crowds they could had been in a better situation.

Cincinnati cannot draw that sort of crowd outside of big name schools and rivalry games, so it is is kind of a moot point.

This same story could fit a lot of schools in this league. Louisville is the only one from the profile that has made it through purgatory.

Link is broken.

Nippert stadium has been the home of UC football since November 9, 1901. I love going to Nippert Stadium. It is a great venue, however, with that said, it is also a good part of the reason, that UC is having trouble moving up. in football, Nippert is just to small and has out dated amenities required for a modern Big Time Football stadium, and lacks the space to improve and expand the facilities. Nippert is truly the Bearcats' Achilles heel.

Cincinnati is an odd town. Individuals here want a Mercedes at Yugo prices and effort.

With that in mind - the Enquirer did a decent job looking at UC's conf issue. UC needs to overcome years of the admin/fans providing minimal support for most sports, aside from bball. However, finally we have an admin/student body who has bought into our fball. My hope is that the support will continue through these lean times.

Kobe is a good example of the attitude of most in Cincinnati. I usually hear all the reasons one can not succeed and why under those tough circumstances should one expend any energy. Cincinnati is however an event type of town. If they perceive a game as a big time event the masses come out in droves. In 2009, as we continued the undefeated regular season, the games were sold out and it became a tough ticket.

(05-14-2013 07:46 AM)kobe Wrote:  Interesting article on how it has always been a struggle for us to find a proper home. Ideally we'd be in a league with Tulane, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Pittsburgh and other schools located in pro-sports towns
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Now you are in a league with Tulane, SMU, Houston, Memphis, USF, UCF, and Temple...all schools located in pro-sports towns.

(05-14-2013 11:55 AM)CalallenStang Wrote:  

(05-14-2013 07:46 AM)kobe Wrote:  Interesting article on how it has always been a struggle for us to find a proper home. Ideally we'd be in a league with Tulane, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Pittsburgh and other schools located in pro-sports towns
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Now you are in a league with Tulane, SMU, Houston, Memphis, USF, UCF, and Temple...all schools located in pro-sports towns.

That, too. I agree.

(05-14-2013 11:54 AM)bearcatmill Wrote:  Kobe is a good example of the attitude of most in Cincinnati. I usually hear all the reasons one can not succeed and why under those tough circumstances should one expend any energy. Cincinnati is however an event type of town. If they perceive a game as a big time event the masses come out in droves. In 2009, as we continued the undefeated regular season, the games were sold out and it became a tough ticket.

Not really, I am just much more realistic than most UC fans. There are many flaws that have kept UC out of the Power 5...more than just "we got screwed."

(05-14-2013 11:55 AM)CalallenStang Wrote:  

(05-14-2013 07:46 AM)kobe Wrote:  Interesting article on how it has always been a struggle for us to find a proper home. Ideally we'd be in a league with Tulane, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Pittsburgh and other schools located in pro-sports towns
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Now you are in a league with Tulane, SMU, Houston, Memphis, USF, UCF, and Temple...all schools located in pro-sports towns.

Give me Tulane, One of Rice/SMU/UH, One of USF/UCF, Memphis, Temple, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Boston College, Cincinnati, throw in Louisville I would be happy with that 10 team arrangement. But we cannot always get what we want...

Personally, I am happy that Cincinnati is with our peers (save for ECU) in the AAC. Go Cats!!

(05-14-2013 12:08 PM)kobe Wrote:  

(05-14-2013 11:54 AM)bearcatmill Wrote:  Kobe is a good example of the attitude of most in Cincinnati. I usually hear all the reasons one can not succeed and why under those tough circumstances should one expend any energy. Cincinnati is however an event type of town. If they perceive a game as a big time event the masses come out in droves. In 2009, as we continued the undefeated regular season, the games were sold out and it became a tough ticket.

Not really, I am just much more realistic than most UC fans. There are many flaws that have kept UC out of the Power 5...more than just "we got screwed."

(05-14-2013 11:55 AM)CalallenStang Wrote:  

(05-14-2013 07:46 AM)kobe Wrote:  Interesting article on how it has always been a struggle for us to find a proper home. Ideally we'd be in a league with Tulane, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Pittsburgh and other schools located in pro-sports towns
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Now you are in a league with Tulane, SMU, Houston, Memphis, USF, UCF, and Temple...all schools located in pro-sports towns.

Give me Tulane, One of Rice/SMU/UH, One of USF/UCF, Memphis, Temple, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Boston College, Cincinnati, throw in Louisville I would be happy with that 10 team arrangement. But we cannot always get what we want...

Personally, I am happy that Cincinnati is with our peers (save for ECU) in the AAC. Go Cats!!

You are very positive today!!

(05-14-2013 12:08 PM)kobe Wrote:  

(05-14-2013 11:54 AM)bearcatmill Wrote:  Kobe is a good example of the attitude of most in Cincinnati. I usually hear all the reasons one can not succeed and why under those tough circumstances should one expend any energy. Cincinnati is however an event type of town. If they perceive a game as a big time event the masses come out in droves. In 2009, as we continued the undefeated regular season, the games were sold out and it became a tough ticket.

Not really, I am just much more realistic than most UC fans. There are many flaws that have kept UC out of the Power 5...more than just "we got screwed."

(05-14-2013 11:55 AM)CalallenStang Wrote:  

(05-14-2013 07:46 AM)kobe Wrote:  Interesting article on how it has always been a struggle for us to find a proper home. Ideally we'd be in a league with Tulane, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Pittsburgh and other schools located in pro-sports towns
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Now you are in a league with Tulane, SMU, Houston, Memphis, USF, UCF, and Temple...all schools located in pro-sports towns.

Give me Tulane, One of Rice/SMU/UH, One of USF/UCF, Memphis, Temple, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Boston College, Cincinnati, throw in Louisville I would be happy with that 10 team arrangement. But we cannot always get what we want...

Personally, I am happy that Cincinnati is with our peers (save for ECU) in the AAC. Go Cats!!

Let's look at it this way. You get Tulane, UH, USF, Memphis, Temple, Cincy. SMU was Miami (FL) before we got killed by the NCAA and Texas' decision to turn down the Big 8 - SWC merger...and with a strong conference, we can be Miami (FL) again. UCF has the potential to be a mix of Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech (UCF has a technical focus and an urban location) if they get a few more years to grow. So, in a lot of ways, this conference has the types of schools you want.

The one issue I see for Cincy is that you are relatively geographically isolated. Louisville helped with that but now they are off to cashing a paycheck in the ACC. At least Cincy has a great airport with easy flights to nearly all conference members.

Well, if we could pick:

Louisville
Cincinnati
Memphis
West Virginia
East Carolina
Pitt
Virginia Tech
Rutgers
Syracuse
UConn
South Florida
Miami

(05-14-2013 12:22 PM)Wilkie01 Wrote:  Well, if we could pick:

Louisville
Cincinnati
Memphis
West Virginia
East Carolina
Pitt
Virginia Tech
Rutgers
Syracuse
UConn
South Florida
Miami

If we could pick, here's what I'd want for SMU:

SMU
TCU
Texas
Texas A&M
Houston
Arkansas
Vanderbilt
USC
UCLA
Oklahoma
Baylor
and a wildcard (one of the following: Stanford, Duke, Texas Tech, Arizona)

But this is a pointless exercise because that will never happen.

That would be good for SMU and Houston.

(05-14-2013 11:52 AM)CalallenStang Wrote:  Link is broken.

I have fixed and updated with the correct link. Looks like you get 20 free articles (per month, I think?)

(05-14-2013 12:08 PM)kobe Wrote:  

(05-14-2013 11:54 AM)bearcatmill Wrote:  Kobe is a good example of the attitude of most in Cincinnati. I usually hear all the reasons one can not succeed and why under those tough circumstances should one expend any energy. Cincinnati is however an event type of town. If they perceive a game as a big time event the masses come out in droves. In 2009, as we continued the undefeated regular season, the games were sold out and it became a tough ticket.

Not really, I am just much more realistic than most UC fans. There are many flaws that have kept UC out of the Power 5...more than just "we got screwed."

(05-14-2013 11:55 AM)CalallenStang Wrote:  

(05-14-2013 07:46 AM)kobe Wrote:  Interesting article on how it has always been a struggle for us to find a proper home. Ideally we'd be in a league with Tulane, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Pittsburgh and other schools located in pro-sports towns
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Now you are in a league with Tulane, SMU, Houston, Memphis, USF, UCF, and Temple...all schools located in pro-sports towns.

Give me Tulane, One of Rice/SMU/UH, One of USF/UCF, Memphis, Temple, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Boston College, Cincinnati, throw in Louisville I would be happy with that 10 team arrangement. But we cannot always get what we want...

Personally, I am happy that Cincinnati is with our peers (save for ECU) in the AAC. Go Cats!!

Kobe - individuals, such as yourself, are the reason UC is where it is today. You can say you are a realist, however you are the epitome of most Cincinnatians - the it can't be done, costs too much, I have better things to do, oh woe is me attitude.

UC is the 2nd largest University in Ohio. Enrollment is on par with a number of big 5 conf schools. One of the top research Universities in the country. Has one of the top endowments for a public university. Great academics. Nationally competitive for the major 2 sports. Finally an athletic dept that's all in.

Let's be real for a moment. What has killed UC in realignment are fans, such as yourself, short sighted decision making in the past, and a local media that refuses to promote the city's/county's largest employer.

Reality is not your strong suit - having an agenda definately fits you.

(05-14-2013 12:49 PM)NJ1 Wrote:  

(05-14-2013 11:52 AM)CalallenStang Wrote:  Link is broken.

I have fixed and updated with the correct link. Looks like you get 20 free articles (per month, I think?)

Thanks. Good article!