TicketsJune 30, 2011
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The BIG EAST Conference announced the University of Cincinnati's conference opponents and game sites for the 2011-12 season on Thursday (June 30).
The Bearcats will welcome six NCAA national championship tournament qualifiers to Fifth Third Arena during conference play and will play home-and-home series with Marquette, St. John's, and Villanova, all NCAA teams from a season ago. UC will host DePaul, Louisville, Notre Dame, Providence, Seton Hall, and Syracuse as well as the three repeat opponents.
The road schedule is predictably difficult, as the Bearcats travel to defending national champion Connecticut, Georgetown, defending BIG EAST champion Pittsburgh, Rutgers, USF, and West Virginia.
"Playing in the BIG EAST Conference is the ultimate challenge every season," said sixth-year head coach Mick Cronin. "This year will be our biggest challenge yet as we have drawn an extremely tough schedule for our three repeat opponents in St. John's, Villanova, and Marquette.
UC returns its top four scorers from 2010-11 in Yancy Gates, Dion Dixon, Sean Kilpatrick, and Cashmere Wright and will welcome newcomers Jeremiah Davis, Octavius Ellis, Ge'Lawn Guyn, Cheikh Mbodj, Jermaine Sanders, Shaquille Thomas, and redshirt freshman Kelvin Gaines to the squad. UC finished last season with a 26-9 mark, tying for sixth in the BIG EAST regular season standings and winning a second-round game over Missouri in the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats are the only Division I school in the country to increase its win total in each of the last five seasons and have been ranked as high as No. 8 in the nation in some preseason polls.
"Our challenge is to make sure we stay focused and put in the work necessary to have a great season," Cronin said. "We hope to build on our success of last season. I also want to thank our fans again for their tremendous support down the stretch last year and let them know how much of a positive impact that had on our team."
The 2011-12 season marks the fifth consecutive year that BIG EAST teams have played 18 conference games. Remarkably, 91% of BIG EAST Conference include at least one NCAA Tournament participant, and 47% match two NCAA teams.
Dates and times will be announced at a later date, as will the non-conference portion of the schedule.
2011-12 BIG EAST Conference Opponents
Home Games
DePaul
Louisville
Marquette*
Notre Dame
Providence
St. John's*
Seton Hall
Syracuse
Villanova*
Away Games
Connecticut
Georgetown
Marquette*
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
St. John's*
USF
Villanova*
West Virginia
* - Home-and-home series.