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By Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI -- Despite posting a 23-11 record and advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament in their fifth straight appearance, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats didn't spend a single week in the Associated Press Top 25 in 2014-15, which hasn't happened since the 2008-09 season.
With five returning starters, that's likely to change next year, but surprisingly the Bearcats are not a popular pick by the national analysts to begin the season as a ranked team.
In a sampling of 10 preseason Top 25 listings posted shortly after the completion of the Final Four, UC is listed in only four. Its highest ranking comes from Lost Letterman, which has the Bearcats at No. 16 entering next season. The Sporting News has UC ranked No. 18, as does SB Nation. CampusInsiders.com has the Bearcats at No. 21.
Neither USA Today nor Athlon Sports has UC ranked, but USA Today includes the Bearcats in its "also considered" category and Athlon Sports them includes them as "others of note." UC receives no mention from CBSSports.com, ESPN.com, SI.com or Bleacher Report.
While that lack of respect might disturb some UC fans, it might be just about right for UC coach Mick Cronin and his staff as they look ahead to next season. The last thing they wanted was for the Bearcats to enter the summer feeling as if they have arrived.
At the start of last season, Cronin said, he looked at this team as a two-year project. Last year was for learning and coming together after losing three key seniors, with the hope that the Bearcats could keep their NCAA Tournament streak alive. The goal for the 2015-16 season will be to make a deeper run in the tournament.
"Hopefully, the best is yet to come," Cronin said. "I think it's going to depend on our off-season. I'm not a believer in returning players equals victory. I don't think that's the case. If you've got the right guys back with the right attitude, you're in business, but it all starts with our off-season. Hopefully, we've learned how hard it is to win and hopefully, we've learned what we're capable of. If we commit to it, we have a chance to compete with the best."
Having to face No. 1 seed Kentucky in the third round of the NCAAs last season might have seemed like a stroke of bad luck for the Bearcats, who possibly could have advanced further with a more favorable draw, but Cronin said it was exactly what he was hoping for. When UC played so well against the Wildcats before losing, 64-51, the UC head coach had the motivational tool he needed for next season.
"I thought it was good for our guys to get a taste of the best team," Cronin said. "(Kentucky) didn't win it, but they were the best team."
On paper, the 2015-16 UC team has the potential to be the best team of the Cronin coaching era, which began in 2006. But you'll hear no such declarations from him.
"I don't believe in blanket statements," Cronin said. "I know everybody wants to hear me make bold predictions about what we're going to do next year. Obviously, we have a lot more potential to have greater success because we have guys that played as a group together.
"It isn't just that they have some experience. Our sport is a team sport and playing together is a big part of it. It's not just what they learned individually. It's becoming a team. You've got to go through things as a group. You've got to win together. You've got to fail together. You've got to laugh together. You've got to cry together to get to a point where you really are a team instead of just guys wearing the same jersey. There's a big, big difference."
Not only do all five starters return, the play of backup post player Coreontae DeBerry during the NCAA Tournament indicated that he's ready to make a major contribution next season. The Bearcats will also welcome three highly regarded freshmen in 5-10, 170-pound point guard Justin Jenifer, 6-6, 210-pound forward Jacob Evans, and 6-7, 203-pound forward Tre Scott.
With his quickness and ball handling skills, Jenifer could be the missing ingredient for an offense that averaged 62.1 points, which ranked 10th in the American Athletic Conference. The Bearcats committed an average of 12.7 turnovers per game, which ranked ninth.
"We've got to get better in a lot of areas," Cronin said. "We've got to score the ball. We've got to average more points. We've got to be more consistent on offense. We've got to cut down on our turnovers. We've got to have some guys grow as offensive players.
"One thing about Justin, he makes other people better. Jacob is the same way, although Jacob can score a lot of points. He was a point guard his whole life until he got to his junior year and he became so tall. So we've got two guys coming in that are really good passers. They're going to really help us get better. Justin's quickness is a dimension that we did not have."
With the announcement Tuesday that guard Deshaun Morman has decided to transfer, UC has two scholarships available for next year, so it's possible the Bearcats could add another impact player before practice begins next fall and the real pre-season Top 25 projections begin to surface.
"There's so many guys available now with coaching changes and transfers," Cronin said. "The spring recruiting period used to be pretty benign, but nowadays with coaching changes and guys changing their minds and transfers, there is no rest for the staff. We're in full-bore recruiting mode and will be for a while. There's too many guys out there."
Bill Koch covered UC Athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBEARCATS.com in January, 2015 as featured columnist. Follow him on Twitter @bkoch.