Its that time of year again. I love UC Football, but UC Basketball holds a special place in my heart. Obviously, the Reds are number 1, but Bearcats Basketball is a close 2nd to me. That said, UC has had some trouble putting a competitive team on the floor. I think we will see that start to get better, but they still aren't the type of team most of us are looking for. They are a much better team this year than in the past couple years, but that may not show in the record this year if for no other reason than the Big East is a beast of a basketball conference this year.

I have heard a lot of talk about how its time that we should be seeing results from Mick. The biggest know on him from others is that he has had 3 years of recruiting and still doesn't have a PG. I tend to look at it differently. I don't think he is in a phase to recruit based on needs because players aren't flocking towards the program like they used to. I think he is recruiting based on talent. He wants the best talent he can get reguardless of position. I think that is what he has called phase 1. Phase 2 of building starts after you get a core of players and can start looking for other players to complement that talent. Role players. We are still probably 2 years from a team that will be to a level that Mick is looking for. It could happen sooner if everything works right, but he needs to get this program back on the map for recruits.

As for this season, I think you will see a team who can play decent defense, but will be lacking offensively. Deonta Vaughn desperately needs someone to take the pressure off of him and become a second scoring threat. A couple players have the talent to do that, but they will need to learn the college game quickly. Mike Williams should be a huge help to this team though, and there should be more of an inside game than the last couple of years. If I was to put a bet on it, I would put them around .500 overall and 9th in the conference. There are just a lot of talented teams in the Big East.

Go Bearcats!