WOW. September was my last post. That's slightly depressing, but I'm back! The problem is that I only felt compelled to write after Cincinnati's embarrassing loss to UCF on Sunday. I'll be honest, I didn't even watch the game. But only scoring 49 points? Sounds like a story from years' past. If you have followed this UC program over the past, oh I don't know, decade...you know offense has always been hard to come by, except for this year. Kyle Washington no doubt has ignited this offense from the start of the season. The depth of this year's team doesn't hurt either. Troy Caupain has had many an off night, but they'll pick up with a 20-point night from Jacob Evans. Or, maybe Jarrod Cumberland comes off the bench for a double digit performance. All this has helped lead the Cats to a 25-4 record thus far, and a residency in the Top 25 for the better part of the season. But again, 49 points?!?! Where is this coming from??? To take the words right out of Mick Cronin's mouth, they were awful offensively.

I guess the only silver lining is they held UCF to only 53 points, so at least the defense showed up. Yes, this loss is troubling, but the timing is even more troubling. We're heading into tournament time, and nobody wants to hit a cold streak come March. Despite recent losses to SMU and UCF, the Bearcats continue to win at home. Their 25-game winning streak at Fifth Third will be put to the test Thursday in their final home game against a tough Houston team. This also happens to be senior night, so I hope they can send Caupain, Johnson, and everyone's favorite, Tobler, out with a victory.

Before the loss to UCF, I believed the Bearcats could have made a push for a four seed in the big dance. Now, I'm not so sure that we won't be a six. Cronin needs to get this team back on track and get hot again before the AAC Conference gets underway. After Houston, the Cats travel to UConn for a noon game this Sunday which will also be another tough one away from home. If the Cats can win out, and SMU stumbles we could be looking at a No. 1 seed for the conference tournament, but at the very least we've secured the two seed. Because of our conference and non-conference schedule being weak compared to other Top 25 teams, a conference tournament victory would be a bold statement before Selection Sunday. We all know what happens to five and six seeds in the tourney...it's upset city. I don't want to see another first round knockout for these guys. Finally I feel like Cronin has a team that can score and make some noise in March, but they've got to step it up...quick.