#5 Seed For Cincinnati Bearcats

Mar 8, 2014; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats guard Troy Caupain (10) brings the ball up court during the first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

The Cincinnati Bearcats will be traveling to Spokane, Washington as the #5 seed in the East bracket to face the #12 seeded Harvard Crimson out of the Ivy League. A five seed was lower than the Bearcats and their fans expected on Sunday but the matchup against Harvard favors the Bearcats.

While the “experts” at ESPN unanimously picked Harvard to upset the Bearcats it begs the question as to why the believe this. They have no quality wins, they beat Boston College and TCU which are their only wins over AQ schools. Meanwhile the Bearcats played in one of the most competitive conferences in the country in the American Athletic Conference.

Cincinnati’s defense is unlike anything Harvard has faced this season. The experts can talk about how good Harvard’s offense is but getting off shots against a pressuring, physical defense is much more difficult than playing in the Ivy League.

Should Cincinnati advance they will likely face Michigan State the #4 seed in the East who enters the NCAA Tournament hot off a Big 10 conference championship win. Michigan State has turned into a media favorite this week, a matchup with the Bearcats and their defense would be interesting.

Other local teams in the tournament include Xavier as a #12seed in a play in game in Dayton on Tuesday, Ohio State is a #6 seed who will face #11 Dayton in the first round. Kentucky made the tournament as an #8 seed after losing in the NIT last season.

Cincinnati plays Thursday, the game time has not been announced yet.