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Cincinnati
Road to the Final Four.............................................................................................
Since Kenyon Martin's leg broke in Memphis last year during the Conference USA Tournament, nothing has come easy to Bob Huggins' team. This bid included. DerMarr Johnson went pro after one year. Then junior-college recruit Antwan Jones was slow to blossom. Then Cincinnati simply didn't play very well at all. For a while Cincy actually appeared to be on the bubble before a strong finish and challenging schedule pushed them over the top. When the Bearcats lost at home to the worst Louisville team since World War II, the season officially shifted into crisis mode. But they rallied to upset Wake Forest after that and pieced together a run to another share of the C-USA regular-season title, their sixth straight. Huggins even went so far as to say he likes this team and is proud of its accomplishments. And this is a guy not known to gush. An RPI in the 30s indicates that neither C-USA nor Cincinnati are up to their usual standards. In fact, another in a series of second-round NCAA knockouts seems a likelihood at this point. But this is not anyone's idea of an easy draw. Player to Watch Satterfield, who nearly went pro last year but has battled a sophomore slump this year, is the key to how the Bearcats perform. When the skinny sophomore from New York is hitting his shots (a rarity, given his 39.2 percent shooting), he's a nightmare to guard. That frees up his driving ability, where he can shoot short jumpers in the lane or dish to open teammates. He's the designated shot taker at the end of close games, but his success rate on those plays this year is not good. With the Ball Cincy is much more guard-driven than in recent years, which is a good thing when sophomore point guard Kenny Satterfield is playing productively. When he's not, the burden falls even more heavily on junior sharp-shooter Steve Logan (a team-high 17.9 ppg). Defending the Ball Huggins simply won't tolerate bad defense, and this team slowly rounded into a fairly tenacious bunch of stoppers. What it has lacked is a dominating post presence and the ability to physically intimidate opponents, both key elements of the best Cincy teams. Seed Analysis Exceeding the Seed Playing to Expectations Falling Short BRACKETOLOGY SCORE: .828 (1.000 is playing exactly to a team's historical seeding) Bracketology Report 1985-2000: The Bearcats returned to the tourney in 1992 after a 15-year absence, celebrating with an unexpected Final Four appearance. In eight visits since, it has been mostly downhill. That trend has been especially true of late, as Cincinnati has failed to advance beyond the second round despite being a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in each of the past four years. Other than their 1992 run, Cincy has no instance of exceeding its seed in the 64-team era. Roster
 NCAA Basketball Championship Week It's March, which means the madness has started and invitations are being reserved throughout Championship Week.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |  |
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After all the high expectations, coach Bob Huggins was happy for his players (Courtesy: NCAA Productions).
