While the Cincinnati Bearcats have had an interesting start to the 2025 season, dropping from No. 11 to out of the AP Top 25, the team is beginning to fight its way back into the NCAA Tournament picture.
The Bearcats were recently listed as the first team out in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology update, trailing eight Big 12 teams in the tournament field.
Cincinnati, 12-5 (2-4 in Big 12), started off badly out of the gates in league play. The team lost four straight games to start off the regular season, with losses to Kansas State (1-5), Arizona (5-1), Baylor (3-3), and No. 12 Kansas (4-2). They then bounced back with back-to-back wins over Colorado and Arizona State, marking the first two-game win streak since December.
Cincinnati barely missed out on the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24 but returned a bulk of their production from that squad this year. Players like Dan Skillings Jr., Simas Lukosius, Jizzle James, Aziz Bandaogo, and Day Day Thomas have become major contributors, while the team’s high-profile transfer Dillon Mitchell has found a home in Cincinnati, averaging 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
The group has four more Quad 1 opportunities remaining on their schedule to bolster their resume, with two outings against No. 23 West Virginia and matchups with No. 3 Iowa State and No. 7 Houston.
Cincinnati takes the court next in hopes of their third-straight league win on Tuesday, January 21st, vs. Texas Tech.
