Cincy just about punches their ticket; surge is in large part due to Gates' benching

Cincinnati can no longer be put on the bubble.

Thanks to a 58-46 win at Georgetown on Wednesday night, the Bearcats are, as of now, an NCAA Tournament team. Book it.

They are 22-6 on the season. Their top-40 RPI heading into the night is certainly going to climb with a win on the road against a team in the top 15. The Bearcats don't have a bad loss to speak of. Of course, a big reason for that is their non-conference "gauntlet" closely resembled the league schedule of a team from the MAC, which is why their SOS is currently sitting in the triple digits.


That said, how many teams can claim four wins as good as Xavier, St. John's, Louisville, and Georgetown? How many teams can say they own wins on the home floor of two teams in the top 25 of the RPI? When we broke it down based on Monday's RPI standings, Pitt was the only team in the country that had two RPI top 25 road wins. In all, only 23 teams had one RPI top 25 road win.

Like it or not, that is an NCAA Tournament team.

With one caveat: for now.

The Bearcats have as tough of a finish to the season as anyone in the country. They host UConn, they have to travel to bubble-hungry Marquette, and then they get a rematch with the Hoyas at home.

Cincy very easily could lose their last three games. But if Yancy Gates continues to play the way he has the past three games, they very well could win all three. In all likelihood, just one is needed to ensure a bid.

Gates has been the key for the Bearcats all season long. That is risky, however, as Gates has never been a player known for his consistency in effort. In fact, Cronin left Gates at home during a crucial road trip to Pitt due to a lack of effort. When he came back, Gates got just 29 minutes over the next two games.

Something finally clicked against Louisville, however. Gates only finished with eight points and six boards on 2-8 shooting, but he played 30 active, aggressive, and physical minutes. The past two games, road wins against Providence and Georgetown, Gates have averaged 19.0 ppg and 9.5 rpg.

I think he got the point.

And Cronin's calculated risk may have saved Cincy's season.

The bigger question now becomes the likelihood of the Big East getting double figure teams into the tournament. As of right now, it seems a virtual certainty.

With the number of bubble dwellers losing key games down the stretch, the Big East's bubble teams continue to win. St. John's is in the running for a top four seed thanks to seven wins in their last eight games. West Virginia just knocked off second place Notre Dame on Saturday. UConn? Syracuse? Villanova? Georgetown? None of them are in any danger of missing the dance.

As of this morning, the Big East will be sending a record 10 teams to the NCAA Tournament. That will become 11 teams if Marquette can win at UConn on Thursday night.

Can you imagine?

One-sixth of the NCAA Tournament will be from the Big East. Some conference don't even have 11 members.

I know one thing -- the Big East Tournament will be wild this year.