UC Vs. UK maybe?

[WHO DEY AGAIN?]

UC is a tad bit better than eastern kentucky

.

Maybe by a point or two. Nothing more than that.

[OICanDoThat]

UC by 10, I call it now.

But seriously, I don't think Kentucky has faced a physical team like UC, and won't know how to react. On that note, will I be surprised if UK wins, hell no, but I definitely wouldn't look past UC like some UK fans are implying. It should be close, no one is denying that. You know what, I will stick by the 10 point thing, for s**ts and giggles.

[Ox]

UK hasn't seen a physical team like UC? HMM well I guess North Carolina isn't physical then.. neither is LSU evidently. UC hasn't seen a team that has HALF the defensive pressure UK brings at ya.

UK - 81

UC - 70

That being said, I don't know what I will do if UK gets upset by ANOTHER C-USA team....

[oldschooler]

UK hasn't seen a physical team like UC? HMM well I guess North Carolina isn't physical then.. neither is LSU evidently. UC hasn't seen a team that has HALF the defensive pressure UK brings at ya.

UK - 81

UC - 70

That being said, I don't know what I will do if UK gets upset by ANOTHER C-USA team....

Didn`t UK LOSE to Carolina ...and for that matter South Carolina ?

And LSU lost to a C-USA team ...

[bengalboomer7]

You guys forget that this is a matchup UC has pushed for for years, and UK has ducked them. They even renigged on a four game contract. And anyone that lives in or near Cincy knows how many UK fans are in that region. UC will come in real tough and you can't deny that this is an off year for UK. This crap of we beat them and you beat them(and by the way, one of the knocks on UNC is that they are not physical,see the UCONN game) doesn't mean anything. I for one am pumped up that this game is happening and am glad that it looks like the UK fans on this board are overlooking UC. Like someone already said, I won't be shocked if UK wins, but I won't be shocked if UC wins either.

[BengalszoneBilly]

I for one am pumped up that this game is happening and am glad that it looks like the UK fans on this board are overlooking UC.

Oh really?

billybroome Posted: Mar 13 2005, 05:44 PM 

After watching UK lose today, I'm not too sure UC wouldn't come out on top. I don't know what's wrong with Tubby's team, but they don't seem to have the presence of a dominant inside man. There's a distinct lack of getting the 2nd shot off the offensive boards.

[bengalboomer7]

exluding you, Billy Man, your jsut on my arse this morning aren't ya

[BengalszoneBilly]

exluding you, Billy Man, your jsut on my arse this morning aren't ya

Nah. I just want credit where credit's due! Blame always finds me easy enough.

[TippCityRick]

I'm from Cincy and will be cheering heartily for the Bearcats. However I don't think I can pick em. Got UK bracketed for the next stop. I'll go UK 60 - UC 59. But I wouldn't mind seeing Cincy move on . . . It would be a great victory for Huggins' clan.

[oldschooler]

I am scared, nervous, excited, and growing a little impatient !

I have been looking forward to this game for YEARS !

I hope "my boys" pull it out so bad ! UC has been getting bashed

far to long (with some good reason)...it`s time for some pay back !

Just so you all know....IF UC loses ...I will be back here to take my

medicine.

But IF they win....I will definitely be here to dish it out !

Either way HOPEFULLY this will be such a great game that it forces both

schools to find a way to have a game against each other EVERY YEAR !

[BengalszoneBilly]

Just so you all know....IF UC loses ...I will be back here to take my

medicine.

But IF they win....I will definitely be here to dish it out !

I wouldn't expect anything less from a classy guy like you oldschooler!

Either way HOPEFULLY this will be such a great game that it forces both

schools to find a way to have a game against each other EVERY YEAR !

It should be that way already! I mean Kentucky plays Louisville every year it seems, why not Cincy? Their program rates in my book!

[oldschooler]

Some good reads....And even more reasons to hate UK...

Kentucky, Cincy face first meeting in 15 years

By Pat Forde, ESPN.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- Kentucky and Cincinnati haven't played each other in basketball for 15 years, but that hardly matters. The Rivalry That Isn't does not need actual games to keep it alive.

In the greater Cincinnati area, fans of the longtime powerhouses contest it every day. Which is why the area is in an absolute dither over the NCAA Tournament second-round Wildcats-Bearcats matchup Saturday in the RCA Dome. This game is big to the players because it's an elimination game; it's huge to the fans because it's a bragging-rights game.

The Ohio River is all that separates Cincinnati and the Bluegrass State. The Midwest and five-way chili on one side, the South and aged bourbon on the other. It's a major geographic dividing line, but it hardly keeps these warring allegiances from intermingling.

The Cincinnati airport is actually in Kentucky, and the 'Nati itself is rife with Big Blue fans. Kentucky house flags flap in Queen City subdivisions, and thousands of Northern Kentucky residents work in Cincy -- bringing their Cattitude with them.

"You don't really like the people over the river," said Bearcats guard Ryan Patzwald, a Cincinnati native. "That's just the way I was brought up."

Both Cincinnati daily papers, the Enquirer and the Post, have regular Kentucky basketball beat writers. The city's TV stations routinely cover UK as well. Sports talk radio is a mixed bag of Kentucky, Cincy and Xavier topics -- and this week it's full of woofing about this second-round NCAA game.

"It's kind of a dream game," said Cincinnati strongman Jason Maxiell, who got a smack-talking call this week from former Bearcat Ruben Patterson and former Wildcat Derek Anderson, now teammates with the Portland Trailblazers. "It's Kentucky vs. UC. It's a state rivalry."

The Rivalry That Isn't begins on the cultural level. Cincinnatians have long regarded Kentucky with cosmopolitan disdain, looking down on their country cousins to the south. Hillbilly stereotypes are the popular pejoratives.

Northern Kentucky got Cincy's airport but also some of its blight. Although native Kentuckian Larry Flynt started his Hustler porn empire in Cincy, the city subsequently booted all strip clubs out of town. Today you have to go to Covington or Newport, Ky., to find a lap dance.

Kentuckians have generally responded to Cincinnati's smugness with the only weapon at their disposal -- hoops superiority.

Cincy has Oscar Robertson and a couple 1960s national titles on its side. Kentucky has seven titles and all the entitlement one program can handle.

The difference in program expectations can be seen in the attendance of their celebrity fans -- Bearcats backer and Cincinnati native Nick Lachey was in the RCA Dome on Thursday, cheering boisterously in a red No. 52 jersey; Wildcats backer Ashley Judd isn't messing with the first or second rounds. She's a Sweet 16 girl.

Most maddening of all to Cincinnati fans, Kentucky has the luxury of ignoring the Bearcats.

They're 85 miles apart and have have played 36 times over the years but haven't met since 1990. Word is that there was a signed contract to play four more games during the 1990s but that Kentucky didn't honor the deal.

In the meantime, Kentucky has played 10 home games in Cincinnati -- but none of those games has been against the Bearcats. They've played Ohio, Dayton, Wright State, Kent State, Marshall, Ball State -- even Vanderbilt. But never Cincinnati.

"I'm not going to get into a bunch of discussions about what's what," UK coach Tubby Smith said. "We have our schedule, our guidelines and our reasons for scheduling who we schedule.

"We get 23,000-plus at Rupp Arena every game. It's not like we need to play them to help our attendance," he added.

Bottom line -- UK doesn't want the game, doesn't need the game and will not play the game in the foreseeable future. Smith has no interest in adding the Bearcats to the current non-conference diet of Louisville, Indiana, North Carolina and Kansas.

Clearly, Cincinnati has more to gain from the game than does Kentucky. Power forward Eric Hicks said he thought the Bearcats might be able to win some converts -- then thought better of the notion.

"I doubt if you could change a Kentucky fan's mind," Hicks said. "They'll probably brush it off and start going to their history."

Bob Huggins likes Smith and probably hopes to win him over and eventually resume the series. So the Combative One treads lightly on the topic of Kentucky ducking his program.

"We've talked about it," he said. "It just hasn't worked. They have some non-conference games that they're contractually into for a while. (Smith) has told me he thinks it would be a good game for basketball in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky."

But now, in the NCAA Tournament? With Cincinnati in the scary underdog role and Kentucky looking like a vulnerable favorite? That's a worst-case scenario for the perpetually concerned Big Blue fans.

The Rivalry That Isn't gains further spice from the programs' starkly different philosophies. Cincinnati is an uptight town with an anything-goes basketball program. The state of Kentucky was built on vices -- whiskey, tobacco and thoroughbred wagering -- but cherishes its uptight basketball program.

The Bearcats were literally laid-back Friday. With Huggins a few feet away in their locker room, swingman Armein Kirland did television interviews while flat on his back on a table, head propped up by a stack of towels.

In another part of the room, guard Jihad Muhammad's Marley-esque dreds flowed down his neck. It's impossible to envision them surviving under Smith, a coach who once banned facial hair on his team.

While Cincinnati is downright flip with the media, Kentucky regards it with a caution that borders on suspicion. Smith kept his touted freshman class off-limits from interviews until March.

After the first-round games, some of Cincinnati's assistant coaches were seen in the wee hours of Friday morning at a thumping downtown Indy club, then taking in a 3 a.m. meal amid a throng of drunks at Steak & Shake. Tubby's bland collection of assistants probably turned in early after milk and cookies.

Huggins is the hard-living anti-establishment type with an outrageous potty mouth. Smith is so square he's divisible by four.

But they share one thing -- a love of physical, tenacious, tough basketball. This game could come down to which team can win the Toughman contest, and to find a way to execute offensively against merciless defense.

Regardless of strategy, the fans of both sides know one thing: they're finally going to play again, with huge stakes.

Said Hicks. "The game is on the schedule now."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney0...tory?id=2016567

http://sports-att.espn.go.com/ncb/preview?gameId=254000044

[Ox]

FIRST OFF, UK has not ducked UC. RICK PITINO has ducked UC. Tubby mentioned that it is not out of the realm of possibility to play Cinci, either. I for one would be a huge proponent of an every year series.

Didn`t UK LOSE to Carolina ...and for that matter South Carolina ?

And LSU lost to a C-USA team ... wink.gif

Yes, KY lost to NC, and also SC. I was addressing the fact that the Cats have faced equally aggressive defenses this year. If UK loses to another CUSA team I think that I will have to give that sh*tbag of a conference some respect. I have been doing all I can to avoid giving them props. Too bad over half the conference is leaving this year!

I will also be back at 10 to either dish out the whoopin or to take my lumps.

GO WILDCATS!

[oldschooler]

FIRST OFF, UK has not ducked UC. RICK PITINO has ducked UC. Tubby mentioned that it is not out of the realm of possibility to play Cinci, either. I for one would be a huge proponent of an every year series.

Bottom line -- UK doesn't want the game, doesn't need the game and will not play the game in the foreseeable future. Smith has no interest in adding the Bearcats

Looks like p***y Smith is avoiding them too ...

He can`t tonight though !

GO BEARCATS !!!!!!

[Ox]

We shall see if Bobby and his thugs show up and play or rollover like they usually do.

[BengalszoneBilly]

The Cincinnati airport is actually in Kentucky, and the 'Nati itself is rife with Big Blue fans. Kentucky house flags flap in Queen City subdivisions, and thousands of Northern Kentucky residents work in Cincy -- bringing their Cattitude with them.

Okay...you want some more "Cattitude?" Guess what elsebelongs to Kentucky? Try the Ohio River!! That's right all my buckeye biotches!! All the way over to the shallow water line is what Kentucky OWNS! Check it put for yourselves!

Ohio doesn't even own the river it's named after!

Why do I feel like "Pushy" all of the sudden?

[BengalszoneBilly]

Just so you all know....IF UC loses ...I will be back here to take my

medicine.

But IF they win....I will definitely be here to dish it out !  

I wouldn't expect anything less from a classy guy like you oldschooler!

Either way HOPEFULLY this will be such a great game that it forces both

schools to find a way to have a game against each other EVERY YEAR !

It should be that way already! I mean Kentucky plays Louisville every year it seems, why not Cincy? Their program rates in my book!

Question Oldschooler. I've agreed to change my UK avatar to UC if indeed UC wins tonight. Do you have the stones to wear a UK avatar in the event of a UK win? So far NO UC fan has stepped up to accept this task!

[WHO DEY AGAIN?]

Even more reasons to hate UK...

Bob Huggins can't get UK on his schedule.

They're 85 miles apart and have have played 36 times over the years but haven't met since 1990. Word is that there was a signed contract to play four more games during the 1990s but that Kentucky didn't honor the deal.

In the meantime, Kentucky has played 10 home games in Cincinnati -- but none of those games has been against the Bearcats. They've played Ohio, Dayton, Wright State, Kent State, Marshall, Ball State -- even Vanderbilt. But never Cincinnati.

"I'm not going to get into a bunch of discussions about what's what," UK coach Tubby Smith said. "We have our schedule, our guidelines and our reasons for scheduling who we schedule.

"We get 23,000-plus at Rupp Arena every game. It's not like we need to play them to help our attendance," he added.

Bottom line -- UK doesn't want the game, doesn't need the game and will not play the game in the foreseeable future. Smith has no interest in adding the Bearcats to the current non-conference diet of Louisville, Indiana, North Carolina and Kansas.

What a f**king p***y !!!! 

Trying to spread your poison over here now? After UC loses do everyone a favor and boycott your pc.

[jditty47]

UK are pu**ies. whats better than a great rivalry? nothing. Duke vs NC? UC vs UK could be an awesome rivalry. We've been top 25 for how many years in a row now? Cincy is one of the most popular teams outside of their own state. hell jordan even endorsed them. bearcats will win. maxiel will get 22 pts, 14 boards, 4 blocks.

[oldschooler]

Just so you all know....IF UC loses ...I will be back here to take my

medicine.

But IF they win....I will definitely be here to dish it out !  

I wouldn't expect anything less from a classy guy like you oldschooler!

Either way HOPEFULLY this will be such a great game that it forces both

schools to find a way to have a game against each other EVERY YEAR !

It should be that way already! I mean Kentucky plays Louisville every year it seems, why not Cincy? Their program rates in my book!

Question Oldschooler. I've agreed to change my UK avatar to UC if indeed UC wins tonight. Do you have the stones to wear a UK avatar in the event of a UK win? So far NO UC fan has stepped up to accept this task!

Sure Billy I`ll take that bet ...as long as you will sport

the UC avatar when they lose...

If God has foresaken me ...and by chance UK does win...

I`ll only use that avatar until they lose...

And Who Dey ...when you say "every1" ...I take it you mean

UK Fans ?

Don`t worry...I have a feeling when your "elite" Basketball program that

dominates a FOOTBALL conference is exposed tonight...that we

won`t be seeing you under your rock...

[jjakq27]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...T0101/503190444

Saturday, March 19, 2005

On eve of showdown, the insults were flying

By Dustin Dow

Enquirer staff writer

INDIANAPOLIS - The long wait is over. Cincinnati fans get their chance tonight to see if their beloved Bearcats can knock big, bad Kentucky out of the NCAA Tournament.

And Kentucky fans are eager to dispose of pesky UC on the way to yet another Sweet 16 appearance.

It's more than a matchup between two successful college basketball programs. It's a showdown that fans in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky have been clamoring for since the teams last played more than 14 years ago.

The seventh-seeded Bearcats (25-7) face No. 2-seeded Kentucky (26-5) at 8:10 p.m. today at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

The game was set up by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, which placed both teams in the same quarter of the 64-team bracket announced Sunday night.

The teams, separated by roughly 85 miles, haven't played since 1990, making the game one of the most anticipated college basketball games in recent years in a region whose loyalty is generally divided by the Ohio River.

Even though CBS moved the game to prime time because of its attraction to a nationwide audience, people outside the area don't realize how much this game means to fans in the region and how polarizing it can be.

"The Civil War is still going on in parts of Kentucky," said Hyde Park resident Rick Hiatt, 33, a UC fan. "They hate anything from Ohio, and college basketball is not exempt."

"Even (Thursday), sitting in a Mount Lookout watering hole, I could hear the blue-clad patrons rooting against UC. Their animosity is matched only by their arrogance, and I hate to hear it in my back yard."

Further south, say Lexington, there is no debate about which team is the home team. But in Cincinnati, the clash between UK and UC pits friends, co-workers and in some cases family members against each other.

"I don't like it," said Andy Furman, host of SportsTalk from 6 to 9 p.m. weeknights on WLW-AM. "It's divisive for the region because of the hatred between the fans coming from both sides. In UK fans' minds, UC has something to prove because UK fans have been, like: 'You can't come up to our throne. You can't touch us.' And then a UC fan calls up and goes right back at them. It has gotten ugly, and I don't think that's good."

Even though the teams don't play each other in the regular season, a rivalry exists here about which team is No. 1 in fans' hearts.

In Ohio, there's no question that the Bearcats rule, but cross the Brent Spence Bridge heading south, and suddenly, it's a whole new college-basketball world.

"This is Wildcat country," said Major Taylor, 29, of Erlanger, who works at Builders FirstSource in Erlanger, where employees' loyalty is evenly divided between UK and UC.

"No it ain't," fired back his older brother Darrell Taylor, 32, of Florence. "Bearcats all the way."

The company is a virtual cross-section of the region, except that UC fans and UK fans are all in one place to snap back and forth at each other.

They were gathered in the company's conference room this week, royal blue T-shirts clashing with red and black attire.

The banter was all in good fun, but it flew passionately from fan to fan, with UK supporters mocking UC's early NCAA Tournament exits. UC rooters needled Kentucky fans by referencing painful memories of Christian Laettner and Eddie Sutton, unmentionables among Kentucky fans who value their team as if it's another family member.

"A UK game is the only good reason Kentucky fans have to put in their teeth and put on shoes," said Dave Sharp, an executive account manager of Builders FirstSource wearing a Jason Maxiell jersey.

"Yeah, and if UC fans want to watch a game, they have to put up bail and get out of jail," responded employee Ron Goins, an obvious UK fan.

Johnny Gregory, a UK fan and brother of Darrell and Major Taylor chimed in, "They should print on UC's jerseys: 'There's always next year.' "

Darrell doesn't care about next year, and neither does his co-worker Dan Hoffman. They want UC to win today for neighborhood bragging rights. Hoffman lives on a block full of UK fans in Latonia and would like to be able to hang out a UC flag in front of his house after a win today, even though he knows the chances of it staying there aren't good.

"A UC win would be terrible for the neighborhood," said Hoffman, who claims his wife switched allegiances from UK to UC to maintain harmony in their relationship.

"I'll tell you, though, every time I put a UC flag on the front door, it's gone the next day. I know it's the UK fans doing it."

In Lexington, they understand why Cincinnati is so caught up in making today's game all about a rivalry, but they just don't care as much.

Monday, the day after the brackets came out, most talk in Lexington centered on UK's first-round matchup with Eastern Kentucky, coached by former UK player Travis Ford.

In Cincinnati, fans immediately fast-forwarded past the first-round games to the dream matchup of UK vs. UC.

Outside Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, UK fans would rather not play Cincinnati, Lexington sports radio talk-show host Jim Tirey of WLAP-AM said.

"UK fans think there's no advantage to playing UC," Tirey said. "They see this game as more worrisome because of the kind of basketball that will be played, because Cincinnati plays so physical. ... Now, if Cincinnati wins, that might change UK fans' viewpoint that this is more about a rivalry."

That's true, said Kris Morgan, a UK fan from Edgewood who said this game is big for the region, "but people in Lexington don't have a clue" about the intensity of the rivalry between UC and UK fans in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

One thing is for sure, Morgan said: Kentucky has far more to lose from today's game than UC. "Part of me is hesitant because we are the favorite," Morgan said.

"And if we don't win, it looks really bad."

That's what UC fans are hoping for. They'd love nothing more than to embarrass Kentucky on national television while advancing to the Sweet 16 at the same time.

Even more high-profile UC fans, such as Cincinnati native Nick Lachey of MTV's "Newlyweds," appreciate the emotional stakes of today's matchup.

Kentucky and its fans in the area have been highfalutin in their attitude toward the Bearcats for long enough, Lachey said. Today is payback time.

"All of Cincinnati has waited for this game," Lachey said.

"They have a certain air about Kentucky basketball where they feel like they're the superior ones in the region.

"I feel like it's our chance to come out on national television and prove they're wrong."

[BengalszoneBilly]

Good post jjakq!

[oldschooler]

Their animosity is matched only by their arrogance,

Truer words have never been spoken....

[WHO DEY AGAIN?]

UK are pu**ies. whats better than a great rivalry? nothing. Duke vs NC? UC vs UK could be an awesome rivalry. We've been top 25 for how many years in a row now? Cincy is one of the most popular teams outside of their own state. hell jordan even endorsed them. bearcats will win. maxiel will get 22 pts, 14 boards, 4 blocks.

Being in the top 25 every year means nothing if you don't back it up in the tourney. We are Elite you are not and you never will be until you win a title. You hate because your jealous.

And Who Dey ...when you say "every1" ...I take it you mean

UK Fans ? 

Don`t worry...I have a feeling when your "elite" Basketball program that

dominates a FOOTBALL conference is exposed tonight...that we

won`t be seeing you under your rock...

Oldschooler,

Just because the SEC is down this year don't act like they are every year. BTW, they were rated higher than your conference. I guess the rock that your talking about is the one you've been smoking.

I see your using your spell check tonight!

[WHO DEY AGAIN?]

QUOTE 

Their animosity is matched only by their arrogance,

Truer words have never been spoken....

We have earned that right. Something UC fans would know nothing about.