One of the more intriguing non-conference home-and-home series for next season was announced on Saturday as CBSSports.com‘s Jon Rothstein reported that Cincinnati and San Diego State will matchup beginning during the 2014-15 season.
The Bearcats will host the Aztecs in Cincinnati on 12/17/14 and Mick Cronin’s squad will travel out west to San Diego for the 2015-16 season.
San Diego State is coming off of a Sweet 16 appearance in 2014 and is currently ranked as the No. 9 team in CBT’s Preseason Top 25 for 2014-15. Although the Aztecs lose Xavier Thames, they’ll have a lot of young talent in place to still be a major threat in the Mountain West while also having even larger aspirations.
Cincinnati loses Sean Kilpatrick, Justin Jackson and Titus Rubles from a 2014 season that saw them lose in the Round of 64 to Harvard in the dreaded 5-12 matchup. Still, Cronin has done a nice job of reloading each season and keeping Cincinnati competitive and the Bearcats should still rebound, defend and play with toughness.
Non-conference matchups like this aren’t great for developing regional rivalries that fans enjoy, but it is fun to see two teams from completely different regions of the country face-off.