Fresh off a NCAA Tournament appearance in 2014, Cincinnati is re-loading with a younger group that will have to move on without Sean Kilpatrick.
But that doesn’t mean Mick Cronin’s team is scheduling any easier. The Bearcats play a tough non-conference slate in 2014-15 that includes a lot of good opponents with NCAA Tournament résumés of their own, according to a release from the school.
Besides the crosstown rivalry game with Xavier in February, which will be a cool non-conference game in the heart of conference season, Cincinnati has some good matchups against either Creighton or Ole Miss on a neutral court, home games against San Diego State and VCU and road games against Nebraska and NC State.
That doesn’t even include the AAC portion of the schedule, which will include some talented teams like defending champion UConn and SMU.
Here is the Cincinnati non-conference schedule:
Fri. Nov. 14: St. Francis [Pa.]
Wed. Nov. 19: Morehead State
Sun. Nov. 23: Eastern Illinois
Tues. Nov. 25: North Carolina Central
Fri. Nov. 28: vs. Middle Tennessee, Niceville, Fla.
Sat. Nov. 29: vs. Creighton or Ole Miss, Niceville, Fla.
Tues. Dec. 2: Stony Brook
Sat. Dec. 13: at Nebraska
Wed. Dec. 17: San Diego State, 9 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 20: VCU, Noon
Tues. Dec. 23: Wagner
Tues. Dec. 30: at NC State, 4 p.m.
Wed. Feb. 18: Xavier, 7 p.m.