By Bill Koch
When UC was left out of the last conference membership shuffle and ended up in the American Athletic Conference, athletic director Whit Babcock said the school needed to focus on being the best athletic department it could be so it would be attractive for the next round of realignment.
Then he left for Virginia Tech.
Mike Bohn took up the mantle when he instituted “Class of the League” as the goal of UC athletics during his stewardship. But Bohn did more than that just slap a slogan on the department. He oversaw the completion of the Nippert Stadium renovation and spearheaded the much-needed renovation of Fifth Third Arena. He also made one of the best coaching hires in school history when he hired Luke Fickell to coach the football team. Then he, too, left for Southern Cal.
But despite all he accomplished, the Bearcats remained stuck in the AAC.
During their 10 years in the AAC, UC went 86-41 overall in football, 53-25 in conference play. They shared the league championship in 2014 with Memphis and UCF, lost to Memphis in the AAC title game in 2019, and won the conference title in 2020 and 2021.
The Bearcats played in eight bowl games during that period, going 2-6, and made history by becoming the first school from a Group of 5 conference to qualify for the College Football Playoff in 2021.
In basketball, they’ve gone 231-94 as they begin play in their final AAC Tournament on Friday. They were 125-51 in league play, won or shared three conference regular-season titles, won two conference tournament championships, and appeared in six NCAA tournaments.
Were the Bearcats really the “Class of the League” during their 10 years in the AAC? I guess that’s a matter of opinion, but one thing is clear: They did enough to receive an invitation to the Big 12.
The Big 12 will be the sixth different conference for the nomadic Bearcats since they helped to form the Metro Conference in 1975. The average length of stay has been eight years. Maybe this will be the one that sticks.
When UC was left out of the last conference membership shuffle and ended up in the American Athletic Conference, athletic director Whit Babcock said the school needed to focus on being the best athletic department it could be so it would be attractive for the next round of realignment.
Then he left for Virginia Tech.
Mike Bohn took up the mantle when he instituted “Class of the League” as the goal of UC athletics during his stewardship. But Bohn did more than that just slap a slogan on the department. He oversaw the completion of the Nippert Stadium renovation and spearheaded the much-needed renovation of Fifth Third Arena. He also made one of the best coaching hires in school history when he hired Luke Fickell to coach the football team. Then he, too, left for Southern Cal.
But despite all he accomplished, the Bearcats remained stuck in the AAC.
During their 10 years in the AAC, UC went 86-41 overall in football, 53-25 in conference play. They shared the league championship in 2014 with Memphis and UCF, lost to Memphis in the AAC title game in 2019, and won the conference title in 2020 and 2021.
The Bearcats played in eight bowl games during that period, going 2-6, and made history by becoming the first school from a Group of 5 conference to qualify for the College Football Playoff in 2021.
In basketball, they’ve gone 231-94 as they begin play in their final AAC Tournament on Friday. They were 125-51 in league play, won or shared three conference regular-season titles, won two conference tournament championships, and appeared in six NCAA tournaments.
Were the Bearcats really the “Class of the League” during their 10 years in the AAC? I guess that’s a matter of opinion, but one thing is clear: They did enough to receive an invitation to the Big 12.
The Big 12 will be the sixth different conference for the nomadic Bearcats since they helped to form the Metro Conference in 1975. The average length of stay has been eight years. Maybe this will be the one that sticks.
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