CINCINNATI SPORTS LAST WEEK

CINCINNATI SPORTS LAST WEEK

Well, Mark Dantonio took the Michigan State job. You can't blame him. He was the fourth lowest paid BCS coach in the country. I wonder who will coach the Bearcats in the bowl game.

On Wednesday, Xavier met local rival Miami University at the Cintas Center and came away with an easy 68-53 win. The Musketeers were never behind in this one and stayed in control throughout. XU's two guards were the big difference; point guard Drew Lavender controlled the offense and shooting guard Stanley Burrell scored 15 to lead the way.

At the Shoemaker Center, the University of Cincinnati (5-1) met the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies and won in a close one 68-61. John Williamson had 24 and Deonta Vaughn 17 for the Bearcats. At this point, it looks like it will be 'a long season' for the Cats.

Thursday night Cincinnati was the center of the pro football world with the Ravens in town to meet the Bengals in a nationally (but not widely) televised game. The Baltimore bunch had looked as good as any team in the league the last few weeks but fizzled like a wet firecracker on this blustery night. The Bengals handled them more easily than the 13-7 final score indicates. The Ravens scored with less than a minute to go in the game and Cincinnati set a franchise record of consecutive scoreless minutes that stood since 1980. The Bengals (7-5) are now very much alive in their search for a spot in the playoffs. I would say they need to win 3 of the last 4 to get there. They meet the weak Oakland Raiders on Sunday, the 10th.

Xavier met the Western Carolina University Catamounts on Saturday in a mid-day tilt at the Cintas Center and found little resistance on their way to a 95-61 walk-over win. Justin Doellman had 18 points for the Muskies and became the school's 42nd member of the 1000 point club. Justin Cage had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Johnny Wolf had 7 assists.

Later on Saturday, the Bearcats met the University of Alabama-Birmingham at Fifth Third Arena and lost a heart pounding, heart wrenching game 59-57. Mick Cronin's guys led by 5 with 30 seconds in the game. The young Cats made a critical turnover by not inbounding the ball in five seconds and missed two free throws in the final seconds. Cedric McGowan led the Cats in scoring with 17 points.

The Reds introduced their new uniforms at Reds Fest this weekend. They look a lot like the uniforms of their championship years. Sleeves are back! I think it'll take more than that with all the money Chicago and Houston are spending this off-season.

The University of Cincinnati has accepted a bid from the International Bowl to play Western Michigan on January 6th at the Skydome in Toronto, Canada. Canada? I hope they play by American football rules. Western Michigan? The location and the match-up are duds as far as I'm concerned but the date is out of site. Football in January for UC. Wow.

It looks like UC is going to get Brian Kelly of Central Michigan as their new head football coach. He really rejuvinated their program. If he's that good, how long will he stay here?