By John
Bach
The
invite of a lifetime. That's what it felt like when UC received
an offer to join the Big East in November. The move, scheduled for the
2005-06 season, begs many questions, and "Cincinnati Horizons" sat down with athletics director Bob Goin to discuss what may well become
his legacy.
1. A good deal of behind-the-scenes maneuvering occurred to get
this done. How close did UC come to getting left out of the Big East?
What scared me was that when this thing (the Big-East expansion) first
broke, the University of Cincinnati wasn't on their radar screen.
My job was to have the Big East do due diligence on this university.
And they did that. They took a look at our research, at our academics
and at our comprehensive program. They saw that we are complying with
Title IX. They saw that we are making a commitment to new facilities,
and all of a sudden, we became more and more logical. There was no question
that I had some indigestion when this thing first started. I sure didn't
want us to be left out.
2. UC fans have gotten used to the idea that the men's basketball
program is a near shoo-in as C-USA champions. With this move to the Big
East, a conference title is no longer a lock for UC. Are Bearcat fans
ready for that?
They better get ready for arguably the best basketball conference in college
-- game in and game out. There are going to be very few years where
teams run the table, I'll tell you that. When you've got to
go to Syracuse, Connecticut, West Virginia, Pitt, Georgetown, Villanova,
Providence, Marquette and Louisville -- whoa, you better buckle up
every night. In this league, it will not be a disgrace to finish second
or third or fourth on occasion because you are still going to go to the
NCAA Tournament.
3. Coach Huggins has said this move won't have an enormous
impact on UC basketball because the program is already of national prominence.
Do you agree?
For Bobby and our basketball program, I think it will widen our recruiting
base. You are playing Big East basketball, and once the media starts telling
everybody about the best basketball league in the country, that is going
to get even more attention.
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