Tom Groeschen

tgroeschen@enquirer.com

Mick Cronin took another shot at the NCAA Tournament basketball selection committee Tuesday, as Cronin’s Cincinnati Bearcats prepare for their tournament opener Friday in Sacramento.

UC (29-5) is seeded No. 6 in the South Regional, a rating that Cronin considers too low. The Bearcats will play Kansas State (21-13), the No. 11-seeded winner of a First Four play-in game Tuesday night against Wake Forest.

UC was flying Tuesday night to Sacramento, but Cronin first got more things off his chest in a media session at the Bearcats’ practice gym on campus. Cronin recently said the NCAA pairings are all about money, with some matchups arranged to sell more tickets. Does Cronin think the NCAA committee thus took it out on the Bearcats, seeding them No. 6 and sending them 2,000 miles west?

“Well, I’ve got news for them,” Cronin said. “If they think that I lose one ounce of sleep worrying about anything that they say or do, it would mean that I respected their opinion of my team. Which I don’t.”

And away we go.

“Unless Tom Izzo or Rick Pitino were in that room … they’ve got a tough job to do,” Cronin said. “It is what it is. It’s guesswork, which is what I really tried to tell you two weeks ago. And it is a big business.”

About that No. 6 seed, and going out West …

“I don’t even understand all that,” Cronin said. “And again, they do what they want and they can justify it any way they want to. Anybody that challenges them, they’re gonna say that they’re off base and they’re a bad guy, and threaten to reprimand them. It’s comical. It doesn’t bother me, even in the least bit. I don’t think about it at all.”

Was Cronin threatened with a reprimand?

“You’ll have to ask (UC athletic director) Mike Bohn that,” Cronin replied.

Bohn would not comment on the possible reprimand.

“We are excited about our team and our coach and look forward to the tournament,” Bohn told The Enquirer via text.

Cronin said that American Athletic Conference teams UC and SMU deserved higher NCAA seeds.

“What I will tell you is, our league was disrespected,” Cronin said.

Tough road ahead for Bearcats

UC and SMU (30-4) are representing the AAC in the tournament, both with No. 6 seeds. Various rankings had UC and SMU higher than that, including SMU at No. 16 and UC at No. 19 nationally in the ESPN BPI (Basketball Power Index).

“In my opinion, us and SMU are as good as 3 seeds, had the same kind of year as 3 seeds,” Cronin said. “If we’re fortunate enough to win our first game and we end up playing (No. 3 South seed) UCLA, it’s the same thing. Look, we’ve had a great year. You’re not gonna draw 15 seeds all the way out.”

Cronin said the seedings should not define any team.

“Every team’s fan base thinks they got a bad draw,” Cronin said. “Everybody’s pretty good. Everybody’s hoping that they’re gonna get to play 15 or 16 seeds all the way to the Elite Eight. It’s not realistic.”

PLAYERS’ TAKE: Junior forward Gary Clark said the Bearcats are not upset about their No. 6 seed, but more concerned with just winning their first game.

“I don’t even pay attention to all that stuff,” Clark said Tuesday. “Regardless of what draw you get, you still have to play basketball and perform.”

Senior point guard Troy Caupain said the only concern is bouncing back from last Sunday’s 71-56 loss to SMU in the AAC title game.

“They put us where they put us,” Caupain said. “I’m thankful that we've got a chance to play in March again.”

Senior shooting guard Kevin Johnson said the Bearcats don’t particularly mind the Sacramento trip, after the recent cold and snow in Cincinnati. Johnson also said a change of scenery might help him, after going scoreless in his last two games.

“Sacramento, nice, warm weather,” Johnson said, smiling. “That’s maybe what I might need right now.”

WHO’S NEXT: UC had been waiting to see who it would play Friday. (Kansas State defeated Wake Forest late Tuesday in their First Four game in Dayton, Ohio.

Cronin said that UC associate head coach Larry Davis will be scouting Kansas State, and assistant coach Antwon Jackson will be focusing on Wake Forest. Another UC assistant, Darren Savino, is preparing reports on potential second-round opponents.

Bearcats make another west coast NCAA trip

“I have an assistant scouting both teams, as if we were playing both of them,” Cronin said.

Kansas State is more of a defensive team, Cronin said. The Wildcats rank No. 27 nationally in the KenPom.com advanced metric for AdjD (adjusted defensive efficiency), allowing 94.5 points per 100 possessions.

Kansas State ranks No. 50 in AdjO (adjusted offensive efficiency), at 112.1 points per 100 possessions. The Wildcats have no superstar, with 6-foot-7 senior forward Wesley Iwundu the top scorer at 12.5 points per game.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

No. 6 seed Cincinnati vs. No. 11 Kansas State

Tipoff: 7:27 p.m. (ET) Friday at Golden 1 Center (15,745), Sacramento, Calif.

TV/Radio: truTV/WLW-AM (700)

Records: UC 29-5, Kansas State 21-13

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