Amidst the excitement of the NCAA Tournament, some news on the scheduling front has leaked that the Cincinnati Bearcats are in talks with the Butler Bulldogs for a home-and-home basketball series. UC would host the front end in 2015-16 with the Bearcats visiting Hinkle Fieldhouse the following season.

Butler AD Barry Collier told me BU and Cincinnati are arranging a home-and-home that would begin next season at UC, 2016-17 at Hinkle. — Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) March 22, 2015

The Bulldogs are a quality opponent for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, the name resonates with fans in the Cincinnati area. Most people understand that San Diego State and VCU are strong basketball programs but the common local man probably views Butler as a cut above them. Perception isn’t necessarily reality except in terms of generating excitement for this game. Cincinnati folks will likely flock to Fifth Third Arena to see the Bearcats play the Bulldogs next season.

Secondly, from a strength of schedule standpoint, you can do a whole lot worse than Butler when it comes to boosting RPI. That’s been an important aspect of Cincinnati’s scheduling strategy since joining the AAC and this is yet another solid RPI opponent on the slate.

Butler was 31st this past season and, while they fell off the year before with Brad Stevens leaving for the Boston Celtics, are consistently a top-50 RPI team. Newish head coach Chris Holtmann appears to have the Bulldogs back on track after that little road bump and should be another tough opponent on Cincinnati’s 2015-16 schedule.

If anything Butler gives the Bearcats an early test in what should be a historic season for UC. Cincinnati returns basically everyone from a team that overachieved this past year. Playing Butler is a litmus test for the Bearcats to understand exactly how good they are or what improvements need to be made come February and March. Plus, if Cincinnati were to win it would put an early sheen on their 2016 NCAA Tournament resume.