Huggins comments on move to Big East

[Keith Wedinger]

> From the Canton Repository:

Huggins likes where Bearcats are headed
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 By MIKE POPOVICH Repository sports writer

HUGGINS


CANTON TWP. ? There is one NCAA record Bob Huggins feels he will always 
hold.

?I?ve coached in four different leagues at the same school,? the University 
of Cincinnati men?s basketball coach told the Pro Football Hall of Fame 
Luncheon Club on Monday. ?That?s pretty good.?

Since leaving Akron for Cincinnati in 1989, Huggins has coached teams in the 
Metro Conference, Great Mideast Conference and Conference USA. His teams won 
the Great Midwest tournament title all four years and won or shared the 
Conference USA regular season title eight of the nine seasons.

Soon, the Bearcats will face bigger challenges. Cincinnati is one of five 
schools that has accepted invitations to join the Big East Conference in 
2005-06.

?I ran into Billy Packer in the airport after leaving the Final Four, and he 
said it?s going to be the greatest basketball league in the history of 
basketball leagues,? Huggins said. ?(Dick) Vitale has said that many, many 
times. Virtually everyone has said it.?

The current Big East already is one of the best basketball conference?s in 
the country. Connecticut and Syracuse, the last two national champions, have 
come from the league.

Cincinnati will enter the Big East with current Conference USA members 
DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida. The Bearcats shared the 
regular season title with DePaul this year and beat the Blue Demons in the 
tournament championship game.

The future Big East will have 16 teams. Nine of those 16 were ranked in the 
preseason top-25 poll this past year. Twelve made it to the NCAA tournament.

?That?s unprecedented,? Huggins said.

The move to the Big East undoubtedly will increase demand for the limited 
amount of Cincinnati basketball tickets. The Bearcats? 13,176-seat Fifth 
Third Arena at Shoemaker Center opened the year Huggins arrived.

?It?s going to be unbelievable,? Huggins said. ?You go down who we?re going 
to start playing and who?s coming in with us. ... From an athletic 
standpoint and for the school, this is going to be a wonderful thing.?

Huggins completed his 15th season at Cincinnati in March. He has taken teams 
to the NCAA tournament 13 straight times, the third-longest active streak in 
the nation.

The challenge of maintaining that level of success comes not only from the 
leagues the Bearcats have played in, but also from within the city of 
Cincinnati. Rival Xavier has become a national contender, too. This past 
season, the Muskateers made it to the Elite Eight.

Cincinnati and Xavier meet once during the season. Huggins said the rivalry 
separates families. He compares it to the Ohio State-Michigan football 
rivalry.

?It?s not two states. It?s just one town,? he said. ?But it?s the most 
unbelievable thing you?ve ever seen in your life.?

Keith Wedinger
Bearcatnews.com
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