Friday, August 22, 2008

Best Cities for College Basketball?

So I was reading an article in the September 1, 2008 edition of the Sporting News about the best cities in the US for college basketball.

Their top five were:

1. Los Angeles, California
2. The Triangle, North Carolina
3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
4. Memphis, Tennessee
5. Seattle, Washington

My first thought in reading the headline was, "I wonder if Cincinnati will be listed." As you can tell, it wasn't. After reading their rationale on each of the cities I guess I was OK with most of them except maybe Memphis and Seattle.

Both cities do not have two big time NCAA Division I basketball programs. And no, Gonzaga can't count for Seattle as it is over 4 hours away by car. And if you want to get technical, "The Triangle" is actually a couple of cities, not just one. But I will give them that their are some powerhouses there.

So while UC basketball is a little down, I certainly think Cincinnati has to be in the discussion. We have history, great rivals, great talent, and in the middle of a basket of talent in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.

Ok, I realize it is football season but I am just mentioning what I read . . . Don't ask me why it was in this issue . . . far in advance of basketball season.

2 comments:

WestEnder said...

Cincy may not make the list as a city but southern Ohio is certainly one of the best regions for college hoops. There are several top programs with a few hours drive.

And that's just Div I. NKU and Kentucky Wesleyan have fielded strong Div II teams in both mens and womens.

nicker66 said...

What's funny is that the author of that list is a Cincinnatian. I have a feeling that after years of listing Cincinnati (including a couple #1s), his coworkers would have been all over him for listing us yet again.