UC's Big East foes determined

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The University of Cincinnati's first Big East men's basketball schedule includes home games against Louisville, Syracuse, West Virginia and Villanova but does not include a game - home or away - against Notre Dame.

The revamped conference released the matchups Thursday without dates.

The 16-team league will play a 16-game schedule, with each school playing home and away against three so-called "mirror schools," as well as single games against 10 other schools. Each school will miss two opponents.

In addition to Notre Dame, UC will miss St. John's during the 2005-06 season.

"There's going to be some teams you miss," said UC associate athletic director Brian Teter, who coordinated men's basketball scheduling for Conference USA as an associate commissioner before moving to UC in 2003. "You've got to balance it out. I think the Big East did a great job."

The mirror opponents were selected based on natural interest, geography, rivalries and television contractual obligations and will be reevaluated after two seasons.

If a team does not play a particular opponent this season, that matchup will occur in 2006-07.

UC's three mirror opponents are among the toughest in the league. Syracuse won the national title in 2003, Louisville played in the Final Four last season, and West Virginia made the Elite Eight in 2005.

UC's home league schedule also features games against Villanova, a Sweet 16 team last season; Providence, Rutgers, DePaul and South Florida.

DePaul and South Florida are former Conference USA foes.

UC will play on the road at 2004 national champion Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Marquette, in addition to Syracuse, Louisville and West Virginia, and will play nonconference road games at Xavier and Vanderbilt.

UC also announced nonleague opponents for 2005-06 that include Memphis, Ohio, Dayton, Miami University and Murray State. All of those games will be played at Fifth Third Arena, with the exception of the Miami game, which will be at U.S. Bank Arena.

The Murray State game will be the season opener Nov. 19. No date has been set for the Crosstown Shootout at XU.

The Bearcats still have two non-league home dates to fill.

UC's Big East mirror opponents will give the Bearcats six games against teams ranked in the Top 25 of last season's final polls.

Their Big East schedule features 12 games against teams ranked in the top 100 of the final Ratings Percentage Index or Sagarin Index ratings, and nine games against teams that finished in the top 50.

The Murray State game will mark the first meeting as head coaches between UC coach Bob Huggins and his former assistant, Mick Cronin, who left UC in 2001 to become an assistant to Rick Pitino at Louisville.

Cronin has directed a team against Huggins once before, though. He took over for Pitino on Feb. 22, 2003, in a game played at UC after Pitino was ejected from a game the Bearcats won 101-80. He has been the head coach at Murray State the past two seasons.