Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball 2024-25 Record Predictions

UC is set up to make a run at the NCAA Tournament this season.

Cincinnati Bearcats guard Dan Skillings Jr. (0) hugs Cincinnati Bearcats guard Simas Lukosius (41) on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, after the quarterfinals of the NIT at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute. The Indiana State Sycamores defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats, 85-81. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI — The most anticipated Cincinnati Bearcats basketball season this decade is just days away from tipping off inside Fifth Third Arena.

Wes Miller and his staff have put together some stout non-conference tests ahead of the toughest Big 12 season in the league's history. There are zero byes with the addition of Utah, Arizona State, Arizona, and Colorado, meaning Cincinnati will play 20 league games at a rate of one game every 3-4 days once January hits.

It's a grind this veteran, experienced roster is built to dunk on. Let's get to my two-tier record prediction.

Non-Conference: 10-1 Record, Loss @ Villanova

Despite Day Day Thomas' status being iffy going into the season, I don't see it having much effect on Cincinnati in the first few weeks.

They don't play a top-175 team in KenPom's ratings until a road trip to Northern Kentucky on Nov. 19. All in all, they play four teams ranked in the top-175, with the toughest tests being at Villanova (No. 20 in KenPom), neutral against Dayton (No. 27), and home for Xavier (No. 33).

If Cincinnati is to reach its ceiling this season, a 2-1 mark across those games is plausible, along with no losses against much worse competitions in the other eight games (seven at home).

Cincinnati has set up a well-balanced non-conference slate with four top-35 matchups and a chance to gel further in the other games.

Conference Record: 13-7, Fourth-Place Finish

UC lost eight Big 12 games by five points or less last season, wrapping the campaign at 7-11 in conference action. A bevy of those results flip the Bearcats way this time around, thanks to the added depth and experience in the league.

Check out those results and how close Cincinnati was to a .500 or better league record:

Sport Reference

Only Houston can boast as much returning depth in the league and it should be a major boost once UC gets into the grind of conference play.

Houston (15-3), and Iowa State (13-5) were the only programs that won 13-plus Big 12 games this past season, but the bottom of the league will be easier to deal with this time and result in four or five teams hitting that win mark in 2025.

Aziz Bandaogo has no restrictions, and Simas Lukošius isn't recovering from a car accident. Those two facts alone should set Cincinnati up much better entering conference play.

NCAA Tournament: Sweet 16 Exit

The devil on my shoulder wants to mark an Elite 8 run for this program, given all of the momentum it has in Miller'sfourth campaign, but cooler heads prevailed.

Cincinnati will be a five or four seed entering the dance and dispatch a couple of weaker opponents, but likely having to play a No. 1 seed in the Sweet 16 is where the magic runs out in an atmosphere only Dillon Mitchell has experienced.

The 2024-25 season vaults Cincinnati back into the national CBB conversation permanently in the Miller era and sets up a deep tourney run in 2026.

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