Cincinnati Bearcats

The Cincinnati Bearcats bring a proud basketball tradition to the Big 12, playing home games at Fifth Third Arena on the university's campus. Cincinnati built its national reputation on relentless, defense-first basketball, a style that carried the Bearcats to back-to-back national titles in the early 1960s. Decades later, under coaches like Bob Huggins and Mick Cronin, the program remained known for toughness and NCAA Tournament staying power. Cincinnati's move to the Big 12 in 2023 put the historic program back on college basketball's biggest stage.

Cincinnati basketball began in 1901 and reached its peak under coach Ed Jucker, winning back-to-back NCAA championships in 1961 and 1962, defeating Ohio State both times, including an upset of an unbeaten Buckeyes team led by Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek. The Bearcats reached three straight Final Fours from 1959-1961. In more recent decades, Cincinnati built a reputation as one of the sport's most consistent NCAA Tournament participants under long coaching tenures from Huggins and Cronin.