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'Taking Steps' Cincinnati Bearcats NET Ranking Among Big 12's Worst As 2025-26 Schedule's Easiest Portion Ends

Wes Miller is seeing someone no one on the outside has seen for the half decade he's been coaching at Cincinnati.
Russell Heltman|
Dec 5, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Wes Miller works the sideline against the Xavier Musketeers in the first half at the Cintas Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
Dec 5, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Wes Miller works the sideline against the Xavier Musketeers in the first half at the Cintas Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

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Cincinnati Bearcats

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team is the second-worst team in the Big 12, according to the latest check on the Weekly NET.

UC is ranked 128th on the NET rankings on Monday afternoon, slotting them ahead of only Utah (141st) after a one-game week that resulted in a 79-74 loss to Xavier.

Head coach Wes Miller still sees this becoming a great team this season, despite a brutal start that's seen him lose three times in the first nine games for the second time in his tenure and first as a Big 12 member.

They have one of the four worst power-conference offenses in the country by efficiency.

"I know that the people who support us don't want to hear about things that are going to matter later," Miller said on Friday. "They want to win the game. I love our fans, and I want this for them too. But there's a lot that we can learn from this game. There's a lot we can build on. And it's clear we're going to have a great team and a great year, like it's clear to the guys in the locker room, it's clear to the coaching staff, we're going to keep taking steps and getting better. 

"But there's a lot we can learn from tonight. As you mentioned, it's important. I mean, that's like a big 12 game, right? A road game in the Big 12 feels like a rivalry game every night in our league, and I thought our guys showed a lot of good poise in that. Tonight, they showed a lot of fight to get back in the game, and it's something that will pay dividends for us later."

"Great" teams rarely lose three games across an opening nine-game slate ranked 324th nationally out of 365 on KenPom by strength of schedule. Miller clearly sees something neither the fans nor history is seeing, considering this team has struggled to hit 20 regular-season wins as Big 12 members every year so far.

They went 10-1 last year in the non-conference portion and still couldn't get close to the 20-win mark. There are two fewer Big 12 games now, but one more loss to either Georgia or Clemson outside Fifth Third Arena, and Cincinnati is staring at needing a 12 or 13-win conference run at minimum to do the only thing fans want to see this season: Make the NCAA Tournament.

They clearly aren't close to being a "great" team as of this writing, with five wins against Quad 4 teams, plus a Q4 loss sprinkled in.

Bookmark Bearcats Talk for the latest news, breakdowns, and so much more. Check out our YouTube page as well, starting with the video below.

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Russ Heltman
RUSSELL HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is a contributor for AllBearcats and AllBengals. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.

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