Tag: Cincinnati Bearcats

The End of the Regular Season

The Bearcats Last Chance to Impress

Sunday the Cincinnati Bearcats take on #11 Wichita State for the second time in about two weeks. The Shockers did just that at BB&T Arena beating the then #5 Bearcats on their home floor and ending a 39 game home winning streak. It was the Bearcats second loss of the week and fourth overall for the season.

At that time Joe Lunardi had the Bearcats as a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Selection Committee had just announced their top 16 teams and they too had the Bearcats at a 2 seed. After the set of losses the Bearcats have since beaten UConn, Tulsa, and Tulane.

It is the opinion of this blog that even though the AAC tournament isn’t until next weekend, Championship Sunday and Selection Sunday sharing the spotlite, it is this Sunday in Wichita that the Bearcats make their final push and plea with the committee to get back to that 2 seed.

Most of the latest bracketology being thrown around has the Bearcats at a 3, maybe even playing as close as Nashville. Which would be a huge turnaround from some place like Spoakane, WA. I wouldn’t mind that at all really. Being the top 3 seed could have advantages. BUT if the goal is to get the best seed possible then a win on Sunday is a must.

For the Bearcats to have a shot at a 2 beating Wichita State on the road would certainly help. Add a win or two in the AAC tournament and I think we have a good shot at it. The point of this is

The committee will probably already have its mind made up by tip off of the AAC Championship game next week. 

Winning all the way up to that point would get the job done.

There’s evidence to support this. Last year when Cincinnati lost to SMU in the AAC championship the outcome was null in the eyes of the committee. Both teams were seeded the same. The committee didn’t care who won. They based their decision on everything leading up to that point. I’d guess they would do the same this year. We’ll see.

Thoughts, let me know with a comment or tweet.

Go Bearcats!

Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Hurricane, Singular.

The #11 Cincinniat Bearcats (24-4, 13-2) take on Tulsa Golden Hurricane (17-10, 10-5) today at noon on CBSSN. It is the Bearcats final home game of the season and therefore Senior Night (Afternoon). Before the game UC will honor two seniors Gary Clark and Kyle Washington.

I  can’t say anthing about these two guys that haven’t already been said. Efforts shouldn’t be wasted. The only thing I’ll say is Gary Clark has been my favorite player since his first game in the uniform. It’ll be very different next season no seeing him in red and black.

Back to Tulsa. This is the first anly only meeting between the two teams this season. So they won’t be too familiar with each other. I’d kind of consider this a trap game in that it could be looked over with a trip to Wichita just a week away. Yes there’s a trip to Tulane too, but this test against Tulsa should be a legitament one. Tulsa’s worst two losses of the season were to Lamar and Illinois State in early Novemeber. Recently they’ve been on a tear winning their last 6 games. As it stands now, they’re the 4th best team in the conference. It’s very likely we’ll see them again in the conference tournament.

Despite having some decent wins, Kansas State, Temple, and SMU they’re not really in the conversation for the Tournament. I haven’t even seen them listed in the last 4 out. A win over the Bearcats would certainly help their cause so the Bearcats better be ready.

The Golden Hurricane (it just sounds dumb saying it) has three players averaging double figures Etou, Taplin, and Jeffries. They average 15.4, 12, and 10.4, respectively. The Bearcats have to know where these three guys are at all times on defense. Etou also averages almost 8 rebounds per game and  is a 6’8″ senior so it should be fun to watch him and Clark battle it out in the post.

UConn Sucks. Gary Clark is coming off an impressibe performance against UConn scoring a game high 17 points. The Bearcats dominated in almost every stat line. Cane Broome looked strong again. There’s no sign of him getting the starting gig though. I guess it doesn’t matter as long as he performs like he has the past couple of games.

Cronin.

AAC Tourny.

Prediction. Bearcats 75 Golden Hurricane 59

Breaking Down the 2018 Football Schedule

Fickell Year 2

Earlier this week the complete 2018 football scheduled was released by the American. In a turbulent week in basketball it was looked at and tabled for later discussion because the basketball bearcats were on a tear. After Sunday though I need to take my mind elsewhere. I’m not discarding the Basketball Bearcats yet I just need a timeout and recoup before we thrash UConn on Thursday. I thought it a fitting time to look ahead to football season in a very early schedule breakdown and prediction for the season.

Luke Fickell and company are in year 2 in Clifton and are out to prove they can run a successful program. Last year we saw the Bearcats finish 4-8 and miss bowl season for the second year in a row. The coaching staff has a couple new faces, some that may be familiar like former player Mike Mickens.

The highlight of last year was easily beating Miami (OH) for the 12 straight year in one of the more dramatic finishes in college football last year. Unfortunately, beating Oxford is a highlight now.

I traveled to Ann Arbor last season to watch the Bearcats take on Michigan, I figured we’d finish at least bowl eligible after watching that game. (Shows what I know)

The schedule this year features all but one Saturday game which is awesome and the traditional post Thanksgiving home game that always promises to never be that exciting, unless we’re playing for bowl eligibility.

At UCLA 9/1 – UCLA is under newly signed head coach Chip Kelly. They finished last year at 6-7, This will be his first game as a Bruin and first coached game in a couple of seasons since being booted out of the NFL. Still UC will have to play up in this game, much like the Michigan game last year. The Cats will keep it close but I can’t call it a W. They’ll drop this one in Sunny Loss Angeles. (See what I did there). 0-1

At PBS v Miami (OH) 9/8 – The Redhawks finished 5-7 last year and I’d bet the farm the Bearcats beat the Redhawks for the Victory Bell again. They had their chance to win it last year and blew it. The bell will ring out in Red and Black again. Win. 1-1

Alabama A&M 9/15 – 4-7 last year. Usually the warm up game for the season. Win. 2-1

Ohio U 9/22 – I don’t know much about the Bobcats except they finished last year at 9-4 and lost one to Kansas. That hurts. Win 3-1

At UConn 9/29 – 3-9 last season. We squeaked one out last year winning 22-21. Bearcats win again. 4-1

Tulane 10/6 – 5-7 last season and another team we beat in a thriller. This one ended with Tulane missing a chip shot field goal as time expired. Win 5-1

At Temple 10/20 – They finished last season at 7-6. This one will be a close one in my opinion. I don’t think we upset Temple in Philly this year. Loss. 5-2

At SMU 10/27 – Finished 7-6 in 2017. If we don’t beat Temple we have to win in Dallas. Another toss up like the Temple game. Win. 6-2

Navy 11/3 Finished 7-6 last year too. The triple option destroyed us last year, like Navy put up all time rushing yards against us. Even if we’re 50% better against them I think they still win. Loss. 6-3

USF 11/10 – Finished 10-2. I don’t think we’re there yet. Loss. 6-4

At UCF 11/17 Finished 13-0, beat Auburn and are the self declared National Champions. They did lose their head coach to Nebraska, a move I don’t understand. The money is more important than climate I guess. Who wants to spend their awesome years in college in Nebraska? Any way I look for UCF to fall off somewhat this year but not that much. Loss. 6-5

ECU 11/23 by this time the sky will be falling in Cincinnati because the Bearcats could be on 4 game losing streak. The Pirates finished 3-9 but dominated us last year in a 48-20 stomping. Bearcats bounce back this year though. Win. 7-5.

So that total puts us at 7-5 which would be a vast improvement for Coach Fickell and his football Bearcats and put us back in the bowl season in what seems like forever.

 

Barrels and Bearcats: The Gauntlet Strikes Back

Cougars Slip Past Bearcats

Take a deep breathe. Hold it. Now breathe out. Feel better? If not get a beer, that always makes me feel better. Last night the UC Bearcats lost to the Houston Cougars 67-62. I wasn’t going to look at the box score but I’m a glutton for punishment and had to write this.

Even though the loss sucks and the dream of a 1 seed is all but lost the world isn’t over. I mean Donny John is still President and I haven’t turned the news on yet today to see what or who he’s threatening today but I’m pretty sure we’re all going to be ok after this Bearcats loss, especially the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team.

Last night in the world of college basketball the #5, #6,#8, and #15 teams all lost! If you throw in two games from Wednesday where #3 and #11 lost it’s been a wild week in this sport. The parody is great in college basketball, especially this season. No one has escaped it this season, not even our Bearcats.

From the game:

The Bad. After a picture perfect start for the Bearcats things finally slowed down, especially half way through the second half. The Bearcats shot 14% from 3 pt land in the 2nd half. They were   36-27. They were outscored in the paint 26-22. They were outscored on second chance points 17-10. Outscored on fast break points 4-0 and outscored from the bench 16-2. That is not a recipe for winning on the road in February. In the second half the Bearcats went 12 minutes without making a field goal. That’s incredible really.

The Good. JE3 finished with 16 points, Teddy with 14, Clark with 13,and Washington with 10. I thought the defense if Cumberland was as good as it has ever been last night. He took 3 charges which is a nice change of pace from him getting called for them. The stats sheet credits him with one steal but he had to have half a dozen deflections too. Washington continues to look good on offense, which is a good sign.

The Eye. You hear people talk about the eye test. If the team looks good or how they look winning, or losing. I’ve watched or listened to every Bearcats game this year so I know this wasn’t a great example but to some this might be their only example of the Bearcats this year. They did not pass the eye test.

The Media. When the Bearcats win some are silent. When the Bearcats lose they’re loud. To me it felt like the Enquirer was rubbing it in our faces. Now I don’t read their paper or even follow it on social media but somehow it still creeps up on the twitter feed from RT and shares. They suck. Also, there is a certain college basketball “analysts” who called out UC fans last night. What a turd. Also, the very first time the Bearcats make an appearance on the ESPN home page banner is after this loss. *Huge eye roll*

We can’t for get about the Beer of the Game.

The Bearcats can right the ship with one we’ve all had circled for a while now. Wichita State comes to town Sunday at 4pm. Go Bearcats!

Comparing Top 5 Bearcats

Earlier this week the Cincinnati Bearcats 23-2 (12-0) were voted in as the #5 team in America. It’s the highest rating under coach Mick Cronin and the best ranking of a Bearcats team since 2002. That’s 16 years! Let’s take a trip back to 2002 real quick.

The top three songs on the Billboard Top 100 were How You Remind Me by Nickelback, Foolish by Ashanti, and Hot in Herre by Nelly.

Some of the top movie of the year were Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, Gangs of New York, and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

George W. Bush was in his second year of office and I was the only Bearcat fan in Middle School. American Idol was born, IPods were new, and B Rabbit punked the entire crew from Free World. What a time!

But let’s get back to basketball.

The 01-02 Bearcats finished 31-4 (14-2) and in 1st place in C-USA. They started the season unranked but started the tournament with a 1 seed. By the end of the season they were the #2 team in the country. They were led by Steve Logan, Jason Maxiell, and Leonard Stokes. Here’s the complete roster.

This team essentially had 2 NBA talents (one of which was the CPOY and first team all American), an elite lockdown defender, a high flyer, and couple unmentionables.

The interesting thing about this team is they weren’t great in any one stat. They ranked 43rd in FG%, 94th in FT%, 7th in def Rb, and 57th in assists.

Compared to this year’s team who ranks 136th in FG%, 264th in FT%, and 49th in assists.

Those stats might seem obsure but if you want to win in March FT% is a big deal and last time I checked the only way to get points in the game of basketball is putting the ball through the hoop.

This version of the Bearcats were upset in a classic March double overtime by the 8 seed, UCLA in the second round.

Now, we know this year’s roster, the storylines, the greatness that is Gary Clark, the talent that is Jacob Evans III, the physics defying that is Kyle Washington. Right now the Bearcats stand undefeated in conference play and haven’t lost since the beginning of December.

Here’s the question for you:

If matched up head to head, who ya go?

Do you go with Hugs and his 23 ppg gaurd Steve Logan? Would Cronin and this team whose depth goes on for days be too much?

Rebounds would come at a premium in this totally made up game that obviously can never take place and is only for fun. But man, watching JEIII try to defend Steve Logan would be fun and seeing Maxiell trying to defend Washington’s left half hook would be worth the ticket.

Could the 02 team match up with Clark? What about Cumberland, who checks him? How many defenders would it take to stop Steve Logan?

Ultimately the end of the season will determine where this version of the Bearcats end up in UC history. I know they’re special and look like they’re ready for a run.

In terms of the 2002 Bearcats or the 2018 Bearcats, I know who I’d pick to win it but I want to hear from you.

’02 v. ’18 Who wins? 

 

Barrels and Bearcats

Bearcats Slay Knights Road Trip Looms

Knights. What we witnessed last night was a slaughter. I’m not even sure we’re allowed to put the footage on the internet. The Bearcats were all over UCF from start to finish. The Knights made one shot very early then went what felt like a decade without scoring again. Everyone got involved in this one. Literally, everyone scored except the three walk-ons.

Nsoseme, Williams, Scott, and company all saw major action and held their own in the route. Cronin has been talking for several weeks about getting Nsoseme more minutes because he’s been practicing well. Glad he was the first one off the bench in this one. He finished with 3 points and 4 rebounds.

Trevor Moore lead all scorers with 14 points. Washington had 13, Gary 12, and Jenifer has found his tough again and chipped in 11.

The Bearcats defense looked far improved from the effort against UConn over the weekend. The Knights shot 19% in the first half and a mere 28% for the game. The most impressive thing was the Knights went the entire game without making one 3 pointer. Just as UCF thought they had an open look from 3 Gary Clark closed out blocked it and …

It was a rough night to be a Knight.

We can’t forget the beer of the game.

The Gauntlet Part 2. The Bearcats went 2-2 in the first Gauntlet losing to X and Florida and beating UCLA and Miss St. We are now at the beginning of the second one of the season. The next four games are at SMU, at Houston, #22 Wichita State at home and UConn at home. One big difference between the two stretches are now, it’s late in the season and we’re #6 in the country. Teams are hungry for a resume booster and we’re it. In college sports if we have to lose I’d prefer to lose early. People tend to forget and beatings fade with time. Play defense, hit the open shots, and keep winning.

Next up is SMU. The Evil Empire. The Bane of the Bearcats Existence. The ‘Cats slayer. Too much? You get the idea. It’s that time of year where SMU pops up on our schedule for the second time, at Moody. For the past couple of seasons the Ponies have had our number when they play host. Moody isn’t an easy place to win if you’re a visitor and no one knows that better than Coach Cronin. This will be the third time in five years where we play at SMU at this exact same point in the season. We’ve been ranked #11 or higher in each of those two games. All I know is Sunday at 4pm on ESPN the Bearcats better be ready to bring it.

Top 5. Both #5 Xavier and #4 Michigan State squeaked by and won last night. The Spartans next game is Saturday against #3 Purdue. The Boilermakers have to make it past #14 OSU first. (Go OSU? That’s weird to say.) If the Bearcats keep this in season winning streak alive we can only move up in the polls. While Xavier outlasted Butler last night the Dawgs get another opportunity at a top 5 team on Saturday when they play at #1 Nova. #2 Virginia plays hose to Virginia Tech as well.

UPDATE

Top 5 Collapses. Last night we saw a .500 St. John’s beat #1 Villanova and #3 Purdue get beat by #14 OSU. All the Bearcats have to do is win on Saturday and they’ll more than likely arrive in the top 5. A task easier said than done.

Cougars Get Mauled

Drama, Defense, and Dumb Refs

The Cincinnati Bearcats beat the Houston Cougars last night at BB&T arena and was it a doozy. If you turned off your TV mid way through the first half or better yet hurled it through a window hopefully you found a way to watch the end of the first half and whole second half. We witnessed the Bearcats yet again come out flat. As flat as they have been all year really. Shots weren’t falling and the defensive effort was sub par for Cronin’s liking. It seemed like the Cougars couldn’t miss in the first half. From the field, from 3 or from the line. Everything was falling early.

In the first 11 minutes or so the Bearcats had 8 turnovers. Cane Broom had a couple passes so telegraphed by 93 yr old grandpa could have intercepted them. Houston surged to an 18 point lead! It got ugly quick. I really thought Cronin was going to bite off Cane’s head,literally. He had a crazy look in his eye. The Cougars shot 50% from the field and from behind the 3 point line.

With about 7 minutes to go in the first half the Bearcats woke up and they were on a mission. The Bearcats started playing like the #8 Cincinnati Bearcats should play every minute. Brook played very strong in the minutes he got and had two early dunks to keep a pulse. Gary Clark hit two big shots from behind the 3 point line, the Bearcats started playing defense and then Kyle Washington woke up completely, thought, hey this is my senior year let me ball out! He hit a big 3 and the ‘Cats showed life.

My thought process was, we have to get this lead down to single digits or hell at least down to 10 before the half.

Then came Jacob Evans III.

Just like that the lead was down to 3 points going into halftime!

Still, I could not imagine what was happening in the locker room with Mick Cronin going absolutely insane. Whatever happened it worked and has all season.

Gary Clark went out and got yet another double double. Teams should just spot him 10 and 10 to start the game at this point. It’s going to happen one way or another.

Jarron Cumberland continues to improve. His defense is already solid but it’s getting better every game.

Justin Jenifer had a big 3 for us in the first half to keep a pulse as well.

Jacob Evans III showed last night why he’s better than Rob Gray. Evans is in another league, that’ll be quiet literal next year when Evans is in the league and Rob Gray and his man bun are in the Euro league. Evans would not be denied. He finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and just 2 turnovers. He also played all 40 minutes.

Kyle Washington. The Senior Kyle Washington had himself a night. He finished with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 huge blocks for the Bearcats in 26 minutes. He was on a roll and would not be denied. The Kyle Washington Mean Face lives!

This game featured 7 lead changed and 7 ties. The Bearcats beat the Cougars 30-22 in the paint and 9-4 on points off fast breaks. The ‘Cats had the slight edge in rebounds as well with 39-32.

For the most part Houston’s senior leader and human man bun was held in check all night. He finished with 9 points and 6 assists.

The Bearcats visit Houston in just 16 days. I’m sure that’ll be just as fun as last night.

A note on the refs. They were horrible. Almost as bad as the Memphis game. Jarron was called for a foul on a box out. A text book box out. JEIII was called for a foul and wasn’t close to a player going up for a layup. Both Clark and Washington were in foul trouble the second half. Along with a handful of other calls it wasn’t a good night for the black and white stripes.

If we can continue to get these kinds of tests and power through this level of adversity and win this team is going to be special.

The final score was 80-70 Bearcats.

We can’t forget about the Beer of the Game because there will be plenty of Cougar Fan’s tears after this one.

Bearcats v Houston A Preview

Bearcats. Cougars. Lets Go.

This Wednesday at 7pm on CBSSN the #8 Cincinnati Bearcats (19-2, 8-0) take on the Houston Cougars (16-4, 6-2) at BB&T Arena. Of course the 39 game home winning streak and the current 12 game winning streak are on the line. The Bearcats also have the opportunity to widen the lead in the American over Houston (tied with Wichita St for second) with a win.

The Bearcats breezed by Memphis on Saturday and had a couple days to recoup and prepare for this Houston team.

Houston is led by the Man Bun himself Rob Gray. He’s their hero and leader. The senior averages 19.7 points a game and has the green light at every opportunity. In my opinion he’s one of the top 3 picks for AAC player of the year. I’d currently put him second, right behind Gary Clark. The Bearcats have to know where he is on the floor at all times. I’m guessing JE III, Teddy, and Moore will all see minutes on him. They also have Corey Davis Jr at 12.3 ppg and Devin Davis at 10.8 ppg and 6.4 rpg.

The Cougars average 79.3 points a game and shoot a crisp 46.7 % from the field. They are also all over the glass with 39.5 rebounds per game. Their two losses in conference are to Tulane (81-72) and Wichita St (81-63). The other two losses on the year were to LSU (80-77) and Drexel (84-80) ((ouch)).

The best defense in the country has to be hitting on all cylinders to tame the Cougars.

The GoBeercats Keys to the Game
  • Keep it physical with Man Bun. Keep a body on him and let him earn it. 14 points or less.
  • Keep turnovers to less than 10 (this is super critical) and hit free throws. (Gary had a very off night from the line against Memphis)
  •  Rebound, rebound, rebound.

This game is going to be won in the trenches. Offensive rebounds and turnovers will be huge for the Bearcats. Free throws will need to be hit along the way as well.

Adversity. The Bearcats seemed well in control of the Memphis Tigers on Saturday night. Until half time that is. Memphis came out determined and full of life. They cut down the Bearcats once 16 point down to single digits before the Bearcats knew what hit them. Yes it caused some high blood pressure but I was glad to see them get some resistance. So far the bad AAC teams haven’t shown that kind of life after getting down that much. The Bearcats pushed the lead back over ten and didn’t look back.

Floor General. The Bearcats have a void at the point guard right now. Justin Jenifer seems to have no confidence in his offensive abilities right now and Cane Broom is quick but isn’t up to par on the defensive side of the ball, not to mention he’s turnover prone. For the Bearcats to have one of their starting five produce zero offense leaves them vulnerable. The ‘Cats struggle scoring for stretches of games, not having a key player score at all highlights that. Cronin likes to remedy that with sliding Evans over to PG. What about starting him there and sliding Moore in for a start. He had the D and the shot, as we seen with his dagger late in the game at Memphis on Saturday.

Injury Watch. At Memphis it looked like Gary Clark may have gotten hurt at some point and we all held our breath. Dan and Terry didn’t really make much of it on the radio broadcast just stating that it might have been a shoe insert issue. Apparently Gary goes through them like he does defenses.  I haven’t seen anything else about it so I’m assuming The Problem doesn’t have any. Jarron Cumberland looked just fine on Saturday as well. He twisted an ankle against Temple last week.

Rank Rising. On Monday the most recent AP poll came out having the Bearcats clock in at #8. Their highest rating this season and highest such ranking since they reached #7 in 2014. Cronin is well documented for not caring or discussing the rankings.

The Problem. Gary Clark was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the second time in a row. He continues to play at an elite level. His resume to earn the title again was nothing short of impressive. He averaged 17.5 ppg, and 9.5 rebounds. He also hit career milestones of 1000 points and 1000 rebounds. Unfortunately he broke his streak of double doubles on Saturday. He had 18 points and 9(!) rebounds. Mr. Clark is also the only player in America that ranks in the top 10 of both offensive and defensive ratings.

Bearcats Defense. Clark ranks #1 in country for his defensive rating. Although it should be noted that Kyle Washington is #5, Jacob Evans III is #6, and Jarron Cumberland is #16. Virginia is the only other team with 2 players in the top 16.

The ESPN match up predictor gives the Bearcats an 89.4% chance to win this game. The Bearcats will push the streaks.

Prediction: Bearcats 65  Cougars 55

Former Bearcat Hoppin Things Up

Kevin Youkilis is the Greek God of Hops

You almost definitely remember Kevin Youkilis the baseball player. You might remember him playing in a Bearcats uniform from 1998-2001. While at Cincinnati Youkilis was a two-time Second-Team AP All-American and First-Team All-Conference USA his junior year. He also set the UC career records for home runs (56), walks (206), slugging percentage(.627), and on-base percentage(.499). Mr. Youkilis manged to get inducted into the University of Cincinnati Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007 as well.

You probably remember Youkilis the Boston Red Sox player that won two World Series. He had a very successful career in the MLB by any measure. He was a 3 time all star, Gold Glover winner, and Great Bambino curse breaker. He also once held the record for most games without an error and won the Hank Aaron Award in 2008. So yeah, the guy could play the game of baseball pretty damn well.

Somewhere along the way he took on the nickname the Greek God of Walks. Well now he’s tweaked that just a little bit.

Since he hung up his cleats in 2014 Youkilis has been working on his post baseball career. One that we at GoBeercats were super excited to hear about once we read it.

Youkilis is now the owner of Loma Brewing in Los Gatos, California. Which is in the Bay Area close to San Clara and San Jose. This could be the coolest thing we’ve ever heard of. A former Bearcats and Baseball all star to brewery owner? That’s right up our alley. From the looks of their social media accounts the place looks legit too.

In an interview with Draftmagazine.com Youkilis said he discovered craft beer after college and while playing professional baseball.

“The beer you’re drinking changes once you can afford better beer,” he says. “I realized there was really good beer out there created by smaller-producing individuals. What I loved the most was I realized I didn’t have to drink 10 beers to enjoy a night out. A couple well-made beers was more my style.”

So he partnered with his brother Scott and opened up Loma Brewing Co. As mentioned above, Kevin is used to winning awards and whatnot so would it surprise you if we said Loma Brewing won the 2017 California Commercial Beer Brewery of the Year. Well it shouldn’t because they did just that. Now, I didn’t know how prestigious that award is or whatever because it took place at the California State Fair but I do know that California as a whole has an awesome reputation for good beer so winning anything out there isn’t an easy task. After doing some research on the “competition” it turns out it’s legit and super competitive. With more than 1,488 beer entries from more than 400 breweries, the fair has become one of the largest beer competitions in the country. Only the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup are larger!

Loma Brewing Co. offers a wide range of beer styles and is well cemented into the community at this point. Appeasement IPA  is the beer that won the gold medal at the California state fair. There’s also a Kölsch, called Warren Peace, and (No Oranges Allowed) an American wheat ale that won silver in the same competition.

It looks like Loma Brewing does can some of its beers and I will be asking any establishment willing to order beers outside of the normal realm to bring anything it can to the area for GoBeercats to try. I’m looking at you Jungle Jim’s. Hopefully the pictures aren’t just of to go crowlers.

For you Untappd users there is a Wish List on our profile for an easy finding of the brewery and its beers. (@GoBeercats)

For those Bearcats fans planning on making the trip to UCLA for the Bearcats football game in September you should definitely check his place out. According to Google Maps its a mere 5+ hour drive. I’m sure it would be totally worth it.

Now, Kevin Youkilis is known as The Greek God of Hops.

Bearcats Crush Temple

Temple Didn’t Stand a Chance

This was a game dominated by Gary Clark’s history making achievement. He became just the 5th player in Cincinnati history to score 1000 points and get 1000 rebounds. Think of the players that didn’t accomplish that for a minute. Names like Kenyon Martin, Danny Fortson, and Jason Maxiell come to mind first, none of those three guys achieved that mark. Incredible. We’re witnessing history.

It didn’t take long for this one to become untouchable. Temple thought they were going to play us tight for about 3 minutes then their hopes disappeared pretty quickly. The Bearcats has 4 players in double figures. Led by Gary Clark with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals all in 26 minutes. Making that his 4th double double in a row. Kyle and Jarron each had 13 points each. Jarron had 11 in the first half  and missed most of the 2nd half with what appeared to by an ankle injury. Hopefully he’s good to go on Saturday. We’ll need him. Jacob finished with a nice stat line as well scoring 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals, and just 2 turnovers in 25 minutes.

Temple had 2 players reach 7 points each, Ernest Aflakpui and Quinton Rose. Their leading scorer from the last time they played the Bearcats, Enechionyiaj, was held to just 5 points. Temple didn’t have a lot going for them in the 33 point loss at BB&T arena last night.

The Bearcats had 45 deflections and out rebounded the Owls 46-36 a major improvement from the game in Philly.

The win also moves the nation’s longest home winning streak to 37.

I predicted a 75-61 victory for the Bearcats. I hit their points spot on but gave way too much credit to Temple. I also thought Jarron would show up big in this one and that was the case as well, at least for the first half. The Bearcats actually accomplished every key of the game that was in the preview for this one. Especially shutting down Obi and Brown.

BB&T was noticeably louder for this one, we need to take it to the next level on Saturday.

The Cincinnati Bearcats are now 18-2, 8-0.

We can’t forget the Beer of the Game