They're two of the nation's most tradition-rich college basketball programs. They're both consensus preseason top 25 teams next season. And their campuses are separated by a mere two-hour drive.
Yes, everything is in place for Ohio State and Cincinnati to have one of the sport's best rivalries with one notable exception: They haven't scheduled one another in 48 of the past 49 years.
Sixth-year Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin says it's Ohio State's unwillingness to schedule the Bearcats that has short-circuited attempts to revive the long-dormant rivalry. Though he's adamant his program will be fine without playing Ohio State and he's wary of coming across as "the little brother whining," Cronin says without hesitation that a series between the Bearcats and Buckeyes would benefit both schools.
"It would be a yearly event just like Louisville and Kentucky, but I don't see it happening," Cronin said. "I have friends that have coached at Ohio State and they were basically told, 'You're not playing Cincinnati.' It's been a longstanding historical decision from their school."
Cincinnati isn't the only prominent Ohio program that has been unable to coax the Buckeyes into agreeing to a game. Ohio State also traditionally hasn't played Dayton or Xavier, scheduling the Flyers only four times in the late 1980s as a result of a friendship between the coaches and facing the Musketeers only twice since 1935, both times in the postseason.
Ohio State coach Thad Matta said through a spokesman he prefers that the marquee games on his team's schedule come against out-of-state opponents to maximize exposure.
Like most elite programs from major conferences, the Buckeyes play roughly eight to 10 guarantee games per year in which they pay smaller schools to come to Columbus in exchange for a likely victory and maximum ticket and concessions revenue. The remainder of the non-league schedule is traditionally prominent made-for-TV matchups, games that Matta prefers to reserve for the likes of Florida, Florida State or Butler rather than in-state foes.
"Scheduling is something we work on continuously," Matta said. "We try to put together the best possible schedule for our program and our fans each year. Our philosophy has been to schedule home-and-home series outside the state of Ohio to give our program more national exposure whenever possible."
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It's because of Ohio State's scheduling approach that a historic upset from 50 years ago is still the most memorable matchup between the Buckeyes and Bearcats. In the 1961 national title game, Cincinnati stunned a top-ranked Ohio State team featuring future pros Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek thanks to an inspired performance from unheralded senior forward Bob Wiesenhahn.
"We didn't look ahead, but we wanted to beat Ohio State bad, no doubt about it," Wiesenhahn said. "They were No. 1. They got all the press. It was fun for us to get a chance to show what we could do against them."
TV networks surely would have demanded an Ohio State-Cincinnati series in the modern era after they faced off in back-to-back national title games, but neither program pushed for such a matchup at the time.
Any interest the Buckeyes had initially waned in ensuing years as the Bearcats regressed, making the NCAA tournament just three times in the 1970s and not once in the 80s. Ohio State balked at playing a middling team from a less prestigious league, an attitude that has survived to this day even though Cincinnati flourished under Bob Huggins and eventually earned a spot in the Big East.
"I don't think it was a philosophical thing, or at least I was never told who I couldn't schedule," said Eldon Miller, Ohio State's coach from 1976-86. "It's really an individual thing based on who the coach is at the time and what their preference is."
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The lone time Ohio State and Cincinnati did meet in the past 49 years was under the worst possible circumstances for the Bearcats.
Outgoing Cincinnati athletic director Bob Goin approached Ohio State in late 2005 about scheduling a game at the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis the following year even though the Bearcats had just fired Huggins and lacked their usual talent. Ohio State chose that time to finally accept Cincinnati's offer and then delivered a 72-50 beatdown, one of the Bearcats' most humbling moments from a difficult 11-19 season.
Why would Goin choose that transitional period to reach out to Ohio State? And why would the Buckeyes agree to play Cincinnati that season but not before or since? Cronin has his suspicions, but he'll only hint at them.
"The contract was signed by the outgoing athletic director two weeks after Bob Huggins was fired," Cronin said. "Surmise what you want to surmise on that one."
What's frustrating to Cronin and others at Cincinnati is they feel a series between the Bearcats and Buckeyes could be a showcase for both programs the way other regional non-conference rivalry games are.
The annual Kentucky-Louisville showdown aired nationally on CBS last season and traditionally has been the most anticipated regular-season game on both teams' schedules since the series resumed in 1984. Marquette-Wisconsin also draws attention nationwide when both teams are good, as does Memphis-Tennessee, Illinois-Missouri or Xavier-Cincinnati for that matter.
Cronin would love for Ohio State-Cincinnati to one day be mentioned in the same breath as those other rivalries, but he's not optimistic it will happen anytime soon.
"The game would help both of us, but if they don't want to play, they don't want to play," Cronin said. "I'm not whining. Life goes on. Our program has rebounded from a tough coaching transition and we're doing great. If they're not interested, that's their choice."
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