Sam Antics: Wait almost over, March Madness near

Try to contain your excitement when I tell you this, but Selection Sunday is only four days away.

Admit it, you’re drooling at the thought of filling out your March Madness bracket, making bold and researched predictions, sitting in front of your television for six straight hours and cheering for teams you’ve never heard of like your life is on the line.

College basketball fans love March Madness. True March Madmen live for nothing else.

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Cronin will return as head coach next season

University of Cincinnati Athletic Director Mike Thomas said Friday, March 5, that men's head basketball coach Mick Cronin will return as head coach for the 2010-11 basketball season, his fifth at the university, according to a Cincinnati Enquirer report.

"Coach Cronin is our coach now and he’ll be our coach next year,” Thomas told Bill Koch of The Cincinnati Enquirer. “I’m committed to seeing Cincinnati basketball be the best it can be. The university is behind Coach Cronin and the team. I’m an impatient person, but I think the needle is headed in the right direction.”

Cronin received a two-year contract extension last June, and now has four years remaining on his current deal.

Heading into his team's final regular season game, Saturday, March 6, on the road against Georgetown, Cronin has a 58-65 record at UC in his four years as the school.

The full story can be read here.

Does Cronin deserve another season at Cincinnati, or should Mike Thomas pull the plug on the Mick Cronin era at UC? Leave your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Sam Antics: LeBron, Cavs will survive without Shaq

When the Cleveland Cavaliers watched Shaquille O’Neal leave for the locker room with an injury in Boston Thursday, Feb. 25, all of Cleveland held its collective breath.

The people of Cleveland didn’t know it yet, but they would soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

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Vaughn says goodbye

Deonta Vaughn has played his final game in Fifth Third Arena, but that doesn’t mean his days with University of Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin are over and done with.

“Well I’m planning on being with him for another month,” Cronin said. “We’re planning on playing some more games together.”

Cronin, Vaughn and the rest of the Bearcats still have their regular season finale against Georgetown in Washington D.C. Saturday, March 6, then the Big East Tournament in New York City beginning March 9 and the outside chance of postseason play after that.

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On the Scene: NFL Combine drills overrated, film never lies

Let’s pretend I’m a general manager of an NFL franchise and it’s crunch-time for making a decision on my first-round draft pick.

Am I going to base my decision on how a player performed in the 40-yard dash, the 3-cone drill and the broad jump at the NFL Combine, or am I going put in game tape and watch how he performed in live game action?

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Cats’ tourney bubble bursts at WVU

Rebounding and foul trouble plagued the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team in the second half, and the Bearcats couldn’t hold on to a 13-point first-half lead.

Cincinnati dropped a 74-68 decision to No. 8 West Virginia Saturday, Feb. 27, in Morgantown.

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UC knocks off No. 13 Ohio State

The University of Cincinnati baseball team went 2-1 during the weekend in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge in Florida.

The biggest win came Sunday, Feb. 28, when the Bearcats upset No. 13 Ohio State 12-4.

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Three UC football players fail drug tests

Three University of Cincinnati football players have failed NCAA-mandated drug tests, a UC Department of Athletics source has confirmed on the condition of anonymity.

The identities of the players and specific details of the drug tests are still unknown at this time.

The News Record will continue to report on this story as more information becomes available.

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