Top Sports Moments in Cincinnati Bearcats History

When talking about the history of sports at the University of Cincinnati, basketball and football top the list.

There is no doubt that Cincinnati has always been a basketball school, but in recent years the university has emerged as a viable football program as well. 

The Bearcats have been playing football since before the turn of the 20th century, and over that 125-year history there have been some thrilling moments.

However, the history of the football team does not even compare to the storied history of a basketball program that has been around since 1901 and has won over 63 percent of its games during that time.

No matter what sport it is, there have been some outstanding players to grace this urban Clifton campus, just outside of downtown Cincinnati.

With those outstanding players come some unforgettable moments.

Here are the top 15 moments in the history of sports at the University of Cincinnati.

On a cold Chicago night on March 3, 2000 Cincinnati power forward Kenyon Martin supplanted himself as the national player of the year, leading his team to a dramatic comeback over conference rival DePaul.

The No. 2 Bearcats trailed by 17 during the early stages of the second half, and then by 10 with less than four minutes to go, when Martin absolutely took over the game.

He scored 10 points in the final three plus minutes and finished with 33 for the game as the Bearcats came back to pull off a dramatic 64-62 win against a very talented DePaul team.

Most Cincinnati fans remember the game like it was yesterday, as the Bearcats were playing short with second-leading scorer Pete Mickeal suspended for undisclosed disciplinary reasons and reserve guard Leonard Stokes going down with an injury.

The video above tells the full story in what was one of the greatest individual efforts of any player in Cincinnati basketball history.

In 1989, Bob Huggins took over a Cincinnati program that struggled for the better part of the decade under former head coaches Ed Badger and Tony Yates.

When Huggins arrived on campus it was the start of an era and that was never more true than his first game at the university.

Coincidentally, Huggins' first game was also the opening of the brand new Shoemaker Center.

With the Bearcats trailing 64-63 and only eight-tenths of a second remaining, Cincinnati had the ball under its own basket.

Star guard Andre Tate threw the ball in bounds to former football player and walk-on Steve Sanders. Sanders hit an improbable three-pointer as time expired to give Cincinnati a 66-64 win. 

It was the start of what would be a 16-year run for the Bearcats under Bob Huggins that featured 14-straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament and 398 wins.

Former quarterback Greg Cook was without question the best football player to ever come through Cincinnati as he starred from 1966-1968.

In 1968, he put together the best season of any player in the country. He led the NCAA in total offense and was second in the country in passing.

Cook was 219-of-411 for 3,272 yards and 25 touchdowns.The passing yardage mark stood until 2002 at Cincinnati. He also had a school record, passing for 250 or more yards in eight straight games.

He was a second-team All-American that season and became the fifth overall selection by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1969 AFL draft.

Cook wasn't the only player to have a magical season for the Bearcats. Jim O'Brien starred on the team as a wide receiver and kicker.

He led the country in scoring with 142 points, including 44 receptions for 1,107 yards and 12 touchdowns, along with his points as the place kicker.

Known affectionately by Bearcats fans as "The Helicopter," Melvin Levett was one of the best dunkers in the college game during his time at Cincinnati from 1995-1999.

He put together many highlights, but the best of them all came in a blowout victory over Alcorn State in 1997.

When Fox Sports came out with their best dunks of all-time it ranked No. 35 on the list.

Here is how it went down.

Shooting guard D'Juan Baker missed a three and power forward Bobby Brannon appeared set to grab the rebound. Then, the unthinkable happened as the 6'3" Levett came out of the rafters to throw in the one-handed slam.

He put that 45-inch vertical to good use, in what is without question the best dunk in the history of the program.

The 2006 season was the year the Cincinnati Bearcats really emerged as a football power. It was the final season of head coach Mark Dantonio and coming into a Nov. 18 game against Rutgers, the Bearcats were 5-5, with four losses coming to highly ranked teams.

Rutgers came into the game undefeated and No. 7 in the country. Cincinnati had the game well in hand with a 20-3 lead toward the end of the third quarter.

A short pass to tight end Brent Celek, eventually turned into an 83-yard rumble that led Cincinnati to victory and propelled them onto the national scene.

Celek was like a bowling bowl running down the sideline and plowing through everybody in his way.

Cincinnati went on to a 30-11 victory, one of the biggest wins in school history.

The 2009 football season was a magical year for Cincinnati. Without question it was the best year in school history, and entering the final game of the season, the Bearcats were 11-0 and ranked No. 5 in the BCS standings.

Trailing 44-38 with under 40 seconds remaining, quarterback Tony Pike hit a streaking Armon Binns down the sideline for a dramatic 49-yard touchdown.

That gave the Bearcats a 45-44 victory at Heinz Field and a No. 3 ranking in the final BCS standings.

As far as football is concerned, there is not one individual play that is more significant. Pike to Binns will forever live in Bearcat lore .

Oscar Robertson is arguably the best player in college basketball history and during his three years at the University of Cincinnati, the Bearcats went 79-9 and advanced to a pair of Final Fours.

During his three seasons, he averaged 33.8 points a game, the third-highest in college basketball history. He was the National Player of the Year all three seasons and left Cincinnati as the all-time leading scorer in college basketball history.

Perhaps his best game came on the biggest stage in all of basketball. Madison Square Garden is the mecca of hoops and the most heralded basketball arena in the world.

On Jan. 9, 1958, during his sophomore season, the man known as "The Big O" went off against Seton Hall at the Garden, going for 56 points. At the time that was an all-time record for the arena.

Cincinnati won the game 118-54, as Robertson outscored the entire Pirates team while going 22-of-32 from the field and 12-of-12 from the free throw line.

Robertson tells the story quite well.

There was a time during the 1990s when the early season college basketball tournaments meant something.

They featured some of the best teams in the country, and one of those tournaments was the Great Alaska Shootout.

On Nov. 28, 1998 No. 14 Cincinnati had advanced to the finals against No. 1 Duke. The Blue Devils were absolutely loaded and with the game tied at 75 and only three seconds remaining, it was time for some more Melvin Levett heroics. 

Ryan Fletcher threw the ball nearly the length of the court to Kenyon Martin, who set up a streaking Melvin Levett with a last second dunk for an upset over No. 1 Duke.

The game was a midnight start eastern time and the city of Cincinnati was buzzing all night long after the thrilling victory over the Blue Devils.

Brian Kelly led the Bearcats to a remarkable year in his second season as head coach, eventually reaching the Orange Bowl while winning the Big East in the process.

Without question, it was the biggest bowl game in school history and remains a monumental accomplishment despite losing 20-7 to a talented Virginia Tech team.

Cincinnati finished the season 11-3 overall and had one of the best offenses in the country.

This would turn out to be the second of what has been five double-digit win seasons over the past six years.

It would also mark the first Big East title for Cincinnati, and start a run that is still going of four titles in five years.

The history of Cincinnati Bearcats football dates back to the 1800s, and the 1897 season was without question one of the best in school history.

It is widely known that the first ever bowl game was the 1902 Rose Bowl, but in 1897 the Bearcats can stake claim to a berth in the New Orleans Bowl.

Cincinnati finished the regular season that year 7-1-1 with its only loss coming to the mighty Carlisle Indians. The Bearcats did post a 34-0 victory over in-state rival Ohio State as well.

After a successful season, the Bearcats reportedly received an invitation from the Southern Athletic Club to play in New Orleans on New Year's Day.

Cincinnati won by a score of 16-0 and was then challenged by players from LSU. The Bearcats took on the Tigers the next day, winning that game 28-0 to cap off a magical trip to New Orleans.

More than 100 years after the alleged trip to the New Orleans Bowl, Cincinnati had its best season in school history, in 2009 going undefeated at 12-0 and finishing No. 3 in the final BCS standings.

That resume allowed the Bearcats to win the Big East and earn a berth in the Sugar Bowl against the Florida Gators.

Prior to the game head coach Brian Kelly bolted for Notre Dame, leaving Cincinnati without a coach and in a world of hurt.

The Bearcats were dominated from start to finish by the Gators, falling 51-24. That did little to dampen a season that was nothing short of magical.

Beating a team twice in a season is not something that is easy to do. Try beating a team four times in the same year and one as good as Memphis.

That is exactly what the 1991-1992 Cincinnati Bearcats had to do to reach the Final Four.

In what was only the third season under head coach Bob Huggins, Cincinnati made a run to its sixth Final Four in school history, and did it by beating a highly touted Memphis team twice during the regular season, once in the Great Midwest Conference championship and one final time in the Elite Eight.

That Memphis team was led by Penny Hardaway, but was no match for the Bearcats who finished the year 29-5.

The Cincinnati squad was led by future NBA stars Nick Van Exel and Corie Blount.

Cincinnati eventually fell to the "Fab 5" at Michigan 72-76 in the Final Four. The win was eventually vacated by the Wolverines.

Through his first three seasons at Cincinnati, power forward Kenyon Martin was a top-notch defensive player, but unpolished offensively, and not even a double-figure scorer.

During his impressive senior season, Martin took the nation by storm, on his way to the National Player of the Year award.

He averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game. While he was one of the best players in the country on offense, he was far and away the most feared player in the nation on defense.

Martin led Cincinnati to a No. 1 ranking before breaking his leg in the Conference USA Tournament against Saint Louis.

The injury still haunts Cincinnati fans even today.

Winning National Player of the Year is one thing, but doing it three straight seasons is something almost unimaginable.

That is exactly what Oscar Robertson did during his three years on varsity at Cincinnati.

The "Big O" dominated the college level, and during his 88 game career he averaged 33.8 points, 15.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists a game.

Those astronomical numbers are ones that will likely never be matched again.

Robertson then went on to star in the NBA where he averaged a triple-double for a season. Another feat that will be nearly possible to accomplish.

During the late 50s and early 60s, Cincinnati made an amazing five straight Final Fours, and it all culminated with back-to-back national championships in 1961 and 1962.

While some think Oscar Robertson was on those teams, he was no longer at Cincinnati during the national championship seasons.

What made those championships even sweeter was the fact that the Bearcats took down in-state rival Ohio State to win both titles.

Those Ohio State teams were led by future Hall of Famers John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas.

The Bearcats on the other hand had talent all over the court with George Wilson, Tom Thacker and Paul Hogue.

Head coach Ed Jucker led the way, and the Bearcats nearly made it three straight in 1963 before losing in the national championship game to Loyola.

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