The school's merits include 2 National Titles, 6 Final Fours, and 33 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament appearances.

[4] Statistics and NCAA all-time rankings (through the end of the 2021–22 season): Basketball formally debuted as a selected varsity team in 1901 and played nine games.

Sparked by the exploits of Robertson, who became the first player to lead the nation in scoring in three consecutive seasons, Cincinnati advanced to the Final Four in 1958–59 and 1959–60, settling for third place both years.

Cincinnati made a fifth-straight trip to the Final Four in 1962–63, and narrowly missed capturing a third-straight national crown when the Loyola Ramblers overcame a 15-point deficit and defeated the Bearcats by a basket, 60–58, in overtime.

Catlett was also a skilled recruiter, bringing Jim Ard (1970), Lloyd Batts (1973), Steve Collier (1976), Gary Yoder (1977), Bob Miller (1978) and Pat Cummings (1979) to Cincinnati who all earned All-American recognition.

Taking over a team with a proud history but one that had not had any legitimate success in over a decade, Huggins quickly turned things around and rekindled the national championship expectations of the past.

Fifteen Bearcats had garnered first team all-conference honors during this era with three of those, Danny Fortson, Kenyon Martin and Steve Logan, picking up a total of four C-USA Most Outstanding Player Awards.

Fortson, Nick Van Exel, Ruben Patterson, Bobby Brannen, Melvin Levett, Logan, Martin and Pete Mickeal have joined Cincinnati's list of All-Americans.

[17][18][19] This decision was met wide widespread criticism among virtually everyone connected to the program, creating a situation that would not bode well for the team in the near future.

Now a fixture at the Big Dance, Cincinnati can include itself among an elite list of six programs appearing in eight consecutive NCAA Tournaments, along with Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State and North Carolina.

[21] Assistant Coach, Larry Davis took the reins and lead the team onto a respectable season and classic overtime victory over Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

During this time many notable players came to Cincinnati with several progressing to the NBA, such as Sean Kilpatrick, Troy Caupain, Jacob Evans, and Gary Clark.

In Brannen's second season, the team struggled to find its footing and dealt with 5 COVID related opt-outs and a 25-day program pause.

Cincy, led by Paul Hogue and Bob Wiesenhahn, took it from there, winning, 70–65, giving the Bearcats their first basketball title in school history.

3 ranking and a scoring average of 91.8, nobody expected Loyola of Chicago to beat Cincinnati,[citation needed] especially when the Ramblers fell behind by 15 in the second half.

But Loyola rallied to send the game into OT and won the title on a last-second rebound and basket by Vic Rouse.

12/12/1983 – Kentucky 24, Cincinnati 11: It what became known as the "stall game", first year coach Tony Yates had his players go into a four-corner spread and waste the clock.

17 UAB had a one-point lead, but in the waning seconds, Tony Wilson, who was on a track scholarship, hit a 54-foot shot beyond half-court at the buzzer to give Cincinnati a 2-point win at Riverfront Coliseum.

Walk-on Steve Sanders, who was also the school's football team's wide receiver for four years, hit the buzzer-beating three-pointer to give UC a 66–64 win over No.

In a tie game with 3 seconds left, Cincinnati ran a "hook-and-ladder" type play, that had Kenyon Martin hit an open Melvin Levett sprinting towards the hoop.

Cincinnati, who was a bubble team, just barely missed the NCAA tournament (even with a Joe Lunardi prediction of a 9 seed on the morning of Selection Sunday), snapping their streak of 14 straight appearances.

With the score tied, the Bearcats were able to force WVU into a shot clock violation with 6.4 seconds left, giving them the final possession from under the opposing team's baseline.

Captain Deonta Vaughn would inbounds to sophomore Dion Dixon, who the Mountaineers were able to overwhelm near halfcourt - causing him to dribble the ball off his leg and out of bounds.

Cincy guard Troy Caupain drove the length of the floor to the hoop, and got the ball to Octavius Ellis after being swarmed by a double-team.

Gary Clark and company were able to cut down the nets for the first time in their collegiate careers, as Houston's star Rob Gray turned the ball over on the game's final possession.

The Bearcats dribbled the full length of the court but bobbled the ball and never got a clean look as time expired and Nevada tied the second largest comeback to-date in NCAA Tournament history.

[38] 03/17/2019 - Cincinnati 69, Houston 57: After being beaten twice by the Cougars in 2019 - the second an embarrassing 85–69 home loss on Senior Day a week earlier that cost them a share of the AAC regular season crown - the Bearcats got a third shot at the outright AAC regular season champs, but were thought to be heavy underdogs against the 31-2 Cougars.

Fueled by All-AAC players Jarron Cumberland and Trevon Scott, the Bearcats slowly mounted a comeback - tying the game at 54 with 2:03 left.

During the Bob Huggins era, it was known as one of the most hostile arenas in the nation due to the high decibel levels typical of his tenure.

[51] Proposed improvements to the facility, include the creation of a 360-degree seating bowl, new HD scoreboard, ribbon boards, sound system, an LED lighting system which will allow for enhanced gameday presentation, new restroom and concession facilities, a new upper-level concourse with its own fan amenities, expanded food and beverage options and a new main entrance and plaza with centralized ticketing and guest services.