The 2016–17 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

in the

2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 2016. The first early-season tournaments were the 2K Sports Classic, Charleston Classic, and Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The season ended with the 2017 NCAA Division I men' ...

. The team played its home games at

Fifth Third Arena Fifth Third Arena is an indoor arena in Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the con ...

, with a capacity of 13,176. The season marked the final year prior to major renovations to Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats were led by 11th-year head coach Mick Cronin and were members of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

. They finished the season 30–6, 16–2 to finish in second place in AAC play. They beat

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

in the AAC tournament before losing to SMU in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 6 seed in the South region. They defeated No. 11-seeded

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

in the first round before losing to No. 3-seeded

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in the second round.

Previous season

The Bearcats finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 22–11, 12–6 in AAC play to finish in a tie for third place in conference. They lost to

in four overtimes in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament. The Bearcats received an at-large bid as a No. 9 seed to the NCAA tournament where they lost to Saint Joseph's in the first round.

Preseason

At AAC Media Day, Cincinnati was picked to win the AAC regular season title and senior guard

Troy Caupain Troy Wendel Caupain Jr. (born November 29, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for SIG Strasbourg of the French LNB Pro A. He played college basketball for Cincinnati. High school career Caupain attended Cosby High School and st ...

was voted as AAC Preseason Co-Player of the Year. In addition, Gary Clark and Caupain were named to the Preseason All-AAC First Team.

Offseason

Departing players

Incoming Transfers

Recruiting class of 2016

Recruiting class of 2017

Roster

Depth chart

Source

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=6 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=6 style=, Regular Season , - , - !colspan=12 style=, AAC Tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament

Awards and milestones

American Athletic Conference honors

All-AAC Awards

*Sixth Man Award: Jarron Cumberland *Sportsmanship Award:

All-AAC Second Team

*Troy Caupain *Kyle Washington

All-Rookie Team

*Jarron Cumberland

Player of the Week

*Week 4: Kyle Washington *Week 7: Gary Clark *Week 12: Jarron Cumberland

Rookie of the Week

*Week 6: Jarron Cumberland *Week 8: Jarron Cumberland *Week 17: Jarron Cumberland

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball seasons

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the college sports, athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats were pr ...