# 1976–77 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 1976–77 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 1976-77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats were led by head coach Gale Catlett, as members of the Metro Conference. They finished the season 25–5, 4–2 in Metro play, finishing in second place. They defeated St. Louis, Memphis State, and Georgia Tech to win the Metro tournament for the second consecutive year, and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. They lost 66–51 to national champions Marquette.

## Previous season

The Bearcats finished the 1975–76 season 25–6, 2–1 in Metro play to win the regular season championship. As the number 1 seer, they defeated Georgia Tech and Memphis State to win the Metro tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. They lost 79–78 to Notre Dame in the first round of the Midwest region.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| December 4, 1976* | | South Florida | W 103–69 | 1–0 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| December 8, 1976* | | Bowling Green | W 67–63 | 2–0 | Anderson Arena Bowling Green, OH |
| December 15, 1976* | | Miami (OH) | W 79–68 | 3–0 | Millett Hall Oxford, OH |
| December 18, 1976 | | Saint Louis | W 86–53 | 4–0 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| December 29, 1976* | | South Carolina | W 79–62 | 5–0 | Neutral |
| December 30, 1976* | | Indiana | W 52–43 | 6–0 | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA |
| January 5, 1977* | | Temple | W 61–46 | 7–0 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| January 12, 1977* | | Dayton | W 84–61 | 8–0 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| January 16, 1977 | | Saint Louis | W 54–52 | 9–0 | Kiel Auditorium St. Louis, MO |
| January 19, 1977 | No. 12 | Louisville | L 77-83 | 9–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| January 22, 1977 | | Tulane | L 75-78 | 9–2 | Avron B. Fogelman Arena New Orleans, LA |
| January 26, 1977* | | Wichita State | W 68-60 | 10–2 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| January 29, 1977* | | Duquesne | W 83-65 | 11–2 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| January 31, 1977 | No. 20 | Memphis State | W 88-82 | 12–2 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| February 2, 1977* | | Pittsburgh | L 64-65 | 12–3 | Fitzgerald Field House Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 6, 1977* | No. 6 | Marquette | W 63-62 | 13–3 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| February 9, 1977* | | Eastern Kentucky | W 78-60 | 14–3 | McBrayer Arena Richmond, KY |
| February 12, 1977 | | Georgia Tech | W 84-73 | 15–3 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| February 19, 1977* | | Rutgers | L 70-89 | 16–4 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, NJ |
| February 26, 1977* | | Jacksonville | W 78-61 | 17–4 | Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL |
| Metro Conference tournament ||||||
| March 3, 1977 | (2) | vs. (6) Saint Louis Quarterfinals | W 76–68 | 18–4 | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, TN |
| March 4, 1977 | (2) | vs. (5) Memphis State Semifinals | W 68–67 | 19–4 | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, TN |
| March 5, 1977 | (2) | vs. (3) Georgia Tech Final | W 74–61 | 20–4 | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, TN |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 12, 1977* | | vs. Marquette First Round | W 66–51 | 20–5 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | — | 12 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 11 | — |