The Cincinnati Bearcats tabbed to be a Top 25 team by the AP, with their talent it makes a lot of sense. Will they be able to live up to the hype?

Per GoBearcats:

The Cincinnati men's basketball team has been picked 20th in the official Associated Press preseason rankings.

It marks the program's first appearance in a preseason poll since 2017-18, where it was No. 12 and ultimately reached the top-five. UC's last time ranked overall was in the final 2018-19 poll.

The Bearcats return six of their top eight scorers from last year's 22-15 team, which helped it to a sixth-place prediction in the Big 12 last week. Overall, Cincinnati has retained 69.9 percent of its points, 54.9 percent of its rebounds and 76.1 percent of its assists.

UC's excitement includes selling out of season tickets for the first time since 2019-20, and the regular-season opener is Monday, Nov. 4 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.