University of Cincinnati basketball players might not know that much about the history between their program and that of Ohio State University, but Cincinnati's mayor just added another level to the stakes for tonight’s game. Mayor Mark Mallory and Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman have made a friendly bet on the outcome, putting each city’s hometown ice cream on the line. If Ohio State wins the game — which will take place 9:45 p.m. tonight in Boston — Mallory will send a shipment of Graeter’s to Columbus. Should UC beat OSU and advance to the Elite 8, Coleman will send some of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams to Cincinnati. Mallory has offered supreme confidence that the 6-seeded Bearcats will take down the 2-seed Buckeyes. “The Cincinnati Bearcats are a great source of pride for the entire city. I’m confident that UC will prevail and march on to the Elite 8,” Mallory said in a news release. “I just hope Mayor Coleman sends enough Jeni’s Ice cream for the entire team.” When offered the initial wager, Coleman reportedly slammed down his OSU travel coffee mug, then paused to reflect on the heartbreak Buckeye fans felt back in 1961 when UC upset the favored Buckeyes to win the NCAA championship and then defeated OSU in the title game again in 1962. (Just kidding, Coleman was also gracious and nice, releasing his own statement.) “I want to thank Mayor Mallory for his generous offer of Graeter’s ice cream on behalf of the Bearcats,” Coleman said. “While I do not expect it to be as sweet as the Buckeyes’ victory Thursday night, I’m sure it will be delicious. In fact, I’ll be happy to share some with Mayor Mallory if he’d like to join me next week rooting on the Buckeyes in the Final Four.

The Bearcats’ sweet double-overtime victory yesterday over Georgetown was the team’s sixth win in its last seven games, three of which were against teams ranked in the Top 25 at the time. The ’Cats are now 6-3 against the RPI top 50, with tonight’s 7 p.m. Big East semifinal against No. 2 Syracuse offering an opportunity to seriously enhance the team’s seeding come Sunday. ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has the Bearcats projected as an 8 seed, playing Virginia in the first round with a potential second-round game against No. 1 seed Kansas. This situation would seriously suck. (For Cincinnati or for Kansas? ... Good point.) Cincinnati is by far the most dangerous team in the 7-10 range, having recently defeated projected 3-seeds Marquette and Georgetown, along with projected 5-seed Louisville. It’s safe to say that no No. 1 or 2 seed wants to see the Bearcats in the second round. And for UC, the road to the Sweet Sixteen actually would look a lot easier from one of the 11 or 12 seeds — fellow Big East squad South Florida is projected as a 12 to face 5-seed UNLV in the first round and potentially 4-seed Florida State in the second. I think UC would gladly take on a tougher first-round matchup for a second round game that’s not against a school that starts four or five future NBA players. It actually wouldn’t be a huge surprise if UC is one of the several teams that every year gets slotted somewhere far from what the prognosticators expected. The Bearcats’ RPI of 58 might fit in with those of some of the current bubble teams, but only two other teams outside the RPI top 17 have as many wins over the RPI top 50 as UC’s six (Kansas State, RPI 44, and Notre Dame, RPI 37, each also have six). The Bearcats received votes in the AP Top 25 last week. UC’s five votes had the team around the No. 35 ranking, which falls in line with the 8- to 9-seed projection. But that was before yesterday’s win over Georgetown, which would likely have earned the ’Cats more votes even if the team loses to Syracuse. Louisville, on the other hand, fell from the Top 25 in last week’s ranking, actually sitting two spots out at No. 27, but the Cardinals are currently projected as a 5 seed, which would typically include teams in the 17-20 range. The selection committee doesn’t strictly follow any single set of rankings when determining seeding, but the guess here is that even with a loss to Syracuse in the Big East semifinals it wouldn’t be a stretch for the committee to consider UC one of the top 28 teams in the country, which would put UC among the 7 seeds. And it’s safe to say that a win over Syracuse would put the Bearcats firmly in the Top 25 by week’s end, meaning a 6 seed would be possible. And if UC were to win the whole Big East tournament, it would be difficult for any selection committee to seed the team very far from the likes of projected 3-seeds Georgetown and Marquette, two teams the Bearcats have beaten in the last 16 days. Here’s hoping the Bearcats put on a good showing tonight in primetime against the No. 2 team in the country in the Big East semis. Selection committee members will be watching, as will the potential No. 1 and No. 2 seeds which certainly don’t want to see Cincinnati between themselves and the second round. Photo of Dion Dixon jamming on Louisville's Chane Behanon by Brian Baker/Lacking Focus Photography.