Bearcats Head Coach Wes Miller talks to his players during a timeout in Game 1 of the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Basketball Championship against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri on Tuesday March 11, 2025. Bearcats won the game with a final score of 87-68. Phil Didion/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cincinnati Bearcats Men's Basketball 2025-26 Season Opening Opponent Revealed

Originally posted on Cincinnati Bearcats on SI
By Russell Heltman | Last updated Aug 12, 2025 3:39 PM ET

The Bearcats basketball team is starting the 2025-26 season with a home matchup against Western Carolina. WCU posted its full schedule this week and Cincinnati is the first matchup at Fifth Third Arena on Monday, Nov. 3.

WCU coach Andre Gray has a relationship with UC head coach Wes Miller. Gray was an assistant coach under Miller at UNC-Greensboro from 2018-21.

Cincinnati is playing a diverse set of non-conference opponents this season, including the likes of Dayton, Xavier, and Louisville. Miller is excited to see what his squad can bring to the table with a pretty new group of players and a new general manager.

"He was able to give us a ton of intel," Miller said about GM Corey Evans last month. "He worked to understand [Sam] Presti, who's arguably the best general manager in sports. So as we were piecing together the roster and we were talking about how parts fit together and strategies to build a roster, I thought he brought great insight and great perspective into that conversation. He had great relationships already with our other staff members before he took the job."