The 2025–26 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats, led by fifth-year head coach Wes Miller, played their home games at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio as third-year members of the Big 12 Conference.

Previous season

The Bearcats finished the season 19–16 and 7–13 in Big 12 play to finish in tie for 12th place in the conference standings, thus earning the 13th seed in the 2025 Big 12 men's basketball tournament. They defeated Oklahoma State in the first round before losing to Iowa State in the second round.

The Bearcats were invited to play in inaugural College Basketball Crown, a single-elimination, fully-bracketed men's college basketball postseason tournament featuring sixteen National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams not selected to participate in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. In their first round game, they defeated DePaul and lost to fellow Big 12 Conference opponent UCF in their quarterfinals game, 88–80.

Offseason Coaching staff changes Former assistant coach Drew Adams accepted an assistant coach job with Indiana, following two years at Cincinnati. Mamadou N'Diaye accepted the assistant coaching vacancy after spending the previous four seasons at UCF.

Departures Any players who have declared for the 2025 NBA draft—including seniors, who must opt into this year's draft—have the option to return if they make a timely withdrawal from the draft and end any pre-draft relationships with agents. Thus, separate lists will initially be maintained for confirmed and potential departures.

Cincinnati Departing Players CJ Anthony G 195 Columbus, OH Transferred to Iona Aziz Bandaogo C 235 Dakar, Senegal Completed college eligibility Tyler Betsey F 225 Windsor, CT Transferred to Syracuse Rayvon Griffith G/F 210 Cincinnati, OH Transferred to Kent State Connor Hickman G 200 Bloomington, IN Transferred to Charleston Jizzle James G 205 Orlando, FL Dismissed from program Simas Lukošius F 225 Kaunas, Lithuania Completed college eligibility Dillon Mitchell PF 210 Tampa, FL Transferred to St. John's Arrinten Page C 240 Atlanta, GA Transferred to Northwestern Josh Reed G 220 Atlanta, GA Transferred to Penn State JJ Rembert G 155 Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. Transferred to McNeese Dan Skillings Jr. SF 210 Blackwood, N.J. Transferred to Baylor Source:

Incoming transfers Cincinnati incoming transfers Jalen Celestine 32 G 215 Ajax, Ontario Baylor One year Sencire Harris 5 G 175 Canton, OH West Virginia Two years Jalen Haynes 3 PF 260 Fort Lauderdale, FL George Mason One year Kerr Kriisa 11 PG 185 Vissu Küla, Estonia Kentucky One year Baba Miller 18 C 215 Mallorca, Spain Florida Atlantic One year Moustapha Thiam 52 C 235 Dakar, Senegal UCF Three years

Recruiting classes

2025 recruiting class

Preseason The Big 12 preseason coaches poll was released on October 16, 2025. All awards were voted on by the league's 16 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players. The Big 12 preseason media poll was released on October 30, 2025.

Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll Big 12 CoachesPoints 1.Houston224 (12) 2.BYU204 (1) 3.Texas Tech200 4.Arizona179 (1) 5.Iowa State170 6.Kansas163 7.Baylor137 8.Cincinnati120 9.Kansas State117 10.TCU90 11.West Virginia79 12.Oklahoma State77 13.Utah50 14.UCF39 15.Colorado37 16.Arizona State34Reference: (#) first-place votes

Big 12 Preseason Media Poll Big 12 Media 1.Houston 2.Texas Tech 3.BYU 4.Arizona 5.Iowa State 6.Kansas 7.Baylor 8.Kansas State 9.Cincinnati 10.TCU 11.West Virginia 12.Oklahoma State 13.Utah 14.UCF 15.Colorado 16.Arizona StateReference:

Roster

Schedule and results

!colspan=9 style=""| Exhibition

!colspan=12 style=""| Regular season

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Source

References