The Cincinnati Bearcats are nearing a home-and-home series with the Minnesota Golden Gophers that would land on the 2026 and 2027 college basketball schedules.
The matchup has not been officially announced yet, and the exact date and site for this season’s game still haven’t been set. But the deal is close, according to a report from Bearcat Journal’s Keegan Nickson.
Nickson reported that Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham, who previously worked at Minnesota, helped put the series together with Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle.
Minnesota enters the picture with a new head coach in Nike Medved, who arrived from Colorado State. Medved and Cincinnati coach Jerrod Calhoun already crossed paths in the Mountain West in 2024-25, splitting a game. Medved holds the edge in that matchup at +1.
Calhoun had already said, and it was later confirmed, that he was working to line up a game against a Big Ten opponent. That sparked plenty of speculation that Ohio State would be the target, especially after Calhoun mentioned during his introductory press conference that he wanted the Bearcats to play the Buckeyes more often.
Cincinnati also added the Caresource Invitational exhibition event to its schedule on July 9, with a game against Ohio State at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in an outdoor setting. With the Buckeyes likely already set for 2027, it seemed as if the Bearcats were finished adding another major non-conference opponent.
Instead, Minnesota now appears to be next in line.
The Bearcats’ non-conference slate already includes Clemson, Xavier and Dayton, plus ESPN Events Invitational games against Boston College and Georgia. If Minnesota gets finalized, it would deepen an already demanding schedule and give Cincinnati another high-level test before conference play begins.
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