COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It is not surprising to see the University of Cincinnati in the NCAA tournament. Only two schools in the country have made more consecutive appearances in the 65-team field than the Bearcats, who are making their 13th trip in a row. One is Arizona. The other is Kansas.

Despite the consistency, though, Cincinnati has not exactly distinguished itself as a March marvel.

Rather, the Bearcats, regular-season co-champs and winners of the Conference USA tournament, have become known as a team that plays as though it's double-parked. They've made so many surprising early exits from the tournament that hotels refrain from giving them the weekend rate. Alfred Hitchcock didn't kill off lead characters as fast as Cincinnati has departed some sites.

"I think matchups have a lot to do with it," Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins was saying yesterday, on the eve of another Bearcats' appearance in the NCAA tournament. "I think you get seeded on the merit of what you did during the regular season. And, unfortunately, I think that's about the only reward we have nowadays for having a terrific regular season -- where you get seeded in the tournament."

Cincinnati has been at least a No. 3 seed in six of the past eight NCAA tournaments. Two years ago, they were a No. 1 seed when they played in Pittsburgh. But, despite their lofty seedings, the Bearcats have made it past the second round just twice -- in 1996, when they lost to Mississippi State in the Southeast Region championship; and 2001, when they lost to Stanford in the Sweet 16 as a No. 5 seed.

In 2002, when they were the top seed in the West Region, the Bearcats were upset in the second round by UCLA at Mellon Arena, a game that saved the job of Bruins coach Steve Lavin.

Perhaps that's why some people wouldn't be surprised to see Cincinnati (24-6), a No. 4 seed, get ousted by 13th-seeded East Tennessee State (27-5) in a first-round game today at Nationwide Arena.

"That's their opinion," said Cincinnati guard Tony Bobbitt. "They have the right to choose whoever they want to choose. We're just going to go out and just play basketball.

"We don't mind being the underdog. But, I mean, if guys are going to pick East Tennessee, then that's fine. We can't do nothing about that."

Not very often members of a fourth-seeded team refer to themselves as an underdog. Cincinnati, though, just may be that against East Tennessee State, the Southern Conference tournament champion making its second appearance in a row in the NCAA tournament. Last year, the Buccaneers, as a No. 15 seed, nearly ousted No. 2-seed Wake Forest in the first round, 76-73.

"[Number] 4s are supposed to beat 13s," Huggins said. "A lot of times it doesn't happen, I guess. Think about it this way: If you make a statement like that, and it comes true, you're a genius. If it doesn't come true, nobody ever brings it up again. So why wouldn't everybody [predict it] who wants to be a genius?"

Nonetheless, Cincinnati has become a good upset pick for the office brackets. Never mind that the Bearcats have won seven of their past eight games -- their only loss was to DePaul in the next-to-last game of the regular season -- and won their fourth CUSA tournament in the past eight years.

Bobbitt, a senior guard, has been part of the early departures. He even made a brief personal departure last season when he quit the team, only to return three days later. In the tournament championship victory against top-seed DePaul last weekend, Bobbitt scored 17 points to lead the Bearcats.

"If I hadn't come back, I probably wouldn't be playing ball," Bobbitt said. "But, you know, two guys like [guard] Field Williams and [forward] Jason Maxiell, when you sit down with these two guys and talk, it's great. These two guys never gave up on me. So why should I give up on them?"

Even if everyone else is giving up on the Bearcats.

AN ANNUAL DATE
Most consecuitive NCAA tournament appearances by active coaches: