If you want to find the worst person to watch the Sweet 16 with, look no further than University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher.

Of course, this assumes she not only will watch the games, but actually understands them.

You see, Nancy has a 3-pronged problem: Her school’s crosstown rival, Xavier, is in the regional semifinals for the second time in five years (its been a whopping 12seasons for UC) and has a legit chance of making the Final Four. The coach she hired while president of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Bruce Pearl, is now leading the University of Tennessee in the NCAA 3rd round (don’t get excited Nancy: He’s not coming to the Queen City). And then you have the last problem. You may know the guy.

Bob Huggins, the man she fired 31 months ago. Nancy don’t like him. Bob don’t like her. And with good reason on both sides.

The trouble, though, might be only starting: Not only will Zimpher have to root for rival Xavier tomorrow, but if the Muskies fail, Huggins might just make the Final Four. More on how this will make Zimpher explode after the jump.

In 2005, Zimpher fired Huggins just a few weeks before practice started. She wanted to go in a different direction. She, and UC, definitely have: Cincinnati has missed the NCAA tournament three straight years. This past season, the school averaged over 2,500 fewer tickets sold per game than Huggins last year (2005) and just suffered its worse attended year since 1989 (pre-Huggins). And while Mick Cronin may someday make a great coach (he had a stellar resume from Murray State when he got the job), he’s won just 24 games in two seasons, and might still be one or two recruiting classes away from competing with the Big East big dogs.

Zimpher made this choice two-and-a-half years ago. Then, in August of 2005, she gave Bob an option: Resign or be fired, no gray area.

Of course, it’s her school, and she has the right to dismiss whoever she’d like, but the timing was horrendous: The season was barely weeks away, and her ultimatum seemingly was a reaction to things from the past, with: A) Huggins DUI arrest in 2004 and B) Huggins spotty record for player graduation and behavior. Both of these were fireable offenses, and if handled correctly would not have hurt significantly the program (in fact, Zimpher told Huggins earlier in 2005 his contract would not be extended beyond 2007).

Zimpher didn’t take into account the timing. And because of that, UC suffered.

Andy Kennedy came in as an interim coach, the team missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 15 years, an entire recruiting class was lost, star Devan Downey transfered to Wake Forrest, Kennedy was ousted and landed at Mississippi, and three years later you can barely recognize the UC program Huggins took to 14 straight NCAA tournaments.

What’s impressive is how quickly everything fell apart, how fast fans left, and how angry some still are. West Virginia actually gets support from Cincinnati folks, and then there are some still frustrated either at the way Zimpher handled things, or how Huggins handled the program.

One thing’s certain: The stage is now set for two of Nancy Zimpher’s arch nemesis. Something tells us, if she watches at all, she’ll be cheering hard for Xavier on Thursday.