Wow.

Bob Huggins was ordered Tuesday to resign or he’ll be fired as Cincinnati’s basketball coach, culminating a power struggle with the school president.

In a letter sent by the university, Huggins was given 24 hours to resign, or he would be fired and get a buyout.

Huggins told ESPN’s Jay Bilas that he hasn’t been contacted directly on the matter.

His lawyer received a letter from the university on Tuesday afternoon with the ultimatum.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, associate head coach Andy Kennedy will be asked to replace Huggins in the interim.

Define interim. Believe it or not, Midnight Madness hits October 14. That’s a little more than 7 weeks away. If I’m Kennedy, and if I want that job, I am demanding more than an interim offer.

Can you see Cinci or any school for that matter scrambling to find and hire a coach at this point? If they don’t hire Kennedy, anyone else they bring in won’t be able to do jack. The players can’t practice until October. The new coach would barely have a month before their first game on November 19. You almost guarantee a flushed season. Fans, alumni, students would be braying for blood.

Regardless of whether you like Huggins or not, the way it was handled was pure idiocy. If they were going to do this, at the latest, it should have been done back in May when the crap first went down. They bluffed then trying to get Huggins to leave (and low balled on the buyout) and he called. It took them until now to finally act — and they are still lowballing if you read the letter.

Cinci President Nancy Zimpher has screwed up big time. She will be taking the fall in the next couple of years. To follow this story go to the Bearcats blog, where Brandon is now grabbing local media attention thanks to his other site.

The wife (Cinci alum) is going to be pissed when she gets home from work.