The UCLA basketball team’s strength of schedule rated 74th in the country last season, per kenpom.com. It was the weakest of any Power 5 team in the final 2016-17 AP top 25.

The program is taking steps to avoid the same fate next season, officially announcing a home-and-home series with Cincinnati on Thursday. UCLA will host the Bearcats Dec. 16 next season and play at Cincinnati in 2018.

UCLA faced Cincinnati in the 2002 and 2017 NCAA tournaments, defeating the Bearcats, 79-67, in the second round last season. The only other two meetings between the programs took place in the 1960s.

“With Cincinnati, you’re talking about a program that has advanced to the last seven NCAA Tournaments and gave us all we could handle in that tournament last March,” UCLA coach Steve Alford said. “This will be a great matchup for college basketball fans in southern California, and I know that our players will be up for the challenge.”

The series is beneficial for both programs. Cincinnati was one of five teams to finish in last season’s top 25 with a weaker strength of schedule than UCLA. The Bearcats’ schedule rated 80th, SMU’s 88th, Gonzaga’s 89th, Wichita State’s 102nd and St. Mary’s 127th, according to statistics guru Ken Pomeroy.

UCLA’s 2017-18 schedule now includes non-conference matchups with Kentucky, Michigan, Georgia Tech and two games against either Baylor, Wisconsin or Creighton in the Hall of Fame Classic.