UC Bearcats Football: Cincinnati’s 2014 AAC Opponents Announced, No UCF

Dec 5, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats running back Ralph Abernathy (1) rushes into the end zone for a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Louisville Cardinals at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati Bearcats fans were happy to learn that their 2014 AAC football opponents were released by the conference. And that’s all they were happy about.

The first thing you probably noticed when looking through that infographic (and based on this article’s headline, you regular Sherlock Holmes!) that the American didn’t pit Cincinnati against UCF for the second straight year.

LOLWUT

The Bearcats were actually scheduled to play Central Florida last season but the AAC made a quick change and swapped them for Temple for some damn reason. UCF wound up winning the conference, Cincinnati finished in third, and the American missed out on a potential marquee conference game to grow the brand’s exposure. It appears the AAC in their infinite stupidity is going down that same path in 2014.

Despite UCF losing quarterback Blake Bortles and runningback Storm Johnson and UC losing Brendon Kay, both teams will likely wind up in the top third of the conference, potentially finishing 1-2. East Carolina will probably also be in the mix and the Bearcats and Knights will play them but what lunacy led to the AAC failing to pit Cincinnati and Central Florida together yet again? Is the scheduling office managed by monkeys? Do they just throw darts at a board when they set this up? I can’t imagine those in charge took the time to sit down, discuss the possibilities, and came to a decision that excluding a marquee AAC game for the schedule would be good for the conference.

Ugh… anybody have the number of the ACC or the Big 12?