Cincinnati Bearcats Ranked 40th In Preseason AP Poll

The Cincinnati Bearcats football team is ranked 40th in the preseason AP Poll receiving 15 votes. This is a few spots higher than the Coaches Poll, in which UC was ranked 43rd.

And as with the Coaches Poll, I think this is a fair initial rating for Cincinnati in the AP. Gunner Kiel has all the tools to excel, which should create a smooth transition from predecessor Brendon Kay, but he’s all hype at this point. Plus, while UC should be loaded at the edge of the defensive line and linebacker, the Bearcats are mightily inexperienced at defensive tackle. So it stands to reason that Cincinnati is the 40th best team in the country according to Associated Press voters and 43rd in the eyes of the coaches.

Shocker, no Group of 5 program made the top-25 of this poll. UCF is barely on the outside looking in at 26th with 94 votes. Just ahead of them are the Washington Huskies who I feel like are an automatic write-in at #25. Among other G5 schools, the Marshall Thundering Herd are 32nd, Boise State is T-41st, BYU is T-43rd, the Navy Midshipmen got a couple of votes to rank T-46th, and Nevada, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Utah State each received a vote to T-48th.

Among Cincinnati’s opponents in the upcoming season, Ohio State is ranked 5th (no surprise there) but the Miami (FL) Hurricanes are 39th, much closer to UC’s slotting than in the Coaches Poll. Obviously preseason polls are egregiously overrated at this point in the year but I have to believe if the game were to be played this Saturday, the Bearcats and Canes would play a fairly close game.