In light of the fact that the Cincinnati Bearcats were picked as overwhelming favorites to win both the AAC’s East Division and the AAC title game, a 2-2 start is a huge disappointment. At the beginning of the season, many (including myself) thought this UC team had all the tools to make a run at that AAC title, perhaps a 12- or 13-win season, and a New Years’ Six bowl bid. In all of those facets, this season is already a huge disappointment – in fact, it’s a failure. After dropping two important, early-season league games in a front-loaded schedule, there will be no 7th home game at Nippert on December 5th. No trophy presentation. No big time bowl game. Maybe an 8-4 or 7-5 season and a trip to the [insert website here].com Bowl.
But there is so much still to look forward to this season. The next two weeks hold huge opportunities for marquee wins. These games are still important. Yes, the conference race is over for the ‘Cats. But in the court of national public opinion, on the future ballots of the AP voters, and in the minds of the 2016, ’17, ’18 (and beyond) NY6/Playoff selection committees, the Bearcats’ next two games matter. Non-conference wins over teams like Miami (FL) and BYU resonate in people’s minds for years. Why does Boise State constantly get monster street cred, even in years when they don’t exactly play a murderer’s row schedule? Because they’ve won a few of those games. Not every time, not two or three a year, but every now and then, they beat an Oklahoma or a Georgia or a Virginia Tech. The Broncos have only faced two ranked conference opponents in the last ten years, and they lost both of those games (Fresno St. in 2005, and Nevada in 2010). Boise’s national reputation as a solid football program is built on being competitive in all of and winning some games against well known, Power Five programs. They get Preseason AP and Coaches’ Poll votes based solely on wins in a handful of early season and bowl games.
The Bearcats are going to have three opportunities to beat good teams that are on the national radar, starting Thursday night at home against the Hurricanes from The U. Yes, it’s not 2000 anymore, but there aren’t many bigger “name wins” to be had. BYU has always been a highly regarded program nationally. They’ve been ranked numerous times in the last decade, and several Power Five conferences have designated them as a de facto Power Five team for scheduling mandate purposes. 3-0 Houston, who defeated our old nemesis Louisville a few weeks back (it’s still bullshit that UofL can find room on the schedule for Houston but can’t find room to play for the Keg), may very well be ranked and boasting an 8-0 record when UC visits their shiny, new stadium in early November. What a great opportunity to play spoiler and turn some heads.
And speaking of Louisville, let their 0-3 start be a cautionary tale to those of you who want Mike Bohn’s Caller ID to light up with Bob Bowlsby’s number tomorrow. The Cards opened up with losses to Auburn and Houston, and guess what was waiting for them? A visit from #11 Clemson in the conference opener (and another loss). Imagine if UC played a Big XII schedule this year with two additional strong non-conference opponents. The Bearcats could easily fall well short of bowl eligibility. Don’t get me wrong – I want to see UC end up in a Power Five league as much as the next red-blooded citizen of the Republic of Cincinnati, but I’m not sure that the wait is such a bad thing. Basketball wouldn’t be a problem, but in football, we still aren’t in a position to compete just yet. That much has been proven by UC’s struggles against Power Five teams in years past. But in addition to a cautionary tale, the plight of the now 1-3 Cardinals should reinforce the silver lining that UC didn’t start this season 0-3, and is still more than in contention for a bowl game. And we also don’t have Butch Jones coaching anymore, which is nice.
This team is still worth getting excited about. And as I’ve mentioned before, this season can now be a building block for the program without an inordinate amount of pressure being put on the players. Next year’s schedule is a bit more forgiving if we’re talking an NY6 bowl run. This young defense will become seasoned and gain big game experience, as will Hayden Moore for as long as Gunner Kiel is sidelined. Depth will be built, systems will be learned, and maybe a few big non-league wins will even be celebrated in the coming weeks. This team will get better. So see you at Nippert.