Cincinnati Football: Bowl projections point to potential Fenway Bowl berth

There’s only 81 days until the season starts against Arkansas and the Bearcats quest for a third consecutive conference championship begins. Cincinnati is hoping to reach another New Year’s Six bowl but those expectations are too high according to a pair of recently published bowl projections.

Cincinnati Football: Bowl projections point to potential Fenway Bowl berth

College Football News released a series of post-spring bowl projections and the latest edition has Cincinnati taking on Boston College in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl on Saturday, December 17, 2022. The Boston-based bowl was expected to debut last season but was canceled due to pandemic concerns. SMU and Virginia were originally scheduled to play last December.

In the only matchup between the two programs, Desmond Ridder and Michael Warren II led the Bearcats to a blowout over Boston College in the 2019 Birmingham Bowl. Ridder totaled 200 yards and four touchdowns in the 38-6 win to cap off an 11-3 season and secure a second straight bowl victory.

Cincinnati Football: Bowl projections point to potential Fenway Bowl berth

247 Sports is also predicting Cincinnati will settle for a Fenway Bowl berth but the opponent is a different ACC school. Even though the Bearcats are mentioned as New Year’s Six contenders alongside Coastal Carolina and Houston, the projections point to Virginia as another potential postseason challenger. It would be the first ever matchup against the Cavaliers.

Both publications picked Houston to represent the Group of Five in the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame or Texas A&M. 247 Sports and College Football News also agreed on a projected national championship game between Alabama and Ohio State. The other playoff teams included were Clemson, Georgia, USC and Utah.