Cincinnati Football: Bearcats remain on the verge of being ranked

Following the blowout over Kennesaw State, the Bearcats remained on the verge of earning a spot in the Associated Press and Coaches Poll. With a few more wins before conference play begins, Luke Fickell’s team could reenter the weekly rankings.

In the recently updated Associated Press Poll, the Bearcats received 80 votes and are unofficially tied for #27 with Appalachian State. Marshall moved up to #26 after pulling off an upset at Notre Dame.

Georgia (53), Alabama (9) and Ohio State (1) picked up first place votes in the latest Associated Press, followed by Michigan, Clemson, Oklahoma, USC, Oklahoma State, Kentucky and #10 Arkansas.

If Cincinnati can continue to build momentum and string together a few victories, it should be enough to secure a spot. The Bearcats should benefit from losing to such a highly ranked team in Arkansas.

Cincinnati Football: Bearcats remain on the verge of being ranked

Despite nearly being upset by unranked Texas, the Coaches Poll kept Alabama atop the rankings and ahead of Georgia. The remaining top-10 teams are Ohio State, Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, USC, Michigan State and Kentucky.

Cincinnati received 80 votes in the most recent Coaches Poll and are right on the heels of Florida State. After beating Cincinnati in the season opener, Arkansas moved up to #11 in the Coaches Poll.

As the Bearcats attempt to clinch a third consecutive New Year’s Six bowl berth, one of the competitors for the Group of Five representative is BYU. It’s very likely both future Big 12 members could compete for a coveted bowl game after the regular season.

BYU made a significant jump in both polls following an overtime win over Baylor and could continue to climb with a trip to Oregon this week. Houston was the only other AAC team alongside Cincinnati to receive votes after a narrow loss at Texas Tech.