Cincinnati 49 Memphis 10

[nkypete]

It won't happen, but I'd love a New Year's Day matchup with Notre Dame for UC.  Facing Kelly would be a fantastic storyline!  A ND loss to Clemson would help this scenario - a one loss ND versus a undefeated Cincy.

[GrantNKY]

 

1 hour ago, TheDeuce said:

How is UC right now different than UCF was in the past few season?

2020 is a weird year. Haha plus it’s not like those UCF teams were bad. There isn’t much difference between them and UC this year. I’m not trying to claim that UC can compete with the top 4, I just don’t think anyone else is really any good outside of the top 4. The way I see it the top 3 schools could go in any order. There is a decent step down from those schools to Notre Dame and a pretty big gap after Notre Dame and everyone else. Everyone else has major flaws so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to put UC right there in the mix as the best of the rest considering their dominance on both sides of the ball. 

[GrantNKY]

1 hour ago, John Anthony said:

I might have to go with @TheDeuce on this one. Or better yet, what would the score be if UC played those schools?  Would OSU win 42-0 again, no?  But would OSU win by 18-21, very possible?

I don’t think they can keep it close with those 4 schools, I just think they are as good or better than everyone else. The consensus number 5 team is Georgia it appears. Georgia/UC would be a very, very good matchup imo. 

[GrantNKY]

1 hour ago, nkypete said:

It won't happen, but I'd love a New Year's Day matchup with Notre Dame for UC.  Facing Kelly would be a fantastic storyline!  A ND loss to Clemson would help this scenario - a one loss ND versus a undefeated Cincy.

ND and Clemson are likely to play twice so it would most likely be a two loss ND. But this is definitely the matchup I’m rooting to happen come Bowl season. 

[Walter]

1 hour ago, TheDeuce said:

How is UC right now different than UCF was in the past few season?

They actually have a defense, for starters. This roster is also way deeper with more talent than those UCF teams. UC has recruited at a much higher level than the rest of the league since Fick got to UC... You're starting to see the results.

There's high 3* and 4* kids running scout team right now from the best class in program history because of the level of talent in front of them.

I think you're seriously underestimating UC simply because of conference affiliation. 

[TheDeuce]

25 minutes ago, Walter said:

They actually have a defense, for starters. This roster is also way deeper with more talent than those UCF teams. UC has recruited at a much higher level than the rest of the league since Fick got to UC... You're starting to see the results.

There's high 3* and 4* kids running scout team right now from the best class in program history because of the level of talent in front of them.

I think you're seriously underestimating UC simply because of conference affiliation. 

UC is good. That's easy to see. But they will suffer, in terms of perception, from the same thing UCF did, a schedule full of nobodies. 

There's nothing that says they should be ranked any higher than they are. At least not yet. 

[Walter]

4 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

UC is good. That's easy to see. But they will suffer, in terms of perception, from the same thing UCF did, a schedule full of nobodies. 

There's nothing that says they should be ranked any higher than they are. At least not yet. 

It's a weird year for sure. If ever a time for UC to have the team they have, it's this year. UC is benefiting right now from having 3 "top 26" wins. Army (#22), SMU (#16), and Memphis (first team in ARV when they beat them) are all seen as good wins by those voting in the rankings. They are also benefiting from other conferences/teams beating up on one another and losing to allow them to move up. 

I don't think UC is on the same level as the top 4, but I can't be convinced they couldn't play with and beat anyone else ranked in the top 10. Final 3 road games for UC to close out the year will tell us a lot more about them. I think they roll past Houston and ECU the next two weeks at home.

[John Anthony]

2 hours ago, Walter said:

It's a weird year for sure. If ever a time for UC to have the team they have, it's this year. UC is benefiting right now from having 3 "top 26" wins. Army (#22), SMU (#16), and Memphis (first team in ARV when they beat them) are all seen as good wins by those voting in the rankings. They are also benefiting from other conferences/teams beating up on one another and losing to allow them to move up. 

I don't think UC is on the same level as the top 4, but I can't be convinced they couldn't play with and beat anyone else ranked in the top 10. Final 3 road games for UC to close out the year will tell us a lot more about them. I think they roll past Houston and ECU the next two weeks at home.

Very fair, I think UC is a bonafide top 6-12 team and could beat anyone in that range.

[GrantNKY]

Chaos is always a possibility and it could happen to any of the top 3 team although that seems unlikely. Assuming the top 3 schools handle their business, that leaves Notre Dame with 2 losses, Georgia and Florida with 2 losses, the Big 12 has probably taken themselves out of contention with Ok States loss to Texas. That 4th spot will be really interesting if UC and BYU continue to handle business, Texas A&M wins out, and the PAC 12 also kicks off this weekend. How do you decide? UC would likely have just as good of a case or better than anyone at that point. 

[gchs_uk9]

18 hours ago, GrantNKY said:

I don’t think they can keep it close with those 4 schools, I just think they are as good or better than everyone else. The consensus number 5 team is Georgia it appears. Georgia/UC would be a very, very good matchup imo. 

Quite possibly could see a Georgia/Cincinnati matchup in the Peach Bowl. 

[TheDeuce]

13 hours ago, Walter said:

I don't think UC is on the same level as the top 4, but I can't be convinced they couldn't play with and beat anyone else ranked in the top 10. 

While it wouldn't shock me to see UC beat anyone 5-10, at all, I think they are probably a Top 15 team, not Top 5. JMO. 

[GrantNKY]

23 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

While it wouldn't shock me to see UC beat anyone 5-10, at all, I think they are probably a Top 15 team, not Top 5. JMO. 

I don’t necessarily disagree but I think you could probably take the entire top 15 and they could all beat each other. Georgia has a horrible offense, UC is balanced but suffers from being in AAC, A&M is just a solid team but doesn’t do any one thing particularly great, Florida can’t play defense, BYU same story as UC, Wisconsin looked great week 1 but still question marks because of Covid, Miami got shellacked by Clemson, Oregon hasn’t played yet but is replacing their QB, Indiana is Indiana, Oklahoma State just lost to Texas, and Coastal Carolina while playing well, is a roster full of guys UC wouldn’t have even looked at in recruiting. Only reason I’m arguing for UC in this case is because their question marks are really out of their control with regards to their schedule. If UC continues to handle business, the committee will have probably their toughest task yet deciding who the 4th team is. 

[GrantNKY]

42 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Quite possibly could see a Georgia/Cincinnati matchup in the Peach Bowl. 

Id personally rather see a Notre Dame matchup in the Fiesta Bowl as opposed to UC having to essentially play a road game at Georgia in the peach bowl. 

[TheDeuce]

2 minutes ago, GrantNKY said:

I don’t necessarily disagree but I think you could probably take the entire top 15 and they could all beat each other.

Most likely, I'd say you're right. 

 

2 minutes ago, GrantNKY said:

If UC continues to handle business, the committee will have probably their toughest task yet deciding who the 4th team is. 

I don't think it will really be all that tough for them. An undefeated UC is not getting in over a 1-loss P5 team. 

[GrantNKY]

5 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

Most likely, I'd say you're right. 

 

I don't think it will really be all that tough for them. An undefeated UC is not getting in over a 1-loss P5 team. 

Depends who that one loss P5 team. If it’s an SEC, B1G, or ND then it’s an easy decision. Especially with ND because they would have to have beaten Clemson if they only had 1 loss. But I think it’d be very difficult to put a 1 loss Big 12 school in over UC with how bad that conference has looked and with how poorly they performed as a whole out of conference. Plus even an undefeated Pac 12 team will only have played 6 games and I think even that’s a debate that will be tough because of the number of games played. The way it sits right now if chalk holds up with Clemson, Bama, and OSU the only possible power 5 teams besides the PAC 12 and Big 12 with one loss would be Wiscy and A&M. I think A&M likely gets in over UC in that scenario but I don’t think it’s set in stone.