The unofficial online home for fans of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Thus 8/29 UCLA (ESPN)
Sat 9/7 at Ohio State
Sat 9/14 Miami Ohio
Sat 9/21 BYE
Sat 9/28 at Marshall
Fri 10/4 UCF
Sat 10/12 at Houston
Sat 10/19 Tulsa
Sat 10/26 BYE
Sat 11/2 at ECU
Sat 11/9 UConn
Sat 11/16 at USF
Sat 11/23 Temple
Fri 11/29 at Memphis

Glad to see we don't have a home game on Thanksgiving weekend for a change. The attendance for that game usually struggles due to students and others being out of town (Plus weather tends to be a factor).

Not to keen on playing UCF on a Friday night.

(02-07-2019 11:12 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Glad to see we don't have a home game on Thanksgiving weekend for a change. The attendance for that game usually struggles due to students and others being out of town (Plus weather tends to be a factor).

Not to keen on playing UCF on a Friday night.

Me neither, but at least it's a home game. Overall, I really like next year's schedule. At Houston and Memphis will be tough, and looking forward to revenge at home on Temple.

If we start 6-0 , we'll be ranked in the top 10

(02-07-2019 11:17 AM)Bearcat2012 Wrote:  If we start 6-0 , we'll be ranked in the top 10

I think just starting 2-0 would have us pretty close. I think we'll receive a few votes to start the season, and with a win at OSU I would expect us to shoot up to the 15-20 range. We have the kind of schedule that could result in a CFP appearance if everything breaks right and we run the table.

That said, I am trying to keep my expectations realistic. Last year was a soft schedule, and I am expecting this year to be much tougher. @Memphis/@Houston/Tulsa > @SMU/Navy/Tulane, @OSU replaces the FCS team, @Marshall replaces Ohio (would be a wash but it's a road game), and UCLA should be better. UCF and Temple at home is nice though. If we finish 9-3 or better, it will be a great year in my opinion given the strength of schedule.

If UCF, Houston, and Memphis all live up to expectations, and UCLA imrpoves to, say, a 7-5 win team, I think that's a playoff schedule at 12-0

In another thread, there was a link to a list of grad transfers. If I remember right, UCLA had 6 players on that list. I wonder how that will play into their competitiveness next Sept?

I remember the announcers harping on the fact that by whatever measure, UC and UCLA were two of the "youngest" teams in football. I found that interesting given the # of senior starters we had. (I don't think we had a whole lot of seniors on our roster who were not starters - aside from injury.)

(02-07-2019 11:38 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  In another thread, there was a link to a list of grad transfers. If I remember right, UCLA had 6 players on that list. I wonder how that will play into their competitiveness next Sept?

I remember the announcers harping on the fact that by whatever measure, UC and UCLA were two of the "youngest" teams in football. I found that interesting given the # of senior starters we had. (I don't think we had a whole lot of seniors on our roster who were not starters - aside from injury.)

I assume the UCLA number was players transferring out of the program?

(02-07-2019 11:38 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  In another thread, there was a link to a list of grad transfers. If I remember right, UCLA had 6 players on that list. I wonder how that will play into their competitiveness next Sept?

I remember the announcers harping on the fact that by whatever measure, UC and UCLA were two of the "youngest" teams in football. I found that interesting given the # of senior starters we had. (I don't think we had a whole lot of seniors on our roster who were not starters - aside from injury.)

UCLA got more competitive as the season went on and it was Chip Kelly's first season. I expect them to be improved this year.

(02-07-2019 11:38 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  In another thread, there was a link to a list of grad transfers. If I remember right, UCLA had 6 players on that list. I wonder how that will play into their competitiveness next Sept?

I remember the announcers harping on the fact that by whatever measure, UC and UCLA were two of the "youngest" teams in football. I found that interesting given the # of senior starters we had. (I don't think we had a whole lot of seniors on our roster who were not starters - aside from injury.)

There's 85 scholarship players on a roster plus walk-ons. We only had around 10-12 Seniors. The junior class was small as well. The rest of the roster comprised of freshmen and sophomores.

(02-07-2019 12:37 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 11:38 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  In another thread, there was a link to a list of grad transfers. If I remember right, UCLA had 6 players on that list. I wonder how that will play into their competitiveness next Sept?

I remember the announcers harping on the fact that by whatever measure, UC and UCLA were two of the "youngest" teams in football. I found that interesting given the # of senior starters we had. (I don't think we had a whole lot of seniors on our roster who were not starters - aside from injury.)

UCLA got more competitive as the season went on and it was Chip Kelly's first season. I expect them to be improved this year.

Yeah, but they're not used to playing away games in cold weather cities.

Surely it will be below 20 degrees by August 29, ...right?

(02-07-2019 12:37 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 11:38 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  In another thread, there was a link to a list of grad transfers. If I remember right, UCLA had 6 players on that list. I wonder how that will play into their competitiveness next Sept?

I remember the announcers harping on the fact that by whatever measure, UC and UCLA were two of the "youngest" teams in football. I found that interesting given the # of senior starters we had. (I don't think we had a whole lot of seniors on our roster who were not starters - aside from injury.)

UCLA got more competitive as the season went on and it was Chip Kelly's first season. I expect them to be improved this year.

They started winning when Speight came back from injury. They finished 3-9-- one of those wins was by 1 point. His eligibility is now up. I wasn't that impressed by Thompson-Robinson, but then again he was a true freshman last year.

(02-07-2019 01:00 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 12:37 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 11:38 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  In another thread, there was a link to a list of grad transfers. If I remember right, UCLA had 6 players on that list. I wonder how that will play into their competitiveness next Sept?

I remember the announcers harping on the fact that by whatever measure, UC and UCLA were two of the "youngest" teams in football. I found that interesting given the # of senior starters we had. (I don't think we had a whole lot of seniors on our roster who were not starters - aside from injury.)

UCLA got more competitive as the season went on and it was Chip Kelly's first season. I expect them to be improved this year.

They started winning when Speight came back from injury. They finished 3-9-- one of those wins was by 1 point. His eligibility is now up. I wasn't that impressed by Thompson-Robinson, but then again he was a true freshman last year.

We went from 4 wins in our coaches first year to 11 last year. I don't know much about UCLAs roster but I'd expect Chip Kelly will have them competitive next year.

(02-07-2019 01:07 PM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 01:00 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 12:37 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 11:38 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  In another thread, there was a link to a list of grad transfers. If I remember right, UCLA had 6 players on that list. I wonder how that will play into their competitiveness next Sept?

I remember the announcers harping on the fact that by whatever measure, UC and UCLA were two of the "youngest" teams in football. I found that interesting given the # of senior starters we had. (I don't think we had a whole lot of seniors on our roster who were not starters - aside from injury.)

UCLA got more competitive as the season went on and it was Chip Kelly's first season. I expect them to be improved this year.

They started winning when Speight came back from injury. They finished 3-9-- one of those wins was by 1 point. His eligibility is now up. I wasn't that impressed by Thompson-Robinson, but then again he was a true freshman last year.

We went from 4 wins in our coaches first year to 11 last year. I don't know much about UCLAs roster but I'd expect Chip Kelly will have them competitive next year.

Oh don't get me wrong-- it could happen. Thompson-Robinson's athleticism fits Kelly's scheme better than Will Speight. Could be comparable spark to Desmond Ridder taking over for Hayden Moore. I'm just saying if they are improved it will be from work put in this off season, not that they got any better last year during the regular season.

We'll see noticeable improvement in UCLA in year two if Kelly is worth his salary, and I think he is. Nippert will provide a distinct advantage week one but I think we're ahead of our skis if we consider either of those first two games as certain wins.

UC should have an opportunity to set a single season Nippert attendance record. Especially if the 'Cats are playing well and winning. No reason not to sell out at least three of these four: UCLA, Miami (OH), UCF and Temple. A sold out Nippert is a sight to behold on national TV.

For the future, UC should pursue more home and home opportunities with the Pac 12. Big brand P5 schools that should be a draw for our fans and valuable exposure in the eastern recruiting grounds for them.

This year's team could be better than last year's, and still very easily begin the year 0-2. Oh well, I'd rather have a shot at the big boys and come up short than settle for easy wins against G5 and FCS opponents.

(02-07-2019 01:07 PM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 01:00 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 12:37 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 11:38 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  In another thread, there was a link to a list of grad transfers. If I remember right, UCLA had 6 players on that list. I wonder how that will play into their competitiveness next Sept?

I remember the announcers harping on the fact that by whatever measure, UC and UCLA were two of the "youngest" teams in football. I found that interesting given the # of senior starters we had. (I don't think we had a whole lot of seniors on our roster who were not starters - aside from injury.)

UCLA got more competitive as the season went on and it was Chip Kelly's first season. I expect them to be improved this year.

They started winning when Speight came back from injury. They finished 3-9-- one of those wins was by 1 point. His eligibility is now up. I wasn't that impressed by Thompson-Robinson, but then again he was a true freshman last year.

We went from 4 wins in our coaches first year to 11 last year. I don't know much about UCLAs roster but I'd expect Chip Kelly will have them competitive next year.

I didn't investigate, but I did see a tweet talking about how badly UCLA is struggling on recruiting trail (not that it matters much for next year's game). Apparently they lost a guy they were waiting on to a PWO offer from Washington. Maybe the Chip Kelly revivial isn't going quite as well as planned?

(02-07-2019 11:34 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  If UCF, Houston, and Memphis all live up to expectations, and UCLA imrpoves to, say, a 7-5 win team, I think that's a playoff schedule at 12-0

I think so too. Even if we're wrong I'd still love to find out for sure!

(02-07-2019 11:02 AM)Bearcat2012 Wrote:  Thus 8/29 UCLA (ESPN)
Sat 9/7 at Ohio State
Sat 9/14 Miami Ohio
Sat 9/21 BYE
Sat 9/28 at Marshall
Fri 10/4 UCF
Sat 10/12 at Houston
Sat 10/19 Tulsa
Sat 10/26 BYE
Sat 11/2 at ECU
Sat 11/9 UConn
Sat 11/16 at USF
Sat 11/23 Temple
Fri 11/29 at Memphis

Damn that is brutal! We're going to have to earn our stripes this coming season. If we come out of that gauntlet with at least 8 wins I'd be happy. 9 wins or more I'll be euphoric.

(02-07-2019 11:02 AM)Bearcat2012 Wrote:  Thus 8/29 UCLA (ESPN)
Sat 9/7 at Ohio State ROAD TRIP
Sat 9/14 Miami Ohio
Sat 9/21 BYE
Sat 9/28 at Marshall ROAD TRIP
Fri 10/4 UCF
Sat 10/12 at Houston
Sat 10/19 Tulsa
Sat 10/26 BYE
Sat 11/2 at ECU ROAD TRIP
Sat 11/9 UConn
Sat 11/16 at USF PLANE TRIP
Sat 11/23 Temple
Fri 11/29 at Memphis ROAD TRIP