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

(12-18-2020 12:51 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  I wonder how loud 5,800 fans can be for this game. I'm sure it will sound fine on TV. Hopefully there's enough juice to give our guys an energy/morale boost.

The ones who are coming are UC diehards. They will be as loud as 5800 can be.
I fully expect to be absolutely hoarse on Sunday as I will do my part.
I would guess the stadium sound team will do their part to help too.

For those predicting a blowout tomorrow, I hope you're right but I fear you're wrong. And feel free to come back and say, "told you so" @ midnight Saturday. For Cincinnati to win a championship, I expect an intense battle, a tense "white knuckle" viewing experience, and a game hanging in the balance until the end. Keep the antacids (or defibrillators) handy.

Here's my rationale:
- Tulsa's seniors want this game every bit as much as ours do; they've had a season that flew under the radar, but just kept winning, often in the strangest of circumstances. Watching the Golden Hurricanes, they won't go down three scores and quit because they've overcome that deficit before. And this is championship football after all.
- Last season at Nippert was a close, hard fought battle to the end; their defense is for real and both lines are big by AAC standards. This isn't like shutting down an aerial show such as SMU or Memphis; these guys can play some ball control and make defensive stands.
- Rain; who knows when or how much but the weather can often be the X factor. A simple pass attempt with that wet, cold pigskin that sails through the receiver's hands can unexpectedly mean a 7 point swing. If UC struggles in the passing game after nearly a one month layoff, rushing yardage will be hard to come by against the Tulsa defense.

I wish/hope/feel UC will prevail. But I don't expect any celebratory toasts until nearly 11:30 p.m. Here's hoping I'm wrong about how the game plays out.

High school running clock rule in effect.

Check your email folks, fan info got sent out.

PARKING
For fans attending the game Saturday, parking will be available in Calhoun, Campus Green and CCM Garages. Campus Green will be available on gameday for $20 or prepaid online for $15. Calhoun and CCM Garages will be prepaid only for $20. All prepaid passes must be purchased by 11:59 PM ET on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Tailgating is not permitted.
 
Prepaid parking passes can be purchased online by CLICKING HERE.


CLEAR BAG POLICY
A clear bag policy will be in place. See the bag guidelines here.


CONCESSIONS
Concession stands will be open on both east and west concourses. Food, drinks and alcoholic beverages will be sold. Concessions will close at 10:00 PM.


MASK POLICY
All fans must wear a face covering at all times unless actively eating or drinking.

(12-18-2020 06:18 PM)Bearcat419 Wrote:  MASK POLICY
All fans must wear a face covering at all times unless actively eating or drinking.

Actually eating or drinking or Dr. Fauci eating or drinking?

(12-18-2020 06:18 PM)Bearcat419 Wrote:  Check your email folks, fan info got sent out.

PARKING
For fans attending the game Saturday, parking will be available in Calhoun, Campus Green and CCM Garages. Campus Green will be available on gameday for $20 or prepaid online for $15. Calhoun and CCM Garages will be prepaid only for $20. All prepaid passes must be purchased by 11:59 PM ET on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Tailgating is not permitted.
 
Prepaid parking passes can be purchased online by CLICKING HERE.


CLEAR BAG POLICY
A clear bag policy will be in place. See the bag guidelines here.


CONCESSIONS
Concession stands will be open on both east and west concourses. Food, drinks and alcoholic beverages will be sold. Concessions will close at 10:00 PM.


MASK POLICY
All fans must wear a face covering at all times unless actively eating or drinking.

A lot of you will proactively eliminate this mask requirement...

Tessitore and McElroy it is. Thank the Lord it's not Beth Mowins calling the play-by-play or Rod Gilmore as analyst...

Game preview from Athlon Sports...

Quote:A spot in a New Year's Six bowl game is likely on the line in this week's American Athletic Conference Championship Game. The Cincinnati Bearcats put their undefeated record on the line at home against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, whose only loss this season came on the road in their opener against Oklahoma State. Defense could be the story of the game as Cincinnati and Tulsa each try to win their first AAC title in program history.

Cincinnati's bowl outlook appears pretty straight-forward. Win this weekend at home against the Golden Hurricane, and the spot in the New Year's Six bowl lineup as the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion will belong to them. But if Tulsa wins, it remains to be seen which school will get the seat at the big bowl game table. The Sun Belt Conference canceled its conference championship game this weekend, leaving the fate of Coastal Carolina hanging in the balance. But a Tulsa victory could impress the committee enough to give them the edge over the idle Chanticleers.

The bottom line, as always? Just win this game and let the selection committee do their job. Cincinnati hopes to make it an easy decision.

When Tulsa Has the Ball
Tulsa has been getting by this season without doing anything too special on offense The offensive numbers for the Golden Hurricane float in the middle of the pack in the AAC in terms of total offense, rushing yards per game, passing yards per game, and points per game. That may be an area of concern against what has been the conference's best defense this season.

Quarterback Zach Smith must be more efficient with his arm if Tulsa is going to get a win on the road. In Tulsa's most recent game against Navy, Smith completed just 10 of 25 pass attempts for 168 yards. In his last two games, Smith's completion rate has not been greater than 40 percent, although he has not thrown an interception in either of Tulsa's last two games played after being picked off at least once in every game up to that point. Wide receiver Keylon Stokes is capable of making big plays happen if he gets his hands on the football, but Cincinnati will aim to take that away from Tulsa, as he is the Golden Hurricane's biggest offensive threat. Cincinnati defensive backs Coby Bryant and Ahmad Gardner will be active in the secondary.

When Cincinnati Has the Ball
Cincinnati should manage to control the football on the ground. Running back Gerrid Doaks is among the conference's leading rushers with an average of 82.5 yards per game and 660 total yards in eight games played this fall. He is a big reason for Cincinnati having the conference's top rushing offense. Quarterback Desmond Ridder is the other. Cincinnati's dual-threat signal-caller has rushed for 526 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns this season.

In Cincinnati's last game played, a road win over UCF, Ridder passed for 338 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 57 yards and two more scores. He has two games with more than 100 rushing yards this season too. Tulsa's defense should be up to the task, coming into this week's championship game with the second-ranked defense in the AAC (trailing only Cincinnati). This is a defense that limited Oklahoma State to 16 points and Navy to just 153 yards of offense.

Final Analysis
As good as Tulsa's defense has been, the Golden Hurricane should keep things competitive and close on the road against Cincinnati. But the Bearcats look to be poised for taking the conference crown and earning their seat at the New Year's Six party. Cincinnati has come up with impressive games all season long, including back-to-back blowout wins of SMU and Memphis and a road victory at UCF. The biggest concern for Cincinnati might be the layoff due to cancellations the past few weeks. But Cincinnati will handle business at home and start making plans for a big bowl game matchup down the line.

Prediction: Cincinnati 30, Tulsa 16

Game Preview

(12-18-2020 09:01 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Tessitore and McElroy it is. Thank the Lord it's not Beth Mowins calling the play-by-play or Rod Gilmore as analyst...

I hate Tessitore. He told the world when UC played Hawaii in 2008 that they didn't deserve to be in a BCS bowl (the year they lost to VT in Miami). McElroy is okay, I actually kind of like him.

Edit: He was with Gilmore in that game. Hate him too.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

(12-18-2020 09:59 PM)mlb Wrote:  

(12-18-2020 09:01 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Tessitore and McElroy it is. Thank the Lord it's not Beth Mowins calling the play-by-play or Rod Gilmore as analyst...

I hate Tessitore. He told the world when UC played Hawaii in 2008 that they didn't deserve to be in a BCS bowl (the year they lost to VT in Miami). McElroy is okay, I actually kind of like him.

Edit: He was with Gilmore in that game. Hate him too.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

McElroy believes if it isn’t P5 it isn’t worth watching, so am disappointed with this crew.

(12-18-2020 10:33 PM)iBinturong Wrote:  

(12-18-2020 09:59 PM)mlb Wrote:  

(12-18-2020 09:01 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Tessitore and McElroy it is. Thank the Lord it's not Beth Mowins calling the play-by-play or Rod Gilmore as analyst...

I hate Tessitore. He told the world when UC played Hawaii in 2008 that they didn't deserve to be in a BCS bowl (the year they lost to VT in Miami). McElroy is okay, I actually kind of like him.

Edit: He was with Gilmore in that game. Hate him too.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

McElroy believes if it isn’t P5 it isn’t worth watching, so am disappointed with this crew.

His talk on Sirius XM didn't used to be awful. That being said, I haven't heard him the last month or so.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

(12-18-2020 10:33 PM)iBinturong Wrote:  

(12-18-2020 09:59 PM)mlb Wrote:  

(12-18-2020 09:01 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Tessitore and McElroy it is. Thank the Lord it's not Beth Mowins calling the play-by-play or Rod Gilmore as analyst...

I hate Tessitore. He told the world when UC played Hawaii in 2008 that they didn't deserve to be in a BCS bowl (the year they lost to VT in Miami). McElroy is okay, I actually kind of like him.

Edit: He was with Gilmore in that game. Hate him too.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

McElroy believes if it isn’t P5 it isn’t worth watching, so am disappointed with this crew.

Actually McElroy just came out this week and said we were getting shafted by the committee.

Who did the GameDay guys pick? My TV froze for that segment only.

They all took UC, but almost all needed to throw in that they that it would be a close game.

It's been discussed how silly it is to have the Cincinnati vs. Georgia basketball game on at the same time as the AAC Championship game. But another thing I'm thinking is: why does ABC have our game starting at 8 when the SEC Championship game also starts at 8? Seems like it would make more sense to move it up to 7 or back to 9. Just seems silly to me.

(12-19-2020 01:49 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  It's been discussed how silly it is to have the Cincinnati vs. Georgia basketball game on at the same time as the AAC Championship game. But another thing I'm thinking is: why does ABC have our game starting at 8 when the SEC Championship game also starts at 8? Seems like it would make more sense to move it up to 7 or back to 9. Just seems silly to me.

P5 championships aren't scheduled against one another (for example B10 wouldn't air its championship the same time as the SEC championship). However, since we are not P5 we have to compete for eyeballs against a P5 championship game. It's the way it works. I should say though that the main reason why they didn't move us up is because they couldn't - ACC championship is scheduled for 4:00

(12-19-2020 02:11 PM)iBinturong Wrote:  

(12-19-2020 01:49 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  It's been discussed how silly it is to have the Cincinnati vs. Georgia basketball game on at the same time as the AAC Championship game. But another thing I'm thinking is: why does ABC have our game starting at 8 when the SEC Championship game also starts at 8? Seems like it would make more sense to move it up to 7 or back to 9. Just seems silly to me.

P5 championships aren't scheduled against one another (for example B10 wouldn't air its championship the same time as the SEC championship). However, since we are not P5 we have to compete for eyeballs against a P5 championship game. It's the way it works. I should say though that the main reason why they didn't move us up is because they couldn't - ACC championship is scheduled for 4:00

They will then use our ratings being lower than expected against us in the next negotiation...clockwork.

The B12 and B1G chip games both started at 12 noon today. A lot of folks will watch our game because they're tired of watching the same ol' top teams. Does anyone on Planet Earth believe Florida will beat Bama? Anywho, I'll take the 8 PM slot opposite the SEC chip for a night game at the Nip.

(12-19-2020 04:28 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  The B12 and B1G chip games both started at 12 noon today. A lot of folks will watch our game because they're tired of watching the same ol' top teams. Does anyone on Planet Earth believe Florida will beat Bama? Anywho, I'll take the 8 PM slot opposite the SEC chip for a night game at the Nip.

i also think that some ppl will tune in to see if the hype is real. We need a great showing to justify our ranking, tbh. Failure to do so and the narrative will definitely flip against us..

I'm more concerned about winning the game and playing on New Year's honestly. If we don't do that then the narrative will be far worse. Just win!