9 more days until the Bearcats kickoff against Toledo. To get even more pumped for the season, Bearcats Blog is going to countdown the top 9 games of the season. This is a list that doesn’t need any kind of explanation, but there is one coming. I have ranked the games using the following 1-5 scale: excitement, hype, revenge, watchablity.
Missed the Cut
vs Miami University – September 20
at SMU – October 18
at Tulane – October 31
These games missed the cut for the following reasons:
Miami – terrible. New coach but they are still awful. Plus, the game is going to be internet only I’m assuming and that ruins the watchability.
SMU – I watched SMU against Baylor and holy hell they are horrible. That game doesn’t seem very interesting. Kind of like SMU in general.
Tulane – Hello, Tulane, nice to see you again. Nice to take wins against you for granted again.
#9 – At Connecticut – November 22
Excitement: 1
Hype: 1
Revenge Factor: 3
Watchability: 1
Total: 6
Fact: every football game played at Connecticut looks like the most boring and meaningless game in the world. UConn has had good teams in the past. They’ve put players in the NFL. They have also never played an interesting home game. The revenge factor accounts for AAC tournament rage. They grabbed the net, dammit.
#8 – Houston – December 6
Excitement: 1
Hype: 3
Revenge Factor: 1
Watchability: 2
Total: 7
The hype for this game is because it’s Senior Day on December 6. The last home game for all of the players who have given their lives to the program for the last 4 or more seasons. It’s also a game that could end up being important, depending how the season goes. Houston itself looked terrible in the season opening humiliation against UTSA, but were entertainingly terrible. They could be decent but eh. I’m not an O’Korn fan.
#7 – at Temple – November 29
Excitement: 2
Hype: 2
Revenge Factor: 1
Watchability: 3
Total: 8
I’m pretty excited by this Temple team. I really like PJ Walker. I think Temple has some feisty in them this season. The way the Owls took it to Vanderbilt made it seem like they wouldn’t be a pushover. Watchability is ranked as a 5 because it’s late November and there could be snow. This the last road game of the year so maybe we see one of those games Temple pulls out all the stops like they did last year against UCF.
#6 – Memphis – October 4
Excitement: 3
Hype: 3
Revenge Factor: 1
Watchability: 3
Total: 10
The week after Ohio State and the week before Miami brings an interesting trap game challenge in the form of the Memphis Tigers. Memphis gave the Bearcats a tough game down in Memphis last season, the Tigers should be better this season. Memphis didn’t play anyone week 1, but it did take care of business, which is something that Memphis hasn’t done lately. This is a perfectly cromulent game.
#5 – South Florida – October 24
Excitement: 2
Hype: 2
Revenge Factor: 4
Watchability: 3
Total: 11
Cincinnati and South Florida traded blowouts for most of the series, but 3 of the last 4 years have had some close games. Of course what shoots USF up the list is last year’s game, which Cincinnati somehow lost. USF has never defeated Cincinnati in back to back seasons. I think feel like it will happen this year. I didn’t think it would happen last year either so what do I know? What do any of us know? Also, this game is smack dab in the middle of SMU, USF and Tulane, which could be the worst 3 game run of the season. According to this list, it is.
#4 – Toledo – September 12
Excitement: 5
Hype: 4
Revenge Factor: 4
Watchability: 2
Total: 15
The season opener gets a lot of boosts in excitement and hype since we have been looking forward to this game seemingly forever. The fact it’s 9 days away sucks a lot. The revenge is high because Toledo beat Cincinnati in 2012. They beat Cincinnati right before the Bearcats could have been undefeated and playing undefeated Louisville. It was a moment ruiner. This is the game that we are looking forward to because it’s the first. But it’s not the most important home game.
#3 – East Carolina – November 13
Excitement: 5
Hype: 5
Revenge Factor: 1
Watchability: 5
Total: 16
This is the home game to circle on your calender. The preseason favorite against the chic pick to win the league, East Carolina. The Pirates have the best quarterback in the league with Shane Carden. Cincinnati has one of the most intriguing in Gunner Kiel. This is by far the best team that will come to Cincinnati this year, on paper at least. This is a Thursday night ESPN game. All the recipes are here for a great game. The only thing missing is the revenge factor. The teams haven’t played since 2004. While Cincinnati is only 5-12 against ECU, UC has won the last 3 meetings.
#2 – Miami – October 11
Excitement: 5
Hype: 5
Revenge Factor: 3
Watchability: 4
Total: 17
This game got more exciting and more hype behind it after Monday night when Miami lost. This looks like a game that Cincinnati can go to Miami and win. If you have looked at the series history between Cincinnati and Miami, it looks like this:
38-12
56-0
57-3
48-10
45-13
38-0
49-25
Cincinnati has been nothing but a punching bag to Miami. The only meeting Cincinnati won was in 1947. The Bearcats played, and lost, to all the great Miami teams of the 80s. I think Miami is owed one.
#1 – Ohio State – September 27
Excitement: 5
Hype: 5
Revenge Factor: 5
Watchability: 5
Total: 20
One letter and seven words: f dash dash dash THE Ohio State University.
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