How College Football Fans Perceive the Cincinnati Bearcats

Have you ever wondered what other schools truly think about Cincinnati Bearcats football? And how fans across college football view Cincinnati? I have often wondered. That’s why I investigated further, but asking fellow SB Nation college football bloggers to share their opinions on the Bearcats.

College football bloggers were sent two questions - “when you see or hear about Cincinnati Bearcats football, you think of [blank]” and “Do you have any opinion of Cincinnati football at all?”

Chris Hachfeld of the Daily Gopher says

UC is a program that I always hope can get over the hump and stay there. That used to mean I hoped they could grab another great coach and keep winning whenever their success meant a P5 team would swoop in and grab the current coach. Now, it means I hope UC finds a way to land a spot in a P5 conference one day. I’ve always enjoyed following the Bearcats, in addition to the Gophers, and always hope they are as successful as possible (so long as that success never comes at Minnesota’s expense of course).

For context, Chris spent his life as a fan of the Minnesota Gophers but lives in Cincy and has many friends who are longtime fans/alums of the school.

He added -

I have fond memories of watching Cincy beat Pitt in that 2009 thriller. I love going to games at UC and think Nippert Stadium is a great example of a college football stadium.

I tend to agree with Chris. I think Nippert Stadium is a great example of a college football stadium. It’s better than Heinz Field (since he mentioned Pitt).

Zach Mason, who covers Texas Tech for Viva the Matadors saw Cincinnati influence the future of his team.

Texas Tech fans probably didn’t know or care much about Cincinnati until Tommy Tuberville left us out to dry. He was a decent recruiter and a good coach, but Tech fans didn’t care about that. They just didn’t like how much he hated Lubbock. So anyways, I think a lot of Tech fans didn’t like Cincy much at all for a few months, but that quickly dissipated when Tech hired a local legend in Kliff Kingsbury. I think most Red Raiders went back to forgetting Cincy existed after that.

When asked specifically, if he has any opinion of the football program, Zach said:

Cincinnati will always make me think of basketball first, but I know the football program is respectable. I think y’all have a great coach running your program, but I also see Cincy as a stepping stone school as well, and that if he has another great season (which seems likely), he’ll be gone after this year. I have no knowledge whether that’s true or not. Just an outsider’s perspective. I know Cincy has been trying to get into the Big 12 as well. I don’t think a lot of current Big 12 fans think the Bearcats are worthy, but I think over time y’all could become a real problem in the Big 12 as the only school in Ohio and in a town that’s actually interesting and has more than 50k people in it. The next five years will be very interesting for realignment, but if y’all end up in a power-conference, i think that would eventually make Cincy a destination job.

Cincinnati has never played Virginia in football, but Paul Wiley from Virginia’s Streaking the Lawn had a couple of thoughts.

When asked what he thinks about when he hears Cincinnati football -

Brian Kelly, Munchie Legaux beating Virginia Tech in 2012, Gunner Kiel’s perma-concussions, and not having a practice field.

Well, glad UVA fans were watching us beat the Hokies all those years ago in DC, but odd he didn’t reference last year’s win. I will let Paul know that the Bearcats do in fact have a practice field now and it’s an awesome giant bubble on the outskirt of campus.

He also says -

“It’s a program that has historic bouts of success to stand on, a track record of launching coaches to elite jobs, and a home recruiting footprint that’s still pretty lucrative. I think of it as a program that should be among the top tier of G5 teams on an annual basis. Plus black and red unis are [bleeping] sweet.”

Black and red unis are definitely sweet (definitely isn’t the bleeping word above though).

Drew Hamm from Bucky’s 5th Quarter, covering the Wisconsin Badgers says:

As a fan on the Wisconsin Badgers, I think about the series in 1999 and 2000 between our two teams. That loss in 1999 still annoys me. I also think about Munchie Legaux because he has an awesome name and he was an awesome player.

I am a big fan of Cincinnati as a city and would like to visit Rheingeist Brewery again.

The game Drew is reference from 1999, was when Cincinnati (who lost to a division 1-AA team that week prior), upset the 9th ranked Badgers, led by Heisman winning RB Ron Dayne, who ran for over 200 yards in the loss.

Erik covers Alabama for Roll Bama Roll

Cincinnati is my AAC Large Adult Son. Historically, they’re the Ohio River Southern Miss: a traditionally strong mid-major that can ruin seasons.

His thoughts on the specific football team:

I basically had ranked them all last season in our poll, and I think they face Memphis in the AAC title game this season.

RBR - Respect, Bama. Respect.

Jon Morse writes about Kansas State for Bring on the Cats.

Jon was quick to bring up the old basketball rivalry but did have some football-related thoughts too.

Hey, we beat y’all that one time on a last-second TD catch by Kevin Lockett.

Jon is referring to a 1995 game at Nippert Stadium, where Kansas State won 23-21. They won again the next year, blanking the Bearcats 35-0 in 1996.

Seriously, I think Cincinnati got screwed the hardest by the last realignment; they were the best football program left out of the P5 when the music stopped, and a lot of worse programs got to stay.

Agreed. Cincinnati definitely got screwed by realignment.

Ohio State writer Matt Tamanini of Land-Grant Holy Land:

I would say that until a few years ago, you wouldn’t find many Ohio State fans that had many nice things to say about the Bearcats. However, with the hiring of Luke Fickell, I get the feeling that most Buckeye fans actually have developed a respect for he is building at UC.

I will say, this was very evident when I was in Columbus week 2. Most fans were complimentary and wanted to engage in conversations around Fickell and the future of the program. Much different feeling from 2015, when the fans were much less kind.

Nathan Bond of Daily Stampede, covering Cincy’s rival USF in the AAC, kept his thoughts short and sweet.

[Bleep] Zach Collaros.

Quite understandable view point here, from Nathan, who clearly has nightmares from that famous touchdown run in 2009.

Benjamin Tankersley of Georgia Tech’s From the Rumble Seat has a fun experience with Cincinnati.

When I think of Cincinnati Football, I think of when I used to play with them in NCAA Football. Since they weren’t a major power, they were normally a fun team to start with to build up.

Weird. When I used to play with Cincinnati, they suddenly became a major power. I’m pretty sure I once made like 10 straight National Championships.

Lindsey Piper of Red Cup Rebellion (Ole Miss) says,

When I think of Bearcat football, I think of black uniforms, Thursday night games, and you’re probably in a good position to compete for the AAC title every year, because its like y’all, Houston, Memphis, and UCF then some directional schools and maybe a couple schools that will end its football programs to save money?

I love the accidental subtle jab at UConn by Lindsey at the end here. Well done!