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The Cincinnati Bearcats are set to play in first power five matchup of the 2021 college football season on September 18th, 2021, against the Indiana Hoosiers.
Overview
One of the biggest surprises of the 2020 year, Indiana reached top 25 status and a near appearance in a New Year’s Six Bowl last season. The Hoosiers were only a few missed opportunities away from upsetting the Ohio State Buckeyes and having a chance to compete for the Big Ten championship.
This year has seen a bit of a rocky road for the program thus far. IU lost on the road at Kinnick Stadium to Iowa — a place just about nobody wants to play in — but they bounced with ease last week vs Idaho State. Saturday’s matchup will serve as perhaps the most important turning of the season for Michael Penix Jr. and co.
Cincinnati, meanwhile, dropped one spot in the AP Poll this week after being jumped by a pair of teams that garnered top ten wins last Saturday (Iowa and Oregon). The Bearcats still sit at No. 8 and possess a golden chance at breaking through the top five IF they manage to finish up their OOC slate on the highest note possible.
- Kickoff: 12:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 18th 2021
- Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana
- Television/Stream: ESPN
- Online: WatchESPN.com/ESPN
- Television Announcing Crew: Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst), and Tom Luginbill (sideline reporter).
- Radio: 700-AM WLW/ Sirius 211 / XM 202 / Internet 970 / tunein for mobile devices
- Radio Announcing Crew: Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Jim Kelly Jr. (analyst)
- Series History: Indiana leads the series history with a record of 9-3-2. The teams last faced off on September 23, 2000, in a game that saw the Bearcats falter 42-6.
Odds
The current odds for Cincinnati’s matchup against Indiana stands at (-4.5) in favor of the Bearcats. Both teams currently clock in at 1-1 ATS, with the Hoosiers failing to cover in a blowout loss to Iowa but beating the odds in their second matchup vs Idaho State.
Indiana is 3-9-1 ATS in their last 13 as a home underdog. Their adversary, on the other hand, rolls into Saturday at 6-2 in their last eight against non conference opponents.
And finally, the over/under currently stands at 49.5