BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: GAME #4 CINCINNATI

September 26, 2008


The Cincinnati Bearcats continue to tune-up for the Big East portion of their schedule when they travel to in-state foe Akron for a Saturday afternoon match-up. The Zips already own one win over the Big East as they won at Syracuse, 42-28, earlier in September.

The Bearcats enter the match-up 2-1 with easy home wins over Eastern Kentucky and Miami (OH). Their lone loss was a 52-26 blasting at nationally ranked Oklahoma.

Akron evened their record at 2-2 last week with a win over Army, 22-3. The Zips have fallen to Wisconsin on the road and a very good Ball State squad at home, along with their win in the Dome to get them to 2-2.

The latest College Football Odds list Cincinnati as a 10 1/2 point favorite over Akron. This seems to be a little too much of a spot for us to back Cincinnati. The Bearcats are a better team with more important games a head, but expect them to see a spirited Akron team that will have some confidence with their win over Syracuse, although that shouldn't count for much.

Prediction:

Cincinnati 33
Akron 24

BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: GAME #3 CINCINNATI

September 19, 2008


The Cincinnati Bearcats have had some time to regroup following their 56-26 road loss to Oklahoma back on September 6th. This Saturday evening they will welcome in-state rival Miami of Ohio out of the MAC to town for an out of conference match-up.

The Bearcats hung around against the Sooners for a little bit, trailing 28-20 after a 97-yard kickoff return TD from Marshawn Gilyard, but they could not stop the OU attack as the Sooners rolled to 592 yards of offense, including 395 in the air, and 24 straight points put the game away.

Miami (OH) got their first win of the season last weekend by defeating Charleston Southern 38-27. The win followed a 34-13 home loss to Vanderbilt to open the season and a 16-6 loss at Michigan. Now, they take to the road as a large undedog to face the Bearcats.

The Online Sportsbook is showing UC as an 11 and a half point favorite and the number looks pretty good if your planning to back the Bearcats. In our opinion, UC should be able to win by a couple touchdowns on their home field.


Prediction:

Cincinnati 27
Miami (OH) 14

BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: WEEK #2 CINCINNATI

September 5, 2008


Brian Kelly's Cincinnati Bearcats got off on the right foot this season by opening with a 40-7 romp over Eastern Kentucky. Dustin Grutza picked up where Ben Mauk left off, completing 21 of 28 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns as he directed the offense as it piled up 557 total yards. In week #2, the competition is tougher, much tougher.

The Bearcats will hit the road and meet the Oklahoma Sooners out in Norman (OK). The Sooners are coming off an 11-3 season where they earned a BCS bid and opened their 2008 season with a 57-2 drubbing of Chattanooga in a game that was 50-0 at halftime! OU outgained the Chattanooga 487-36 and allowed just ONE first down in the contest.

Sports Betting houses have installed Oklahoma as a 21-point favorite in this contest and they definitely look like the better team by quite a bit. It is really hard to guage how good either team is after the competition they faced in their opening week wins, but the home team figures to have a distinct advantage in this set-up.


This is a great test for Cincinnati to see where they stack up nationally. However, this game was seemingly scheduled more for financial gain rather than a learning tool, so I do expect the Sooners to lay it on pretty good in this one with an explosive offense and dominating defense.

Prediction:

Oklahoma 45
Cincinnati 20