College football upset alert No. 3: Cincinnati Bearcats
Rank: 7 | Opponent: Memphis Tigers | Time: Saturday, Oct. 31, Noon ET
Coming into the 2020 college football season, the Cincinnati Bearcats were considered one of the best contenders out of the Group of 5 to potentially make a run at a spot in the CFP. They would obviously have to avoid every upset bid from a loaded AAC and otherwise for that to happen. And to this point, Luke Fickell’s team has been able to do that.
At the end of September, the Bearcats faced a stout Army defense and the triple-option offense and shut them down in a 24-10 win. Then last week, they thwarted a previously unbeaten SMU team by shutting down the Mustangs offense and then pushing ahead at the end of the game for a 42-13 win. Put simply, this offense is talented and the defense is for real.
While that may be true, one thing we’ve seen many times throughout the years is that great Group of 5 defenses can be pushed to the brink by experienced and talented offenses. That’s why a matchup with Brady White and the Memphis Tigers in Week 9 puts the upset alert alarms blaring. Because even at 3-1 with some close calls, this is a team that knows who they are and can challenge Memphis.
Memphis took it to Cincinnati twice last season and, while Mike Norvell is gone for Tallahassee, the Tigers have much of the same personnel and the same philosophy. Does that mean the results will stay the same? Maybe not. But it does mean that the Tigers have a legitimate shot of knocking off a top-10 team on Saturday.