Rumor has it that Syracuse will play at Louisville on Thanksgiving weekend during the Big East's Rivalry Week. This will leave Cincinnati to play South Florida in Tampa instead to finish our season.

Apparently, our loss to Louisville has convinced the powers that we are not a worthy end of season matchup for UL.

Looking at the schedules as they are currently known, and looking at the available dates and who needs to play who home and away, I project the following conference schedule for 2005.

9/3
WVU at SYR

10/8
CT at CIN
SFL at PIT
RUT at SYR

10/15
CIN at PIT
LOU at RUT
SYR at CT
WVU at SFL

10/22
PIT at RUT
SFL at LOU
WVU at CIN

10/29
CIN at SYR
LOU at WVU
SFL at CT
Navy at RUT

11/5
LOU at CT
RUT at SFL
SYR at PIT

11/12
CIN at RUT
CT at WVU
PIT at LOU
SFL at SYR

11/19
CT at PIT
LOU at CIN
SYR at Notre Dame
WVU at RUT

11/26 Rivalry Week
CIN at SFL
PIT at WVU
RUT at CT
SYR at LOU

Just my best guesses.

Bearcat 1984 Wrote:Rumor has it that Syracuse will play at Louisville on Thanksgiving weekend during the Big East's Rivalry Week. This will leave Cincinnati to play South Florida in Tampa instead to finish our season.

Well that sounds like a Thanksgiving road trip with a little fishing thrown in!

Yeah, Turkey Day on the beach might not actually be such a bad idea. My in laws have a vacation house down there. That might actually work out. :)

Looking at UC's projected schedule....

9/3 Eastern Michigan - W

this is a must-win. there is no hope otherwise.

9/10 @ Penn State - L

everyone says Penn St. sucks, but they had the best defense in the Big 10 last year and no reason to expect it to be much less this year. This will be a big test for UC's offense with a new quarterback. UC may be able to make it a game because Penn State's offense has been woeful. It all depends on how well they've re-loaded.

9/17 @ Miami OH - W

Miami is usually a tough game, especially in Oxford. But w/out Terry Hoepner and without Rothlisberger these guys are beatable. Look for UC to win this one.

9/24 Western Carolina - W

another must-win game. I don't even know where this school is, but they are div 1aa and we simply have to win. A loss is crippling to the program.

10/8 @ Syracuse - L

Going into this game, UC is 3-1 or 2-2. Syracuse are a bunch of cheating, dirty, moldy oranges. New coach will cause some issues, but at Syracuse we are probably not ready to beat them yet with an underclassmen-heavy crew.

10/15 @ Pitt - L

Pittsburgh is probably going to be having a pretty good year next year. New coach: that's true. But probably an even tougher prospect than Syracuse. Hopefully we play them tough. And you never know.

10/22 West Virginia - L

West Virginia will not be as good as they were last year. They had a really good recruiting season, but those are all freshman. At this point some of our freshmen will be contributing. So... I'd say we have a shot at this one. It's a home game. A lot will depend on how many freaking Eer fans invade Nippert. This will be UC's home Big East opener. So, UC will have need a good crowd. After this game UC is probably 3-4, or 2-5. The next games determine if there is hope for a bowl.

10/29 @ Rutgers - W

Rutgers is improving, but this has got to be one of those games we've got to win on the road so that we are not relegated to the Big East basement.

11/12 Connecticut - W

Home game against UConn. Cincy needs to win this against an opponent that is probably at about the same level.

11/19 Louisville - L

Sadly, we probably won't have much of a chance in this game, unless things have really begun to click for the Bearcats. You never know. At this point you've got the possibility that our QB has emerged with real talent, and the receivers are clicking, and the running game with Benton, Glat, and DF is churning up the turf. This could be competitive. But odds are it won't be.

11/26 @ South Florida - W

This is another chance to close strong. South Florida should be beatable if we are playing tough and determined. Presumably we will want to bounce back from the loss to Louisville with a strong, resilient showing.

So, it will definitely take some things to go our way, but we could have a 6-5 year.

The schedule could be a little kindler, we have four tough away games (PSU, MU, SU and Pitt) and two tough home games (WVU and UL). Not saying the other games are going to fall in our laps, but these games will be toughest to secure victories due to the talent of the opposing team, the intensity of the rivalry, or the location of the game.

Of those 6 games I only see us winning versus Miami Ohio, and even that is not a given.

East Michigan and W Carolina are must wins. Period.

UConn at home has got to be a win. Due to the toughness of the schedule we cannot afford to pass it up.

That leaves Rutgers and South Florida away games. Winning both games will require real toughness and probably a dose of good fortune. Losing one or both drops us to 5-6 or 4-7.

So....

0 - 11 = Inconceivable. Pass out the kool aid. Drinks for everyone.
1 - 10 = Inconceivable. Plenty of kool aid still available.
2 - 9 = Not likely. Sign of real growing pains. and could drive a stake through recruiting program's heart.
3 - 8 = Possible. Not an impressive year. Local press will be unmerciful.
4 - 7 = More possible. Disappointing. And missed opportunities.
5 - 6 = Very real possibility. Some success. Some misses. So close to a winning season.
6 - 5 = Very real possibility, but not easy. Will require winning all games we're supposed to win, and toughness away.
7 - 4 = Possible. Requires eveything mentioned in previous entry, but also a good dose of luck against one of the big five opponents (PSU, SU, Pitt, WV, UL).
8- 3 = Not likely. UC just doesn't have the depth and experience this year for this to be likely, unless the Big East is as bad as ESPN says it is.
9 - 2 = Conceivable. But only just.
10 - 1 = cough cough.
11 - 0 = Inconceivable.

Good analysis, hopefully the 7 - 4 or 6 - 5 records are closer to what happens! I think a winning record is possible and more probable with Coach Dantonio than his predecessor.