The Cincinnati Bearcats have become a program on the rise under the leadership of head coach Luke Fickell.
The Bearcats have won 10+ games three times since Fickell took over the program in 2017, and have won at least nine games in all but one season in that span.
As part of their success, Cincinnati broke the mold for Group of Five programs in 2021, when they became the first program from their subdivision to compete in the College Football Playoff. The Bearcats would go on to lose to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, 27-6.
The season before, the Bearcats ended the season by playing another top program in the SEC, Georgia. Cincinnati held their own against the Bulldogs, losing the game by just three points.
In 2022, the Bearcats will travel to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks, their third SEC opponent in three seasons. Fickell hopes to have better success this time around.
“People always ask, “when did you schedule (the game with Arkansas)?” Fickell said in a recent interview on ESPN’s Sportscenter. “Obviously, the last two SEC games we played, it has not been good. For us, our guys, and this entire program, they know what to expect (this time around).”
Cincinnati will have a bigger challenge when facing Arkansas however, as they will be without one of the main reasons for their recent success, quarterback Desmond Ritter.
Ritter was drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, which leaves Fickell with a quarterback battle to resolve prior to the Bearcats’ trip to Arkansas. The competition is expected to be between Evan Prater and Ben Bryant, and Fickell hopes to name a starter within the next several weeks.
“We go out to a camp for about 20 days and that’s when we develop what that really looks like,” Fickell said about his team.
The Razorbacks and Bearcats will meet for the first time in history on Sept. 3 in Fayetteville. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CDT, and can be seen on ESPN.
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