The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference.
The Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball program represents the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. The school's team competes in NCAA Division I as part of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats are currently coached by Wes Miller.
The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the Big 12 Conference. They have played their home games in historic and renovated Nippert Stadium since 1924. The Bearcats have an all-time record of over .500, having reached their 600th program victory in 2017. The program has had a resurgence in recent years. After joining the Big East for the 2005 season, the Bearcats have gone 155–75, along with 14 bowl game appearances, 7 conference titles, 4 BCS/NY6 Bowl berths and 38 NFL Draft selections, as of the 2022 season.
The 2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati as a member of th Big East Conference during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats, led by third-year head coach Butch Jones, played their home games at Nippert Stadium. They finished the season 10–3 overall and 5–2 in Big East play to place in a four-way tie for the conference championship. Along with Rutgers, Louisville, and Syracuse, the Bearcats were the final football champions of the Big East Conference, as the league's original incarnation folded following the loss of the three former programs and others to different conferences. Cincinnati became a charter member of the American Athletic Conference the following season.
Gunner Trey Kiel is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and later for the Cincinnati Bearcats.
The 2013 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcat football team played their home games at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. The 2013 college football season was their first season as a member of the American Athletic Conference. The Bearcats were led by first year head coach Tommy Tuberville. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in American Athletic play to finish in third place. They were invited to the Belk Bowl where they lost to North Carolina.
The 2014 American Athletic Conference football season was the 24th NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football season of the American Athletic Conference. The season was the second since the breakup of the former Big East Conference, which lasted in its original form from its creation in 1979 until 2013.
The 2014 Tulane Green Wave football team represented Tulane University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Curtis Johnson and played home games at Yulman Stadium. They were in their first year of membership in the American Athletic Conference, and it was the Green Wave's first season on its Uptown campus since the 1974 season. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in AAC play to finish in a tie for eighth place.
The 2015 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team returned on campus to Nippert Stadium after playing 2014 home games at Paul Brown Stadium during stadium renovation. The Bearcats were led by third-year head coach Tommy Tuberville and were members of the Eastern Division of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 7–6 overall and 4–4 in American Athletic lay to finish in a tie for third place in the East Division. They were invited to the Hawaii Bowl where they lost to San Diego State.
The 2015 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights were members of the East Division of the American Athletic Conference, defending conference co-champions, and played their home games at Bright House Networks Stadium on UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida. The Knights were led by head coach George O'Leary, who was in his 12th and final season with the team. After starting the season 0–6, O'Leary resigned as UCF's interim athletic director, a position he had held since June when Todd Stansbury left for the same position at Oregon State. Following UCF's 59–10 defeat by Houston on homecoming, dropping the Knights to an 0–8 record, O'Leary resigned as head football coach. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett served as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
The 2016–17 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games at Fifth Third Arena, with a capacity of 13,176. The season marked the final year prior to major renovations to Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats were led by 11th-year head coach Mick Cronin and were members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 30–6, 16–2 to finish in second place in AAC play. They beat Tulsa and UConn in the AAC tournament before losing to SMU in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 6 seed in the South region. They defeated No. 11-seeded Kansas State in the first round before losing to No. 3-seeded UCLA in the second round.
The 2017 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats were led by first-year head coach Luke Fickell who was hired in December 2016. The Bearcats played their home games at Nippert Stadium, and were members of the East Division in the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 2–6 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place in the East Division.
The 2018 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats play their home games at Nippert Stadium, and are members of the East Division in the American Athletic Conference. They are led by second-year head coach Luke Fickell.
The 2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 7, 2019, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, to determine the 2019 champion of the American Athletic Conference. The conference's 5th championship game featured the champion of its East Division, the Cincinnati Bearcats, against the West Division champion, the Memphis Tigers. The game was televised on ABC.
The Cincinnati–Memphis rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and the University of Memphis Tigers. The rivalry between these two schools dates to their first college football game in 1966, and has continued across all sports, with the men's basketball series gaining attention as well, having started in 1968. The schools have also shared conferences historically, with the rivalry stretching over the span of five conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference, to the Metro Conference, Great Midwest Conference, Conference USA, and more recently in the American Athletic Conference.
The 2020 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats played their home games at Nippert Stadium and competed as members of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by fourth-year head coach Luke Fickell.
The 2020–21 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats were led by second-year head-coach John Brannen. The team played their home games at Fifth Third Arena as members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 12–11, 8–6 in AAC play to finish in fifth place. They defeated SMU and Wichita State in the AAC tournament before losing to Houston in the championship game.
The 2021 Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2021, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The 86th edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic and the first of two College Football Playoff semifinal games, the game featured two of the four teams selected by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee- the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide from the Southeastern Conference and the No. 4 Cincinnati Bearcats from the American Athletic Conference; the latter becoming the first Group of Five team to appear in a College Football Playoff, and the season's last major undefeated team in the FBS. The winner advanced to face the winner of the Orange Bowl at the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship, which is at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The 2022 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats, members of the American Athletic Conference, played their home games at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. 2022 was the program's sixth season under head coach Luke Fickell.
The 2022 Fenway Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 17, 2022, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The game was the inaugural edition of the Fenway Bowl and it featured Cincinnati from the American Athletic Conference and Louisville from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The game began at 11:03 a.m. EST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by cloud storage company Wasabi Technologies, it was officially known as the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
