Bearcats Slight Underdogs Heading Into Fenway Bowl Against Louisville

Cincinnati rekindles the Keg of Nails rivalry in a little over a week.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Dec 6, 2022 10:34 AM EST

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CINCINNATI — The Bearcats are narrow underdogs to Lousiville in the 2022 Fenway Bowl. The Keg of Nails rivalry is back, and according to DraftKings, Louisville is a two-point favorite with a total set at 45 points.

On SI Sportsbook, UC is a +110 underdog as they face Louisville for the 54th time in program history. The Bearcats lead the series 30-22-1, which began in 1929. Miami (OH) is the only school UC has played more times. The Bearcats last played the Cardinals in 2013.

New head coach Scott Satterfield already confirmed that he will stay away from the game and focus on staff building/recruiting.

“I am staying away from that," Satterfield told the media on Monday. "I will be recruiting and building my staff. That is my total focus. I am not doing anything with the bowl. I am not doing any game planning. All I am doing is focusing on our staff, trying to build it out, and recruit. The bowl game is actually negative in regard to recruiting. When that bowl was announced, I was thinking, ‘Man, this is going to hurt us in recruiting, we can't go out and recruit.’ So, I am going to focus on that, and in order to do that, some of the guys that I need are going to come up here and help me over the next few weeks. The national signing date is December 21, so it’s going to be here very soon.”

Satterfield has his eyes on the right things as predictions begin pouring in surrounding the game. ESPN's Adam Rittenberg is going with the Cardinals in a low-scoring battle.

"This game got just a tad bit awkward Monday when coach Scott Satterfield left Louisville for the Cincinnati job," Rittenberg wrote. "Satterfield's players now must prepare for a game against their former coach, who likely will take some current Louisville assistants with him. Fun times in Beantown. Barring opt-outs, the game will feature two of the nation's best linebackers in Cincinnati's Ivan Pace Jr. (120 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 9 sacks), a national awards candidate, and Louisville's Yasir Abdullah (8 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions). Abdullah and the Cardinals get it done in a low-scoring game."

Cincinnati and Louisville battle on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN.

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