Cincinnati Bearcats Football Projected to Fall Just Short of Betting Win Total in 2026

Before you know it, the 2026 football season will be here, and with spring practice getting underway for the Cincinnati Bearcats, it is a non-stop sprint to Sep. 5 against Boston College.

This, of course, is a new-look squad that is ringing in 22 new players from the transfer portal, and the 57th-best recruiting class in the country, all while all dealing with the departure of star quarterback Brendan Sorsby.

For head coach Scott Satterfield, three years of improved records with the Bearcats became slightly more tarnished when their 7-1 start in 2025 crashed to a 7-6 record by the time their 35-13 loss to Navy in the Autozone Liberty Bowl became final.

There has been mass reshuffling across the program. On the offensive side, Cincinnati will be using co-offensive coordinators Nic Cardwell and Pete Thomas, with the pair still holding their respective offensive line and quarterback coaching roles. On the defensive side, the university also hired new defensive coordinator Nate Woody, who spent the last six years with Army.

The corps of new coaches comes into replace an offense that finished the 2025 season with the 59th-most yards per game (390.8), and 62nd in points per game (27.0), while also allowing a whopping 423.6 yards per game that ranked 110th in the nation.

Cincinnati’s 2026 Schedule Does Them No Favors

The Bearcats open the 2026 campaign with a non-conference slate comprising Boston College, Western Carolina, and Miami (OH). Those wins are crucial if Satterfield wants to stay on course for his second straight bowl season, because once the Big 12 kicks off, victories look hard to come by.

According to FanDuel, Cincinnati's win total currently sits at 5.5 with the over at -122 and the under at +100.

The Bearcats’ Big 12 schedule at home includes Kansas State, Texas Tech, Utah, and Colorado. While their away days see them visit Arizona, West Virginia, Houston, Iowa State, and BYU.

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah predicts that Satterfield’s squad will take down Boston College, Western Carolina, Miami (OH), Kansas State, and Colorado to finish at 5-7.

“For the third season in a row, Cincinnati will be right on the cusp of fighting for bowl eligibility,” quotes Jeyarajah. “The lineup is filled with underclassmen, and the Bearcats don't have a clear identity to rely on after the graduation of several top playmakers.”

If there is one positive to be taken from Cincinnati’s conference schedule, it is that they get to face the Red Raiders, the Utes, and the Buffaloes all at Nippert Stadium; each one of those would be daunting travel days for any team in the country.

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