Cincinnati Bearcats Football Tumbles in National Analytic Metrics Following Arizona Loss

Cincinnati is on the outside looking into the Big 12 Title race now.

Cincinnati Bearcats running back Tawee Walker (3) runs for 54-yards as Arizona Wildcats defensive back Treydan Stukes (2) chases in the first quarter of the NCAA football game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Arizona Wildcats at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati on Nov. 15, 2025. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats football team dropped in the national analytic metrics this week following their second consecutive Big 12 loss.

The 30-24 result against Arizona did major damage to their Big 12 title hopes as well.

UC now checks in at No. 37 in the FBS on Bill Connelly's SP+ metric (34th last week). Among others, Cincinnati is at No. 42 on ESPN's Football Power Index (34th last week) and 28th on Brian Fremeau's BCF rating metric (24th last week). It moves Cincinnati to an average ranking of 35.6 nationally (31st last week).

Cincinnati has to win out and get at least one loss from Utah to regain its spot in the Big 12 Championship game against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders have been easily the best team in the conference this season, and Cincinnati is facing the second-best on Saturday in No. 12 BYU.

The Bearcats had a few chances to beat Arizona, but didn't capitalize.

"They had their kids ready to play and prepared," UC head coach Scott Satterfield said after the loss. "For us, we just didn't make enough plays today. Uncharacteristically, we had some drops today that you need to extend drives. We missed some tackles. They gave us some problems in their running game. When you're not fitting right, not tackling well, then they're going to extend their drives."

UC battles BYU at 8 p.m. ET Saturday night on FOX.

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