Indiana Opens As 3-Point Underdog to No. 8-Ranked Cincinnati

It's a rare day when Indiana hosts a ranked team in the nonconference portion of its schedule, but that changes on Saturday when No 8 Cincinnati comes to town. It's the first top-20 non-league opponent since 1981.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The biggest nonconference game at Memorial Stadium since 1981 takes place on Saturday when Indiana hosts No. 8-ranked Cincinnati. The Bearcats are the first top-20 team to come to Bloomington for a non-league game since USC was ranked No. 2 in 1981.

The Bearcats are 2-0 so far this season, beating Miami of Ohio (49-14) and Murray State (42-7) the first two weeks of the season, with both games at home. They'll come to Bloomington as a 3-point favorite on our new SISportsbook.com website.

The game will be televised nationally on ESPN. Kickoff is at Noon ET, and the game is sold out. ABC has the Miami-Michigan State game in that same Noon window, with ESPN choosing to televise Indiana-Cincinnati.

The line is 3.5 points according to the opening line on Draftkings.com on Sunday. Fanduel.com hasn't posted a line for the game yet.

Cincinnati is 1-1 vs. the spread so far this season, covering the 22.5-point line against Miami, but falling slightly short of the 36.5-point number against Murray State.

Indiana is also 1-1 against the spread, losing 34-6 to Iowa as 3.5-point underdogs and winning 56-14 on Saturday night against Idaho as 30.5-point favorites.

It's rare that Indiana plays a ranked team in the nonconference portion of their schedule, but they have had success lately at Memorial Stadium against ranked teams in the Big Ten. Last year, Indiana beat No. 8 Penn State and No. 23 Michigan at home.

Cincinnati is one of the great recent success stories in college football. Luke Fickell took over in 2017 and, after a 4-8 debut season, has gone 33-6 since. They were undefeated at 9-0 during the regular season a year ago and played in a New Yeara's Six game, losing 24-21 to Georgia in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.