2025 Cincinnati Bearcats Football Game-By-Game Predictions

 The 2025 Cincinnati Bearcats football season is now less than one week away as Scott Satterfield's team gets ready to face a top-35 squad in Nebraska next Thursday.

The whole 2025 schedule is very palatable for a team like Cincinnati that's increased its talent level to the highest it's ever been under Satterfield. ESPN's Football Power Index has the 12-game run ranked as the 58th toughest schedule in the country among all FBS teams.

There is just one team ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 on the docket (No. 22 Iowa State on Oct. 4). Add in a solid fall camp that produced zero major injuries, and vibes are high entering this season.

“The first week-and-a-half of practice, the wide receivers got the best of the secondary,” Satterfield said after this past weekend's scrimmage. “Then the defensive backs started getting used to the speed of the game and settled it. That competition will certainly help them as we move forward throughout the season. We’re going to play some outstanding receivers this year. When you go ‘good on good’ like we’ve been doing, you’re helping yourself out.”

Let's roll through each matchup and predict how Cincinnati's 2025 campaign will play out.

Neutral Against Nebraska - 28-27 Cornhuskers

The Cornhuskers bring a whole new look on defense next Thursday and a ton of fans with them to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. It's going to feel like a road game, and I can't pick UC to beat a top-30 team right out of the gate when they've never done that in the Scott Satterfield era without an asterisk (QB Sam Leavitt did not play for Arizona State in the UC win last season).

Nebraska wins an instant classic with a game-winning drive by QB Dylan Raiola.

V. Bowling Green Falcons - 38-13 Bearcats

Bowling Green was left hanging when former head coach Scott Loeffler left for the NFL in February. The team now returns just 59 starts total from last season and has a new head coach in Eddie George, who started the process late.

I don't expect much of a fight from the Falcons here. The only unit projected to finish higher than 98th in Bill Connelly's SP+ is their special teams (71st).

V. Northwestern State - 45-3 B earcats 

The Demons have not won a game since 2022, and that includes five forfeits in 2023. NWSU was shut out four times last season.

Moving on. 

@ Kansas - 27-24 Jayhawks

The threat of quarterback Jalon Daniels and the potent Kansas offense this early in the season is enough for me to pick Kansas. Daniels is much more likely to be healthy for this game than if it were scheduled later in the year, and he is one of the best offensive talents in the conference.

The new coordinators will have found the right buttons by this point in the calendar, and they defend home field.

V. Iowa State - 21-20 Bearcats

I had this as a loss on the Bearcat Blitz Podcast, but the match up is tight enough for me to lean on the scheduling advantages for UC. The Cyclones play their hated rival, Iowa, the week before, and it's Cincinnati's home Big 12 opener, where fans should be fired up to support the team.

Cincinnati will lean on its front-seven depth on defense to stifle a now-run-heavy ISU offense after losing two star receivers this past offseason.

V. UCF - 35-24 Bearcats

UCF is a complete unknown under new (and old) head coach Scott Frost.

Returning one starter on offense isn't a great recipe for success in the first half of the season, plus, I'm not sold their special teams can avoid crucial mistakes. Cincinnati's improvement in that phase shows thro ugh here.

@ Oklahoma State - 31-20 Bearcats

Mike Gundy's defense has red flag alert written all over it entering a season with a new starter possible at every spot for that unit. Add in new coordinators on both sides of the ball, and continuity once again reigns supreme for Cincinnati.

The OSU offense could have just as many new starters from a pool of 19 transfers. Who knows how they all come together?

V. Baylor - 27-23 Bears

Dave Aranda got things rolling down the stretch of last season, winning six games in a row before a bowl loss. A veteran, returning offensive line along with QB Sawyer Robertson is the difference, and they still have Bryson Washington to lead the backfield in light of Dawson Pendergrass's season-endi ng injury.

Baylor makes enough plays to win a close one.

@ Utah - 24-20 Utes

Arguably the unluckiest team in the power conferences last season, Utah couldn't catch many breaks with turnovers, injuries, or close-game bounces. This will be one of the games that helps return them to bowl status with a few good bounces going their way after a 5-7 2024 finish.

Cincinnati's had MAJOR issues defending dual-threat quarterbacks over the past two seasons, and Devon Dampier could be the best one they've faced in the Satterfield era.

V. Arizona - 42-24 Bearcats

Cincinnati should have a decent offense this fall with all of the added talent at wide receiver, and that's bad news for Arizona, which got shredded by any offense with a pulse last season (39.9 PPG allowed against top 60 offenses).

UC lights up that unit en route to its sixth win of the season.

V. BYU - 28-20 Cougars

Bear Bachmeier will be comfortable in his freshman starting QB role by this point in the calendar. He gets a nice on-ramp of opponents to start the season and a ton of returning experience on the offensive line to protect him en route to a crucial road win over the Bearcats.

@ TCU - 30-27 Bearcats

This is a bet on Cincinnati's new performance center. I think that will be the difference in team health during the final test of the season, and UC will be healthier than TCU just enough to get the win over a team they'd likely be an underdog against in Week 1.

TCU returns its star passer, Josh Hoover, and a ton of experience on both lines, but I think Cincinnati finds a way to end with seven wins amidst (knocks on wood) good health, aided by the Sheakley Indoor Practice Facility and Performance Center.

Final Record: 7-5