ESPN Ranks Cincinnati Football's 2025 Offseason Among Middle of Big 12 Pack

 ESPN ranked the offseasons for all Power 4 teams this week, and Cincinnati slotted right in the middle of the Big 12 as the eighth-ranked team.

Cincinnati had a solid, not amazing offseason, highlighted by adequate talent retention entering Scott Satterfield's fifth season.

"The Bearcats took care of business in December and got their top returning players re-signed, including QB Brendan Sorsby, defensive tackle Dontay Corleone and tight end Joe Royer," The article stated. "They landed proven newcomers along the offensive line in Joe Cotton, one of the top players in the spring portal window, and Ball State's Taran Tyo, and they added a trio of speedsters at receiver in Cyrus Allen, Colorado State's Caleb Goodie and Lindenwood's Jeff Caldwell. This staff does as good a job as any of finding under-the-radar gems in the portal and did so once again this offseason."

The wide receiver additions could be massive to unlock a rough deep-ball stretch from Brendan Sorsby last season (59.3 Pro Football Focus passing grade on 20-plus yard throws, 28.9% completion).

Connect on a few more of those, and Cincinnati should improve on Satterfield's current one-score game record in Clifton.

"Cincinnati endured a tough late-season slide in 2024, missing out on bowl eligibility by losing five in a row after a 5-2 start," the article noted. "What does it take to flip a 2-8 record in games decided by one-score margins? Continuity should help as Scott Satterfield enters Year 3. The Bearcats weren't hit especially hard during the portal windows and lost a total of 16 scholarship players, but only four have landed at other Power 4 programs."

The 2025 Bearcats football schedule should be public in the coming weeks.