2025 Cincinnati Football Predictions: Bearcats Ranked 67th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136

This isn't your average college football ranking.

My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it's my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:

• Who do I think is good?
• Why do I think they're good?
• What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations?

Here is a look at where Cincinnati lands in my Ultimate 136.

Cincinnati Bearcats ranking: 67
Last year’s ranking: 57 
Top player: DL Dontay Corleone: Three-time All-Conference selection, has posted 109 career tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks in his 34-game career.

[Cincinnati's 2025 schedule]

RJ's take: Entering Year 3 of the Scott Satterfield experience, Bearcat fans must long for the days of Luke Fickell when their then-G5 program became the first and only G5 team to receive an invitation to the four-team CFP.

Since taking their step up to P4, they've struggled. Both seasons in the Big 12 have been losing ones, while Arizona State, picked to finish last in what might be the last ever Big 12 media preseason ballot, won the league title and pushed Texas to the brink in last year’s quarterfinal matchup.

With a $135 million football facility opening this summer, there's hope on the horizon. Had the Bearcats won all of their one-score games, they would've entered this year as a team that won nine games instead of five. This is also the first time that the program has retained the previous year’s defensive coordinator in Tyson Veidt.

QB Brendan Sorsby has the arm, throwing for 426 yards against Texas Tech, and the legs with nine rushing TDs in 2024. RB Evan Pryor will give Cincy a chance to have a 14th consecutive year with a 1,000-yard rusher.

In its Week 1 matchup with Nebraska, Cincy has a chance to turn some heads and take a quality win at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

[Check out RJ Young's Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here]

Cincinnati Bearcats Win Total: Over 6.5 (+104) Under 6.5 (-128)

Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school's rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young, and I'll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.

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