Cincinnati Football: 2017 season preview, predictions

Last season, Cincinnati football missed out on a bowl game for the first time in six years. Will the Bearcats return to postseason play in 2017?

When Tommy Tuberville left Texas Tech and the Big 12 in December 2012 to take the Cincinnati job, it was a coup for the American Athletic Conference. One of the league’s schools had stolen away a proven Power Five coach. The former Big East has always contended that it is misrepresented by a Group of Five tag, and this move seemed to confirm that the AAC was a conference on the rise.

With a pair of 9-4 seasons to begin his Bearcats tenure, Tuberville seemed destined to build Cincinnati into the next major metro program. But then results tapered off, as the Bearcats went 7-6 in 2015 and lost a third straight bowl game. Things bottomed out further last season, as Cincinnati missed the postseason for the first time since 2010 with a 4-8 finish. No longer the astute steal he seemed less than five years ago, Tuberville retired rather than be fired.

Former Ohio State interim head coach Luke Fickell gets his first chance to take over a program full time. Fickell faces a rebuilding effort after the roster turned over more than half of last season’s starters. But there is plenty to like about Cincinnati’s chances of rebounding this season, beginning with the resources and the raw talent available.

Contending in the AAC West, then, might be a lot to ask for in Fickell’s first season. But a return to the postseason could be in the cards for the Bearcats. Click ahead to read our preview of the Cincinnati offense and defense and predictions for the upcoming season.