Group of Five New Year’s Six Watch, Week 4: UCF fortunate, Temple rising
By Dante Pryor
2-1. AAC. player. 830. Pick Analysis. Cincinnati Bearcats. 3. Scouting Report
The Bearcats still have a shot at the New Year’s Six even after being blown out by Ohio State 42-0. They rebounded this week with an impressive win against Miami (OH). Their redemption lies with an Oct. 4 matchup with Central Florida.
The Ohio State loss was more of a testament to how good the Buckeyes are, not necessarily an indictment of the Bearcats. The Buckeyes had the “Jimmys and Joes” and the Bearcats simply did not. However, the Bearcats should fare better in the AAC. They are good enough on defense and have a power running game that gives them a leg up on many AAC teams. With Every game being a must win for Cincinnati, they have to hold serve against Marshall next weekend.
3-0. Boise State Broncos. 2. Pick Analysis. 895. Scouting Report. Mountain West. player
Let us begin now to speak of the legend of Hank Bachmeier. He’s led the Broncos to two come from behind victories in his early career. He led a comeback in Tallahassee to defeat the Seminoles, and then led a charge late in the fourth quarter to topple the Marshall Thundering Herd. We have yet to see this freshman play like a freshman. He has an early season test this Friday against the Air Force.
The Broncos might not have as difficult road as any team in the AAC, but they defeated their big non-conference foe in Florida State, but they have one big hurdle left this in BYU. The Cougars have wins against USC and Tennessee this season, so they’ll be confident when they invite the Broncos to Provo in October.
886. Pick Analysis. UCF Golden Knights. Scouting Report. 3-0. AAC. 1. player
The Knights came up aces by getting Stanford and Pitt in their non-conference on their road to a third consecutive New Year’s Six game. Cincinnati definitely drew the short straw with Ohio State on their schedule. It’s been obvious the last couple of years that the Cardinal were on the decline. They looked over matched against the Knights on their way to being routed 45-27.
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The Panthers are going to give the Knights all they can handle, but won’t have the firepower or the depth to handle UCF’s tempo on offense. Since the Knights are No. 1 this week they deserve a bit of a what if. What if every Power Five conference champion has one loss, and three of them have two losses with an undefeated UCF in the clubhouse? Would they get in? One can only wonder.