This weekend while I was in church with my family, I noticed an old friend of mine that I went to grade school with. She was looking as lovely as ever and I thought back to those familiar days of my youth and the huge crush that I had on her that extended all the way into high school. This comes less than 24 hours after I missed out on interacting with someone that my friends now refer to as my soul mate. I don’t know who she was or what her situation in life would present to me, but she was very attractive and was wearing an Elder hat! (Proud Elder grad Class of ’04) Now the point of me telling you this isn’t to make you feel sorry for me and realize my lack of prowess with the ladies, but it got me thinking about missed opportunities.
So Saturday led into Sunday and the upstart Bengals had a big opportunity to make a statement about their rightful place amongst the NFL’s elite. Fueled by the memory of Vikki Zimmer, the late wife of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, the Bengals pulled off one of their greatest victories in recent memory. The win firmly got the Bengals in the conversation as a team that can contend with anyone in the league and now would be extremely disappointed with anything other than the AFC North crown. As the national accolades kept pouring in, Tri-State area became as Bengals-crazed at a pitch I haven’t seen since late in 2005, the Bengals’ last playoff appearance.
But wait, isn’t there a pretty good college football team here in town? That’s right the #8 ranked Bearcats are gearing up for their biggest game of the season so far. Maybe they were hurt by the fact that the Bengals were overachieving and that they had a bye after playing a Miami (OH) squad that looks abysmal. Mo Egger, heard afternoons 3-6 on 1530 Homer, was able to keep the UC game in the back of everyone’s mind, but other than the most hardcore UC fans, weren’t thinking of this game until today. Even the national media has been pumping up this game more than the residents of the Queen City, that still have yet to embrace Brian Kelly’s Bearcats as the true champions that they have been over the past few seasons. They have been a beacon of consistency and excellence in an otherwise unstable Cincinnati sports scene.
The theme of this post is about not missing out on opportunities and we’ve been awfully loose in throwing around superlative phrases to describe UC football the past few years, but I’m going to say that this is the biggest game in UC football history to date. I say that for this reason: this is the greatest chance for UC to make an impression on the nation and legitimately get into the National Championship talk. Think about it, it’s the Thursday Night Game on ESPN, no one else is playing and everyone in the country will be watching. Fans, experts, and talking heads everywhere want to see if the Bearcats can handle a talented USF team that has lots of talent, speed, and a hostile environment on the road. Tony Pike can also use this game to get one step closer to being a Heisman Trophy finalist by having another strong outing.
If there isn’t enough pressure to win already, you can look to the Bearcats’ opponent to see how a loss on this stage can change one’s fortunes for the rest of the season. In 2007, USF started the year unranked and went on a meteoric rise all the way to #2 in the nation. But a Thursday night loss to Rutgers sent the Bulls into a tail spin that had them going to the Sun Bowl at year’s end. In this writer’s eyes, the Bearcats of 2009 could be walking into the same trap because Thursday night games are always havens for upsets and crazy occurrences.
So what it boils down to is this: win convincingly as they did at Rutgers earlier this year, and the Bearcats should jump right into the Top 5 and cement themselves in legitimate National Championship conversation for the better part of the next month. Lose, and the season isn’t over by a long shot, but the critics of the Big East will be out in full force talking about how this conference doesn’t deserve an automatic BCS bid. Right now it’s all on the Bearcats, they need to come out of Tampa victorious and they need to show everyone that they looked good doing so, not relying on USF playing poorly. They need to do everything possible to silence the Big East bashers who will say that a 12-0 UC team is not as worthy as a 1-loss team from the SEC, Big 12, USC or Ohio State. As the Bearcats continue to rack up the wins, their fans almost need to be cheerleaders for their fallen opponents to make their schedule look as strong as possible. Every little bit will count as they need to change the hearts and minds of those around the country if they want to have a real chance of being one of the best two teams in the country at season’s end. Can it happen? Sure, but take it one game at a time, just like this coaching staff has been preaching. Win at USF and the sky might just be the limit, without a Boise State-like glass ceiling. Who knows? If UC football can be relevant amongst the royalty of college football, maybe I can even get a date in the near future. One can only hope… And since I live vicariously through my teams, perhaps a Bearcats win can give me the confidence I need to ask out that girl next time I see her at church...
