By DaVince “Dino” Wright
Game Info
#21 Houston Cougars vs #4 Cincinnati Bearcats
Saturday – December 4 – 3:00 p.m.
TV: ABC
Nippert Stadium – Cincinnati, OH
Records Before the Game
#21 Houston Cougars (11-1, 8-0 AAC)
#4 Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0, 8-0 AAC)
Let’s face it, no one saw this coming. The Bearcats and Cougars in the conference championship? Wait a minute! What happened to SMU, Memphis and UCF. Those teams got their butts handed to them by these two teams. Let’s take a look at this year’s AAC conference title game.
Take Notice of the AAC!
This conference has talented teams that could be in conference titles games in other conferences. At one time the AAC had four teams ranked in the top 25. This conference was once the punching bag for the SEC, Big 12, Pac 12 and Big 10. Well, a few of these teams have wins over the big boys in college football.
#21 Houston Cougars
Houston was my dark horse for this season. The Cougars have some talented players on their roster that aren’t on the national radar. Quarterback Clayton Tune is a really good leader. He has 3013 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Freshman running back Alton McCaskill has 844 yards on 162 carries with 16 touchdowns. He’s very dangerous running between the tackles. He averages 5.2 yards a carry. Wide receiver Nathaniel Dell averages 14.5 yards per reception. He has 1027 and 11 touchdowns on 71 receptions. Look for the Cougars to put up points early and often in this one.
#4 Cincinnati Bearcats
Bearcats quarterback Desmond Ridder will be a pro player next year. He has shown maturity under center all year. I’m surprised that he isn’t mentioned as a Heisman hopeful. He has 3000 passing yards with 27 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. The Bearcat offense averages 39.6 points per game while the defense is averaging 15.8 on that side of the ball. Cincinnati is playing this game at home so the crowd will be a huge factor against the Cougars. This will be a must see game from start to finish.
Prediction
ESPN has the Bearcats with an 82.6% chance of winning the conference championship. Did anyone tell the Cougars that they supposed to roll over for the Bearcats? I’m taking the Cougars in an upset! I have Houston by 8!
Final Score
Cougars – 31
Bearcats – 23
