Game Preview: Cincinnati at South Florida, Thursday Night, 8:00PM EST, ESPN

On a weekend with historically significant marquee matchups such as Texas-Oklahoma and USC-Notre Dame we are all getting a treat this Thursday night when Cincinatti travels to Tampa to take on the USF Bulls. Amazingly this is a battle of unbeatens from the Big East and whoever wins could reasonably enter the discussion of would be challengers forthe SEC Champ in the BCS national championship game (hard to imagine that neither Florida nor Alabama won’t make it ast this point). It may not be a Saturday or New Year’s day but for this one day the Big East will be the centre of the NCAA football universe…and I think they will shine with a solid, hard fought entertaining game.

I feel like I say this about every Thursday game but this truly is an interesting contest. USF may have an edge because they are at home but the truth is they have not fared well in high profile games over the last couple of seasons. It is amazing how far this program has come in such a short time and another factor their favour may be that they are not the favourite here. At last check Cincinatti was checking in at -2.5. Can the Bulls, behind their new starting QB put together 4 quarters against one of the season’s most consistent teams? Maybe, but will it be enough?

On the other side of the field expectations have ramped up in a hurry for the Bearcats, who are probably the best team in the state of Ohio (No apologies to OSU fans). 2009 was supposed be a rebuilding year after reaching the Orange Bowl last season but they have played like a team that is building something special, not rebuilding, and are currently a couple of key losses form becoming a legit title game participant if they can winout.

The starkest contrast for this matchup appears to be at QB. The Bearcats Tony Pike is looking like more and more like NFL material. He has the surprisingly potent offense humming with the help of all everything WR Mardy Gilyard, another NFL calibre talent. There is no reason to expect that the Bulls can slow them down considerably. For USF, replacement QB B.J. Daniels is a supreme athlete who is just might be green enough to be oblivious to the significance of this primetime action. He was very impressive walking into Talahassee and getting a win against FSU even though we know that beating the Seminoles isn’t what it used to be.

In the end I think Cincy will win this tough conference battle putting them in the drivers seat for a conference championship and another BCS appearance. Coach Brian Kelly is currently the darling of up and coming coaches and a win here could have him coaching at a bigger program like say Colorado next year – Sorry coach Hawkins. I expect a tight, efficient game with a few big plays but in the end Daniels inexperience will lead to a costly turnover that helps decide the outcome. Feel good about the effort Bulls fans and that you will be able to stick it to the Bearcats in the future behind Daniels.

Prediction:
Cincinatti 26
South Florida 20

Notes/Trends:
-Cincinati has won last three in series covering each time (4 out 5)
-Bearcats are 5-1 ATS in last 6 in conference
-Bulls are 3-9 ATS against teams with winning records