Welcome to the Big 12 Cincinnati Bearcats
STILLWATER – One of the oldest universities of higher learning in the United States, Cincinnati has never played in a Power Five or upper echelon athletic conference. It has been a long time coming, but it is deserved. The Bearcats became the first Group of Five football program to play in the CFP when they went against Alabama in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, one of the CFP designated semifinal games after the 2021 season.
The Bearcats have been good in a number of sports, but they have sent a flood of players into the NFL through the NFL Draft the past several years.
How excited are they for this? There is a big ceremony set for Saturday in downtown Cincinnati.
Need to Know Facts
Official Name/Location/Date Established: University of Cincinnati (formerly Cincinnati College)/Cincinnati, Ohio/1819
Mascot: Bearcats
Official Colors: Red and Black
Enrollment: 44,000
Famous Alumni: William Howard Taft, politican and US President; Kenesaw Mountain Landis, former baseball commissioner; Joseph B. Strauss, engineer and designer (Golden Gate bridge); Paul Tibbets, WWI pilot/hero; Sandy Koufax, baseball; Oscar Robertson, basketball; Jack Twyman, basketball; Kenyon Martin, basketball; Travis Kelce, football; Jason Kelce, football; Mary Wineberg track; Tony Trabert, tennis
President or Chancellor: Neville G. Pinto
Athletic Director: John Cunningham
Sports Offered Total (Men’s/Women’s): 14 (6/8)
Current Head Coaches
Head Football Coach: Scott Satterfield (1st season at Cincinnati - 76-48 at Louisville/Appalachian State)
Football Stadium/Capacity: Nippert Stadium built in 1901 (38,088)
Head Basketball Coach: Wes Miller - one season (23-13 in first season at Cincinnati)
Head Women’s Basketball Coach: Katrina Merriweather (newly hired 151-70 as head coach at Memphis and Wright State)
Basketball Arena/Capacity: Fifth Third Arena (12,012)
Head Baseball Coach: Jordan Bischel (newly hired and he was 177-80 in five seasons at Central Michigan)
Baseball Stadium/Capacity: UC Baseball Stadium (3,058)
History Lesson with Oklahoma State
Not much here. Football has played three times with Oklahoma State winning two of those, including a 27-17 win at Nippert Stadium in 1983 during Jimmy Johnson’s last season as head coach and on the way to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl win that season over Baylor.
I thought they had played a number of times in basketball but Cincinnati joined the MVC as Oklahoma State was leaving for the Big Eight. They’ve played five times with OSU leading 3-2 and the last meeting a 61-50 loss on Feb. 9, 2003.
The Cowgirls in basketball have one meeting with Cincinnati and that was a 78-57 win back in 1995.
Nothing in baseball and Cincinnati hasn’t fielded a softball team.
The rivalry will get a huge restart as the Bearcats come to Stillwater for the 2023 edition of America’s Greatest Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 28.