Note to everyone else: lookout for the University of Cincinnati.
On December 3, 2006, the University of Cincinnati announced that Brian Kelly would be the Bearcats' newest head football coach. The two-time Division II head coach has done nothing but make the University of Cincinnati a successful story rising with the Big East's elite teams.
In 2007, the Kelly Bearcats:
| Opp. | Score |
| SE Missouri State (2-3) | W 59-3 |
| Oregon State (2-3) | W 34-3 |
| @ Miami Uni. (2-3) | W 47-10 |
| Marshall (0-4) | W 40-14 |
| @ SD State (1-3) | W 52-23 |
So far, the Bearcats have played, and smoked, teams with a combined 7-16 record. Which means the Bearcats are not playing down to their competition -- evidence of a very good team.
The roughest part of the Bearcats' schedule is coming up. Five of the next seven games are against teams with winning records -- No. 21 Rutgers (3-1), Louisville (3-2), No. 6 South Florida (4-0), undefeated (and unranked) Connecticut (5-0), No 13. West Virginia (4-1). Pittsburgh (2-3) and Syracuse (1-4) round out the remaining schedule. That's a combined 22-11 record on the remainder of the schedule.
The Bearcats joined the ranks of the top-25 for the first time since 1976 last week, ranked number 24. On Sunday, the AP jumped them to 20th with the USA Today ranking the Bearcats 24th, after beating San Diego State 52-23.
Oh, and the University of Cincinnati scored Demetrius Jones -- the transfer from Notre Dame over the week.
Even San Diego State's head coach Chuck Long is impressed with Cincinnati's rebuilding project.
"It's easy to look at the Oklahomas and Floridas of the world and say we want to become them," said San Diego State coach Chuck Long. "That's not where we are now. We look at programs like Wake Forest, like Cincinnati, like Rutgers. How did they get where they're at?"
ALSO: Congrats to UK. They are ranked 8th in both polls. With that said, Kentucky will be tested with No. 11 South Carolina, No. 1 LSU, No. 9 Florida, No. 12 Georgia and Tennessee still on tap.
Football around the region is good. UC, UK and OSU are all undefeated and playing very well.