The Cincinnati Bearcats take on the Temple Owls. Check out our college football odds series for our Cincinnati Temple prediction and pick.
The Cincinnati Bearcats won't reach the College Football Playoff this season, unlike their 2021 masterpiece of a season, but they can still win the Group of Five championship and return to a New Year's Six bowl for the second consecutive year. Cincinnati still controls its fate in the AAC race. The Bearcats enter Saturday with only one loss in the conference. That came against UCF. The Knights have the inside track to the AAC Championship Game as long as they win out, but Cincinnati also has the ability to win out and make the title game, whose winner will likely become the Group of Five champion.
Tulane is the other one-loss team in the AAC, but Cincinnati plays the Green Wave next week. UCF might be the leader in the regular-season AAC standings once it's all said and done, but Cincinnati just has to finish second to make the title game. If the Bearcats beat Tulane, they will likely finish in the top two.
We say “likely” because UC has to handle Temple first, and make sure that the Tulane game means everything.
This should not be a hard assignment for Cincinnati on paper. Temple is 3-7 through 10 games, with one of those wins coming against an FCS (lower-division) opponent. The Owls' only FBS wins this year are against UMass and South Florida, two of the worst teams in college football. The one note of encouragement for Temple is that in its last two games, the Owls' offense has become a lot more explosive and productive. Temple has averaged 45 points in its last two games, putting up 54 against South Florida and 36 in a loss to Houston. Cincinnati has a solid defense, but it can't be complacent against this revved-up Temple attack, which has evolved in recent weeks and has clearly figured something out.
Here are the Cincinnati-Temple NCAA Football Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Cincinnati-Temple Odds
Cincinnati Bearcats: -16.5 (-115)
Temple Owls: +16.5 (-105)
Over: 50.5 (-114)
Under: 50.5 (-106)
Why Cincinnati Could Cover the Spread
The Bearcats have a solid defense which should be able to put the Temple offense in its place. Let's be realistic about the Temple offense and its recent resurgence: Neither South Florida nor Houston are very good. Temple has taken advantage of flawed and vulnerable opponents. Cincinnati does not have the team or the defense which dominated the AAC and made the playoff one year ago, but the Bearcats should still have more than enough quality and intelligence to find solutions against Temple's mini-uprising on offense.
Why Temple Could Cover the Spread
Cincinnati isn't nearly what it was last year. The Bearcats barely beat East Carolina in an up-and-down, back-and-forth game last week. The 2021 Bearcats probably win that game by 20 points, not two. If Cincinnati is unable to play an airtight game in which everything clicks at the same time, Temple's newly-revived offense can probably score 20 points, which would force Cincinnati to score 37 to cover the spread. UC has not shown enough consistency to be trusted to score that many points.
Final Cincinnati-Temple Prediction & Pick
Cincinnati's defense will throttle Temple's offense and enable the Bearcats to cover. You might consider the under, but Cincinnati's offense might run wild in this particular matchup.
Final Cincinnati-Temple Prediction & Pick: Cincinnati -16.5
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