Cincinnati Bearcats football picked 13th of 14 in Big 12 Preseason Media Poll

Five days after officially becoming a member of the Big 12 Conference, the University of Cincinnati got an early taste of the lofty expectations ahead when they were voted to finish 13th out of the 14-team league.

The Bearcats enter the Big 12 with a new coach, Scott Satterfield and a new quarterback, (assumably) Emory Jones Jr. Former coach Luke Fickell (Wisconsin) and last year's starting signal caller Ben Bryant (Northwestern) are now in the Big Ten.

The Bearcats hit the transfer portal hard but still are at No. 42 (according to 247Sports.com) among Division I schools in that ranking. UC's transfer class is rated higher than those of Big 12 members Texas, Kansas, Kansas State and and Iowa State, but there are many questions to be answered and downs to be played.

Who is favored?

For the first time since going to a division-less format, Texas was picked atop the 2023 preseason poll as voted on by media representatives. The Longhorns were slotted fourth in last year’s preseason poll behind Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

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First-place votes were spread among six teams with Texas receiving 41 and a total of 886 points. The reigning Big 12 Champion, Kansas State, placed second with 14 and 858 points. Oklahoma and Texas Tech each received four first-place votes with 758 and 729 points, respectively. TCU, coming off appearances in the Big 12 Championship Game and College Football Playoff National Championship Game, rounded out the top five with three first-place votes and 727 points.

Baylor gathered 575 points to place sixth while Oklahoma State secured the final first-place vote with 470 points for seventh place.

Bearcats picked behind other Big 12 newcomers

Of the new entries to the Big 12, UCF was No. 8 with 463 points, BYU No. 11 with 318 and Houston No. 12 with 215 points. UC with 202 points was only picked ahead of West Virginia, which collected 129 points in the preseason vote. Also finishing ahead of the Bearcats were long-time members Kansas (461 points for ninth) and Iowa State (334 points for 10th).

Based on vote, UC will be underdog in all but one Big 12 game

UC opens its Big 12 slate Saturday, Sept. 23 at Nippert Stadium with Oklahoma (preseason No. 3). On Sept. 29 their first Big 12 road game is at BYU (preseason No. 11). Iowa State (preseason No. 10) visits Nippert on Saturday, Oct. 14. The following Saturday, Oct. 21, it's Baylor (preseason No. 6) at Nippert. On Oct. 28, UC is at Oklahoma State (preseason No. 7), followed by a return to Nippert against UCF (preseason No. 8) on Nov. 4. The Bearcats visit Houston (preseason No. 12) on Nov. 11 then travel to the only game they would be currently favored in at West Virginia (preseason No. 14). The regular season finale is at Nippert Nov. 25 against Kansas (preseason No. 9).

More to come next week

Big 12 Football Media Days, Presented by Old Trapper will be conducted next Wednesday and Thursday, July 12-13. Coverage from both days will be provided on ESPNU and Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The Enquirer will be present.

2023 Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll1. Texas (41), 8862. Kansas State (14), 8583. Oklahoma (4), 7584. Texas Tech (4), 7295. TCU (3), 7276. Baylor, 5727. Oklahoma State (1), 4708. UCF, 4639. Kansas, 46110. Iowa State, 33411. BYU, 31812. Houston, 21513. Cincinnati, 20214. West Virginia, 129

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC football picked second to last in Big 12 Preseason Media poll