The SMU Mustangs play the Cincinnati Bearcats. See our college football odds series for our forecast and pick for Cincinnati SMU.
The Cincinnati Bearcats won’t be competing in the College Football Playoff this season, but if they can win the Group of Five title and make consecutive berths in the New Year’s Six bowls, that would be a fantastic accomplishment.
Cincinnati is currently 5-1 and has a chance to end the season with a 12-1 record, so this game is really important. The Bearcats will represent the Group of Five in a New Year’s Six bowl game, most likely the Cotton, if they succeed in doing that. The Bearcats may still have a strong enough profile to secure that Cotton Bowl ticket even if Cincinnati finishes 11-2. The Group of Five this year is notably lacking. The Mid-American Conference and the Mountain West Conference have battled it out. South Alabama, a team with a potential to make some noise in the Sun Belt and alter the discourse in the Group of Five title race, was defeated by the Troy Trojans at home on Thursday night. The Sun Belt got off to a tremendous start this season, but things have since become more normal. With no more than one loss at the halfway mark of the season, Cincinnati, Tulane, and UCF are likely to be in a three-way contest for the Group of Five championship. Every bit of advantage counts in this race. Cincinnati must maintain the tempo. Coach Luke Fickell’s team, which has yet to drop an AAC game in 2022 but dropped its season opener at Arkansas, would have no room for error if they lost this game. The Bearcats do not want to place themselves under further pressure as November approaches. Already difficult enough as it is, the season.
Coach Rhett Lashlee’s first season in charge of SMU has been an unpredictable, up-and-down one. Lashlee is a seasoned coach who has worked as the offensive coordinator under Manny Diaz at Miami, Gus Malzahn (now the coach of UCF), and other coaches along the way. He has acquired the role of head coach at last. In Year 1, he is receiving instruction on how challenging it is to guide a programme to the summit. SMU has lost to Maryland, TCU, and UCF this season while surrendering 34 points or more in each of those contests. In their first few games of the year, the Mustangs faced cupcake opponents, which did not adequately test this team. For SMU, the UCF game went south. It was a 22-point loss at the hands of a UCF club that had earlier in the season fallen at home to Louisville. SMU lacked responses as UCF played their finest game. Can the Ponies get themselves up off the ground and drastically improve their play? They must do exactly that if they hope to defeat Cincinnati and upend the Group of Five competition.
courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Cincinnati-SMUNCAA Football Odds.
College Football Odds: Cincinnati-SMU Odds
Bearcats of Cincinnati: -3.5 (-110)
Mustangs at SMU: +3.5 (-110)
Over: 59.5 (-115) (-115)
Under: 59.5 (-105)
Why Cincinnati Could Cover the Spread
Simply said, there is now little reason to have faith in the SMU defence. On that side of the ball, the Mustangs have been struggling for some weeks. It’s difficult to anticipate a sudden uptick in the Ponies’ playing abilities.
Why SMU Could Cover the Spread
In terms of quality, Cincinnati is not even close to the playoff club from the previous season. Does Cincinnati, a club that just barely defeated South Florida at home earlier this season, have what it takes to create pressure plays in the fourth quarter if this game turns challenging and tense? Whether UC has what it takes is debatable.
Final Cincinnati-SMU Prediction & Pick
Although Cincinnati’s team is not particularly strong this year, it should be able to take advantage of SMU’s porous defence. SMU’s offence cannot afford any errors. In comparison to the Bearcats, the Mustangs’ margins are substantially lower.
Final prediction and bet against SMU: Cincinnati -3.5
Cincinnati vs. SMU prediction, odds, and pick for the college football game on October 22, 2022, were first published on ClutchPoints.
