Cincinnati has established one of the strongest winning cultures for any program in college football over the past five seasons. The Bearcats earned the only AAC berth in College Football Playoff history, won a pair of conference titles, and found themselves etched into the final AP Top 25 in four consecutive years from 2018-21. All of that success was suddenly leveraged into a Big 12 invite in September 2021 when the second wave of conference realignment hit the college football world.
Fast-forward to July 2023 and Big 12 membership status became more of a reality to Cincinnati. The Bearcats participated in their first media day with their new affiliation, arriving at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX — the same venue where they made history with a College Football Playoff appearance.