Scott Satterfield isn’t pretending the road ahead for Cincinnati is anything but steep.
With Big 12 Media Days underway in Frisco, Texas, the Bearcats head coach addressed a roster that looks very different from the one that finished last season. Cincinnati has added 30-plus new names this offseason, and the offense will now be guided by new quarterback JC French IV.
The betting market isn’t exactly buying in yet. Cincinnati is sitting at 100-1 on Fanduel Sportsbook to win the Big 12, tied for the longest odds in the conference with Iowa State.
Still, Satterfield pointed to steady progress and a program that, in his view, has kept moving forward.
"we've gotten better each and every year in this league," Satterfield said about expectations this fall. "Obviously, when you're making a move up to the Power League, there's going to be some challenges, and I think we certainly have learned a lot over the first three seasons.
Last year we talked about, we just got into a new facility at Cincinnati. It's an incredible facility where we house our football team, indoor facility, new weight room, training room, many apparatuses that can help in recovery, aid in recovery, that certainly will help (this year).
"One year anniversary getting in the new building, and then also learning the lay of the land and the teams that we have to play in this league, just some great teams, and some great coaches, great players, very competitive, we're having to travel a lot of places throughout the country and playing in some great venues, and in this league we all know you have to bring at your A-game if you want a chance to win. But like everybody else, we're trying to put out a great team of individuals that come together and play as a team."
The schedule won’t offer much breathing room. By the final records of Cincinnati’s 2026 opponents in 2025, the Bearcats face the 17th-hardest schedule in the country, a slate that ranks fourth-toughest in the Big 12. Even when the schedule is measured by 2026 projected talent alone, it still comes out as one of the three hardest in the league.
That means the margin for error is thin from the start. Cincinnati will need a strong September, and the Bearcats’ September is made up entirely of games against Cincinnati-area opponents. The program is also chasing its second-ever November win under Satterfield, a piece of the puzzle if this team is going to make noise in the race.
A big part of that push starts on defense. Cincinnati has to climb out of the national basement in stop rate, and Satterfield made it clear that the scheme has to evolve.
"I think that's one of the things that we needed to get better at defensively," Satterfield said about the system and coordinator change. "For the last couple years, we were mainly a drop-eight defense, and in this league, with so many great quarterbacks, these quarterbacks, man, they pick you apart. I feel like you got to be able to mix it up and change some things to cause a little bit of havoc for the offense."
There’s no Camp Higher Ground trip planned at the end of the month, so all of fall camp will stay in Clifton. The work continues there, with the Bearcats leaning on the resources already in place and trying to turn a major roster reset into something more dangerous once the season begins.
In Other News...
Big 12 Tension With Texas Tech Just Put Houston Fans On Notice
The Big 12s 2026 media days in Frisco were supposed to be about the leagues next phase, with commissioner Brett Yormark talking up a new Monster Energy partnership, playoff expansion and the conferences stance on sports gambling. But the event also carried the kind of edge that tends to follow Yormark around, especially when Texas Tech is involved, and one exchange with Sean Dillon of Rockin Pregame turned the room back toward the leagues lingering friction points.
Dillon pressed Yormark on how the Big 12 has treated Texas Tech, a question that touched on the programs long list of grievances and the broader sense in Lubbock that the league has not always been even-handed. The tension comes on top of a wider standoff involving Tech booster Cody Campbell, who has sparred with Yormark over scheduling, Friday night games and the schools banned tortilla-throwing tradition, leaving Houston and the rest of the league watching a conference already carrying more than one unresolved fight. [Read more 🡒]
Bearcats Left Hanging Over One Massive Unanswered Gambling Question
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark wasnt interested in opening the door any wider on Wednesday when asked about the investigation swirling around the University of Cincinnati and former quarterback Brendan Sorsby. The leagues top executive sidestepped the question rather than clarify whether the Bearcats are formally part of any inquiry, leaving the conferences stance as guarded as ever while the issue continues to hover over the program.
For Cincinnati, the unanswered piece is as important as the public statements already on record. The university says it provides gambling education and would not knowingly put an ineligible athlete on the field, but the broader questions around what was known, when it was known and who knew it remain unresolved. Until those details come into focus, this is the kind of story that keeps hanging over a team long after the original news cycle should have moved on. [Read more 🡒]
NCAA Just Pulled Cincinnati Into Brendan Sorsbys Growing Mess
Cincinnatis quarterback room has been pulled into a broader NCAA inquiry after the governing body sent the school a letter of inquiry tied to Brendan Sorsbys gambling activity. The case has widened from a player issue into a program matter, with the Bearcats now facing questions about what was known and when as the investigation continues.
Sorsbys betting history includes wagers he made while he was at Cincinnati, and the scrutiny now follows him into a season where he was one of the programs most visible figures. The unresolved part is the one Cincinnati cares about most: how much the staff knew while he was in the building, and what the NCAA decides that means for the school. [Read more 🡒]