2014–2026 performance history

Cincinnati over time

Season-by-season offense and defense game grades, with head-coaching changes placed on the timeline.

Big 12Head coach: Scott SatterfieldView Cincinnati games →
Offense · 2026 estimate72.5/100

60.0 average through 1 game

73.9 prior · 8 equivalent games
Defense · 2026 estimate42.1/100

45.0 average through 1 game

41.8 prior · 8 equivalent games

The trajectory

Game and Season Unit Ratings

Each small dot is one offensive or defensive game rating, arranged in the order played. For completed seasons, the short bar is that season’s average game rating. Both dot and bar values are labeled on a percentile scale. For 2026, the bar is the Bayesian estimate, while the outlined circle is the empirical games-only mean. Labeled background bands show each head coach’s era.

Cincinnati individual offense and defense game grades by seasonEach small point is one game. Horizontal bars show completed-season means and the Bayesian estimate for 2026. The outlined 2026 circle is the empirical games-only mean. Alternating labeled bands identify head-coaching eras.Tuberville · ’14–’16Tommy Tuberville, 2014–2016Fickell · ’17–’22Luke Fickell, 2017–2022Satterfield · ’23–’26Scott Satterfield, 2023–2026offenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Toledo · W 58–34; offense 92.4 percentile2014 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Miami (OH) · W 31–24; offense 29.7 percentile2014 Week 5: Cincinnati at Ohio State · L 28–50; offense 96.0 percentile2014 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Memphis · L 14–41; offense 61.2 percentile2014 Week 7: Cincinnati at Miami · L 34–55; offense 45.9 percentile2014 Week 8: Cincinnati at SMU · W 41–3; offense 82.2 percentile2014 Week 9: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · W 34–17; offense 59.7 percentile2014 Week 10: Cincinnati at Tulane · W 38–14; offense 99.1 percentile2014 Week 12: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 54–46; offense 88.3 percentile2014 Week 14: Cincinnati at Temple · W 14–6; offense 13.3 percentile2014 Week 15: Cincinnati vs. Houston · W 38–31; offense 87.8 percentile2014 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech · L 17–33; offense 78.5 percentile2015 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Alabama A&M · W 52–10; offense 78.7 percentile2015 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Temple · L 26–34; offense 95.3 percentile2015 Week 3: Cincinnati at Miami (OH) · W 37–33; offense 50.7 percentile2015 Week 4: Cincinnati at Memphis · L 46–53; offense 83.4 percentile2015 Week 5: Cincinnati vs. Miami · W 34–23; offense 43.6 percentile2015 Week 7: Cincinnati at BYU · L 24–38; offense 44.4 percentile2015 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. UConn · W 37–13; offense 59.7 percentile2015 Week 9: Cincinnati vs. UCF · W 52–7; offense 98.3 percentile2015 Week 10: Cincinnati at Houston · L 30–33; offense 85.9 percentile2015 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. Tulsa · W 49–38; offense 94.2 percentile2015 Week 12: Cincinnati at South Florida · L 27–65; offense 61.5 percentile2015 Week 13: Cincinnati at East Carolina · W 19–16; offense 55.0 percentile2015 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. San Diego State · L 7–42; offense 39.5 percentile2016 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. UT Martin · W 28–7; offense 12.7 percentile2016 Week 2: Cincinnati at Purdue · W 38–20; offense 69.1 percentile2016 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Houston · L 16–40; offense 30.6 percentile2016 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Miami (OH) · W 27–20; offense 60.6 percentile2016 Week 5: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · L 20–45; offense 16.4 percentile2016 Week 6: Cincinnati at UConn · L 9–20; offense 2.1 percentile2016 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 31–19; offense 46.4 percentile2016 Week 9: Cincinnati at Temple · L 13–34; offense 53.4 percentile2016 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. BYU · L 3–20; offense 26.0 percentile2016 Week 11: Cincinnati at UCF · L 3–24; offense 38.3 percentile2016 Week 12: Cincinnati vs. Memphis · L 7–34; offense 10.4 percentile2016 Week 13: Cincinnati at Tulsa · L 37–40; offense 79.8 percentile2017 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Austin Peay · W 26–14; offense 5.9 percentile2017 Week 2: Cincinnati at Michigan · L 14–36; offense 15.2 percentile2017 Week 3: Cincinnati at Miami (OH) · W 21–17; offense 48.1 percentile2017 Week 4: Cincinnati at Navy · L 32–42; offense 71.4 percentile2017 Week 5: Cincinnati vs. Marshall · L 21–38; offense 57.0 percentile2017 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. UCF · L 23–51; offense 70.4 percentile2017 Week 7: Cincinnati at South Florida · L 3–33; offense 26.9 percentile2017 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. SMU · L 28–31; offense 49.2 percentile2017 Week 10: Cincinnati at Tulane · W 17–16; offense 37.0 percentile2017 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. Temple · L 24–35; offense 54.1 percentile2017 Week 12: Cincinnati at East Carolina · L 20–48; offense 15.6 percentile2017 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. UConn · W 22–21; offense 30.6 percentile2018 Week 1: Cincinnati at UCLA · W 26–17; offense 14.3 percentile2018 Week 2: Cincinnati at Miami (OH) · W 21–0; offense 16.2 percentile2018 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Alabama A&M · W 63–7; offense 95.8 percentile2018 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Ohio · W 34–30; offense 83.0 percentile2018 Week 5: Cincinnati at UConn · W 49–7; offense 63.3 percentile2018 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Tulane · W 37–21; offense 59.3 percentile2018 Week 8: Cincinnati at Temple · L 17–24; offense 38.7 percentile2018 Week 9: Cincinnati at SMU · W 26–20; offense 18.2 percentile2018 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. Navy · W 42–0; offense 94.5 percentile2018 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · W 35–23; offense 63.0 percentile2018 Week 12: Cincinnati at UCF · L 13–38; offense 35.3 percentile2018 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 56–6; offense 97.8 percentile2018 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech · W 35–31; offense 79.2 percentile2019 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. UCLA · W 24–14; offense 44.3 percentile2019 Week 2: Cincinnati at Ohio State · L 0–42; offense 54.2 percentile2019 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Miami (OH) · W 35–13; offense 54.3 percentile2019 Week 5: Cincinnati at Marshall · W 52–14; offense 93.9 percentile2019 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. UCF · W 27–24; offense 43.4 percentile2019 Week 7: Cincinnati at Houston · W 38–23; offense 56.2 percentile2019 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. Tulsa · W 24–13; offense 55.3 percentile2019 Week 10: Cincinnati at East Carolina · W 46–43; offense 85.5 percentile2019 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. UConn · W 48–3; offense 92.5 percentile2019 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. Temple · W 15–13; offense 10.4 percentile2019 Week 14: Cincinnati at Memphis · L 24–34; offense 51.4 percentile2019 Week 15: Cincinnati at Memphis · L 24–29; offense 63.3 percentile2019 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Boston College · W 38–6; offense 79.3 percentile2020 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Austin Peay · W 55–20; offense 69.4 percentile2020 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Army · W 24–10; offense 49.2 percentile2020 Week 5: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · W 28–7; offense 25.1 percentile2020 Week 8: Cincinnati at SMU · W 42–13; offense 83.6 percentile2020 Week 9: Cincinnati vs. Memphis · W 49–10; offense 93.4 percentile2020 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. Houston · W 38–10; offense 96.4 percentile2020 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 55–17; offense 93.3 percentile2020 Week 12: Cincinnati at UCF · W 36–33; offense 41.8 percentile2020 Week 16: Cincinnati vs. Tulsa · W 27–24; offense 56.5 percentile2021 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Miami (OH) · W 49–14; offense 99.2 percentile2021 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Murray State · W 42–7; offense 46.6 percentile2021 Week 3: Cincinnati at Indiana · W 38–24; offense 18.5 percentile2021 Week 5: Cincinnati at Notre Dame · W 24–13; offense 62.6 percentile2021 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Temple · W 52–3; offense 93.8 percentile2021 Week 7: Cincinnati vs. UCF · W 56–21; offense 98.4 percentile2021 Week 8: Cincinnati at Navy · W 27–20; offense 40.1 percentile2021 Week 9: Cincinnati at Tulane · W 31–12; offense 52.8 percentile2021 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. Tulsa · W 28–20; offense 76.1 percentile2021 Week 11: Cincinnati at South Florida · W 45–28; offense 65.2 percentile2021 Week 12: Cincinnati vs. SMU · W 48–14; offense 97.0 percentile2021 Week 13: Cincinnati at East Carolina · W 35–13; offense 49.9 percentile2021 Week 14: Cincinnati vs. Houston · W 35–20; offense 79.6 percentile2021 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Alabama · L 6–27; offense 31.3 percentile2022 Week 1: Cincinnati at Arkansas · L 24–31; offense 57.6 percentile2022 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Kennesaw State · W 63–10; offense 91.8 percentile2022 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Indiana · W 45–24; offense 19.7 percentile2022 Week 5: Cincinnati at Tulsa · W 31–21; offense 42.2 percentile2022 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · W 28–24; offense 43.8 percentile2022 Week 8: Cincinnati at SMU · W 29–27; offense 23.1 percentile2022 Week 9: Cincinnati at UCF · L 21–25; offense 29.8 percentile2022 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. Navy · W 20–10; offense 35.8 percentile2022 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 27–25; offense 27.8 percentile2022 Week 12: Cincinnati at Temple · W 23–3; offense 32.1 percentile2022 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. Tulane · L 24–27; offense 56.7 percentile2022 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Louisville · L 7–24; offense 6.4 percentile2023 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Eastern Kentucky · W 66–13; offense 90.3 percentile2023 Week 2: Cincinnati at Pittsburgh · W 27–21; offense 58.0 percentile2023 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Oklahoma · L 6–20; offense 13.9 percentile2023 Week 5: Cincinnati at BYU · L 27–35; offense 61.0 percentile2023 Week 7: Cincinnati vs. Iowa State · L 10–30; offense 10.2 percentile2023 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. Baylor · L 29–32; offense 28.0 percentile2023 Week 9: Cincinnati at Oklahoma State · L 13–45; offense 41.5 percentile2023 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. UCF · L 26–28; offense 57.5 percentile2023 Week 11: Cincinnati at Houston · W 24–14; offense 45.3 percentile2023 Week 12: Cincinnati at West Virginia · L 21–42; offense 48.7 percentile2023 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. Kansas · L 16–49; offense 37.3 percentile2024 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Towson · W 38–20; offense 54.3 percentile2024 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh · L 27–28; offense 67.5 percentile2024 Week 3: Cincinnati at Miami (OH) · W 27–16; offense 63.4 percentile2024 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Houston · W 34–0; offense 74.0 percentile2024 Week 5: Cincinnati at Texas Tech · L 41–44; offense 79.2 percentile2024 Week 7: Cincinnati at UCF · W 19–13; offense 26.9 percentile2024 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. Arizona State · W 24–14; offense 38.0 percentile2024 Week 9: Cincinnati at Colorado · L 23–34; offense 76.0 percentile2024 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. West Virginia · L 24–31; offense 35.3 percentile2024 Week 12: Cincinnati at Iowa State · L 17–34; offense 59.9 percentile2024 Week 13: Cincinnati at Kansas State · L 15–41; offense 40.6 percentile2024 Week 14: Cincinnati vs. TCU · L 13–20; offense 36.7 percentile2025 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Nebraska · L 17–20; offense 49.2 percentile2025 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Bowling Green · W 34–20; offense 76.9 percentile2025 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Northwestern State · W 70–0; offense 94.2 percentile2025 Week 5: Cincinnati at Kansas · W 37–34; offense 92.3 percentile2025 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Iowa State · W 38–30; offense 96.0 percentile2025 Week 7: Cincinnati vs. UCF · W 20–11; offense 30.7 percentile2025 Week 8: Cincinnati at Oklahoma State · W 49–17; offense 89.1 percentile2025 Week 9: Cincinnati vs. Baylor · W 41–20; offense 90.1 percentile2025 Week 10: Cincinnati at Utah · L 14–45; offense 67.4 percentile2025 Week 12: Cincinnati vs. Arizona · L 24–30; offense 79.3 percentile2025 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. BYU · L 14–26; offense 39.2 percentile2025 Week 14: Cincinnati at TCU · L 23–45; offense 82.4 percentile2025 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Navy · L 13–35; offense 14.0 percentile2026 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Boston College · W 34–15; offense 60.0 percentile2014 offense season mean: 75.8 percentile2015 offense season mean: 73.9 percentile2016 offense season mean: 33.0 percentile2017 offense season mean: 37.7 percentile2018 offense season mean: 63.2 percentile2019 offense season mean: 62.6 percentile2020 offense season mean: 73.1 percentile2021 offense season mean: 73.0 percentile2022 offense season mean: 38.0 percentile2023 offense season mean: 44.0 percentile2024 offense season mean: 54.8 percentile2025 offense season mean: 73.9 percentile2026 offense Bayesian estimate: 72.5 percentile2026 offense empirical mean: 60.0 percentiledefenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Toledo · W 58–34; defense 20.3 percentile2014 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Miami (OH) · W 31–24; defense 48.2 percentile2014 Week 5: Cincinnati at Ohio State · L 28–50; defense 14.7 percentile2014 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Memphis · L 14–41; defense 11.5 percentile2014 Week 7: Cincinnati at Miami · L 34–55; defense 11.6 percentile2014 Week 8: Cincinnati at SMU · W 41–3; defense 48.1 percentile2014 Week 9: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · W 34–17; defense 73.3 percentile2014 Week 10: Cincinnati at Tulane · W 38–14; defense 49.1 percentile2014 Week 12: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 54–46; defense 30.1 percentile2014 Week 14: Cincinnati at Temple · W 14–6; defense 86.6 percentile2014 Week 15: Cincinnati vs. Houston · W 38–31; defense 9.7 percentile2014 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech · L 17–33; defense 38.4 percentile2015 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Alabama A&M · W 52–10; defense 51.6 percentile2015 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Temple · L 26–34; defense 38.4 percentile2015 Week 3: Cincinnati at Miami (OH) · W 37–33; defense 17.2 percentile2015 Week 4: Cincinnati at Memphis · L 46–53; defense 29.9 percentile2015 Week 5: Cincinnati vs. Miami · W 34–23; defense 40.5 percentile2015 Week 7: Cincinnati at BYU · L 24–38; defense 15.0 percentile2015 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. UConn · W 37–13; defense 58.3 percentile2015 Week 9: Cincinnati vs. UCF · W 52–7; defense 45.9 percentile2015 Week 10: Cincinnati at Houston · L 30–33; defense 86.1 percentile2015 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. Tulsa · W 49–38; defense 40.7 percentile2015 Week 12: Cincinnati at South Florida · L 27–65; defense 5.2 percentile2015 Week 13: Cincinnati at East Carolina · W 19–16; defense 59.8 percentile2015 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. San Diego State · L 7–42; defense 23.1 percentile2016 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. UT Martin · W 28–7; defense 33.0 percentile2016 Week 2: Cincinnati at Purdue · W 38–20; defense 20.2 percentile2016 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Houston · L 16–40; defense 41.8 percentile2016 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Miami (OH) · W 27–20; defense 75.2 percentile2016 Week 5: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · L 20–45; defense 56.6 percentile2016 Week 6: Cincinnati at UConn · L 9–20; defense 22.3 percentile2016 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 31–19; defense 25.0 percentile2016 Week 9: Cincinnati at Temple · L 13–34; defense 38.0 percentile2016 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. BYU · L 3–20; defense 48.6 percentile2016 Week 11: Cincinnati at UCF · L 3–24; defense 53.6 percentile2016 Week 12: Cincinnati vs. Memphis · L 7–34; defense 51.5 percentile2016 Week 13: Cincinnati at Tulsa · L 37–40; defense 58.6 percentile2017 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Austin Peay · W 26–14; defense 51.1 percentile2017 Week 2: Cincinnati at Michigan · L 14–36; defense 55.7 percentile2017 Week 3: Cincinnati at Miami (OH) · W 21–17; defense 92.6 percentile2017 Week 4: Cincinnati at Navy · L 32–42; defense 2.0 percentile2017 Week 5: Cincinnati vs. Marshall · L 21–38; defense 57.8 percentile2017 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. UCF · L 23–51; defense 0.1 percentile2017 Week 7: Cincinnati at South Florida · L 3–33; defense 67.6 percentile2017 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. SMU · L 28–31; defense 26.7 percentile2017 Week 10: Cincinnati at Tulane · W 17–16; defense 86.2 percentile2017 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. Temple · L 24–35; defense 10.3 percentile2017 Week 12: Cincinnati at East Carolina · L 20–48; defense 13.5 percentile2017 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. UConn · W 22–21; defense 47.9 percentile2018 Week 1: Cincinnati at UCLA · W 26–17; defense 81.3 percentile2018 Week 2: Cincinnati at Miami (OH) · W 21–0; defense 94.7 percentile2018 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Alabama A&M · W 63–7; defense 64.8 percentile2018 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Ohio · W 34–30; defense 84.1 percentile2018 Week 5: Cincinnati at UConn · W 49–7; defense 91.8 percentile2018 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Tulane · W 37–21; defense 85.7 percentile2018 Week 8: Cincinnati at Temple · L 17–24; defense 98.2 percentile2018 Week 9: Cincinnati at SMU · W 26–20; defense 85.5 percentile2018 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. Navy · W 42–0; defense 97.6 percentile2018 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · W 35–23; defense 73.5 percentile2018 Week 12: Cincinnati at UCF · L 13–38; defense 55.1 percentile2018 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 56–6; defense 56.3 percentile2018 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech · W 35–31; defense 45.7 percentile2019 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. UCLA · W 24–14; defense 85.7 percentile2019 Week 2: Cincinnati at Ohio State · L 0–42; defense 42.2 percentile2019 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Miami (OH) · W 35–13; defense 79.0 percentile2019 Week 5: Cincinnati at Marshall · W 52–14; defense 93.0 percentile2019 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. UCF · W 27–24; defense 93.4 percentile2019 Week 7: Cincinnati at Houston · W 38–23; defense 44.3 percentile2019 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. Tulsa · W 24–13; defense 51.8 percentile2019 Week 10: Cincinnati at East Carolina · W 46–43; defense 15.8 percentile2019 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. UConn · W 48–3; defense 74.4 percentile2019 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. Temple · W 15–13; defense 83.5 percentile2019 Week 14: Cincinnati at Memphis · L 24–34; defense 55.3 percentile2019 Week 15: Cincinnati at Memphis · L 24–29; defense 89.1 percentile2019 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Boston College · W 38–6; defense 99.9 percentile2020 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Austin Peay · W 55–20; defense 54.8 percentile2020 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Army · W 24–10; defense 94.7 percentile2020 Week 5: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · W 28–7; defense 80.0 percentile2020 Week 8: Cincinnati at SMU · W 42–13; defense 97.5 percentile2020 Week 9: Cincinnati vs. Memphis · W 49–10; defense 95.3 percentile2020 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. Houston · W 38–10; defense 73.0 percentile2020 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 55–17; defense 55.6 percentile2020 Week 12: Cincinnati at UCF · W 36–33; defense 77.2 percentile2020 Week 16: Cincinnati vs. Tulsa · W 27–24; defense 41.5 percentile2021 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Miami (OH) · W 49–14; defense 90.3 percentile2021 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Murray State · W 42–7; defense 59.6 percentile2021 Week 3: Cincinnati at Indiana · W 38–24; defense 38.6 percentile2021 Week 5: Cincinnati at Notre Dame · W 24–13; defense 91.2 percentile2021 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Temple · W 52–3; defense 74.1 percentile2021 Week 7: Cincinnati vs. UCF · W 56–21; defense 87.1 percentile2021 Week 8: Cincinnati at Navy · W 27–20; defense 81.0 percentile2021 Week 9: Cincinnati at Tulane · W 31–12; defense 62.1 percentile2021 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. Tulsa · W 28–20; defense 45.5 percentile2021 Week 11: Cincinnati at South Florida · W 45–28; defense 43.5 percentile2021 Week 12: Cincinnati vs. SMU · W 48–14; defense 86.6 percentile2021 Week 13: Cincinnati at East Carolina · W 35–13; defense 92.8 percentile2021 Week 14: Cincinnati vs. Houston · W 35–20; defense 83.3 percentile2021 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Alabama · L 6–27; defense 37.6 percentile2022 Week 1: Cincinnati at Arkansas · L 24–31; defense 48.9 percentile2022 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Kennesaw State · W 63–10; defense 53.6 percentile2022 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Indiana · W 45–24; defense 62.9 percentile2022 Week 5: Cincinnati at Tulsa · W 31–21; defense 74.1 percentile2022 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. South Florida · W 28–24; defense 17.9 percentile2022 Week 8: Cincinnati at SMU · W 29–27; defense 88.0 percentile2022 Week 9: Cincinnati at UCF · L 21–25; defense 63.5 percentile2022 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. Navy · W 20–10; defense 72.6 percentile2022 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina · W 27–25; defense 82.7 percentile2022 Week 12: Cincinnati at Temple · W 23–3; defense 83.6 percentile2022 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. Tulane · L 24–27; defense 56.5 percentile2022 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Louisville · L 7–24; defense 32.6 percentile2023 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Eastern Kentucky · W 66–13; defense 18.3 percentile2023 Week 2: Cincinnati at Pittsburgh · W 27–21; defense 66.5 percentile2023 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Oklahoma · L 6–20; defense 90.0 percentile2023 Week 5: Cincinnati at BYU · L 27–35; defense 28.2 percentile2023 Week 7: Cincinnati vs. Iowa State · L 10–30; defense 39.6 percentile2023 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. Baylor · L 29–32; defense 43.5 percentile2023 Week 9: Cincinnati at Oklahoma State · L 13–45; defense 7.9 percentile2023 Week 10: Cincinnati vs. UCF · L 26–28; defense 52.0 percentile2023 Week 11: Cincinnati at Houston · W 24–14; defense 66.5 percentile2023 Week 12: Cincinnati at West Virginia · L 21–42; defense 0.4 percentile2023 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. Kansas · L 16–49; defense 7.3 percentile2024 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Towson · W 38–20; defense 11.2 percentile2024 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh · L 27–28; defense 9.6 percentile2024 Week 3: Cincinnati at Miami (OH) · W 27–16; defense 61.8 percentile2024 Week 4: Cincinnati vs. Houston · W 34–0; defense 80.6 percentile2024 Week 5: Cincinnati at Texas Tech · L 41–44; defense 20.9 percentile2024 Week 7: Cincinnati at UCF · W 19–13; defense 70.6 percentile2024 Week 8: Cincinnati vs. Arizona State · W 24–14; defense 76.7 percentile2024 Week 9: Cincinnati at Colorado · L 23–34; defense 31.8 percentile2024 Week 11: Cincinnati vs. West Virginia · L 24–31; defense 76.0 percentile2024 Week 12: Cincinnati at Iowa State · L 17–34; defense 63.0 percentile2024 Week 13: Cincinnati at Kansas State · L 15–41; defense 26.9 percentile2024 Week 14: Cincinnati vs. TCU · L 13–20; defense 82.1 percentile2025 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Nebraska · L 17–20; defense 71.6 percentile2025 Week 2: Cincinnati vs. Bowling Green · W 34–20; defense 65.4 percentile2025 Week 3: Cincinnati vs. Northwestern State · W 70–0; defense 74.4 percentile2025 Week 5: Cincinnati at Kansas · W 37–34; defense 9.1 percentile2025 Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Iowa State · W 38–30; defense 58.5 percentile2025 Week 7: Cincinnati vs. UCF · W 20–11; defense 62.6 percentile2025 Week 8: Cincinnati at Oklahoma State · W 49–17; defense 22.5 percentile2025 Week 9: Cincinnati vs. Baylor · W 41–20; defense 41.2 percentile2025 Week 10: Cincinnati at Utah · L 14–45; defense 50.7 percentile2025 Week 12: Cincinnati vs. Arizona · L 24–30; defense 17.1 percentile2025 Week 13: Cincinnati vs. BYU · L 14–26; defense 25.9 percentile2025 Week 14: Cincinnati at TCU · L 23–45; defense 13.2 percentile2025 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Navy · L 13–35; defense 55.6 percentile2026 Week 1: Cincinnati vs. Boston College · W 34–15; defense 45.0 percentile2014 defense season mean: 34.5 percentile2015 defense season mean: 37.4 percentile2016 defense season mean: 43.2 percentile2017 defense season mean: 33.9 percentile2018 defense season mean: 82.8 percentile2019 defense season mean: 77.4 percentile2020 defense season mean: 79.8 percentile2021 defense season mean: 72.8 percentile2022 defense season mean: 62.7 percentile2023 defense season mean: 31.6 percentile2024 defense season mean: 49.9 percentile2025 defense season mean: 41.8 percentile2026 defense Bayesian estimate: 42.1 percentile2026 defense empirical mean: 45.0 percentile2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Individual gameSeason bar · 2026 is the estimate2026 empirical meanCoaching-era band
2017Luke Fickell
2022Luke Fickell / Kerry Coombs
2023Scott Satterfield

How to read 2026

The current-season estimate intelligently blends last season with new data.

The 2026 estimate is a Bayesian weighted average of normal-score Z-values. The 2025 season mean counts like 8 games of prior evidence; each completed 2026 game counts once. The result is then translated back to the 0–100 percentile scale.

2026 Z = (8 × 2025 mean Z + games played × 2026 mean Z) ÷ (8 + games played)

Season record

Every annual grade and coach

Retrospective rows average the available single-game grades in normal-score space. The result is shown as a percentile. Roughly speaking, a 95th-percentile season corresponds to about the eighth-best team in a 160-team field.

SeasonHead coachGamesOffenseDefense
2026Live estimateScott Satterfield1
72.5 estimate60.0 games-only average
42.1 estimate45.0 games-only average
2025Scott Satterfield1373.941.8
2024Scott Satterfield1254.849.9
2023Scott SatterfieldCoaching change1144.031.6
2022Luke Fickell / Kerry CoombsCoaching change1238.062.7
2021Luke Fickell1473.072.8
2020Luke Fickell973.179.8
2019Luke Fickell1362.677.4
2018Luke Fickell1363.282.8
2017Luke FickellCoaching change1237.733.9
2016Tommy Tuberville1233.043.2
2015Tommy Tuberville1373.937.4
2014Tommy Tuberville1275.834.5