When the first BCS rankings of the college football season came out last Sunday, two surprise teams were standing side-by-side perennial juggernauts like the Florida Gators, Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas Longhorns: the Cincinnati Bearcats and Iowa Hawkeyes.
The fifth-ranked Bearcats are undefeated at 6-0 after taking down the then-No. 21 South Florida Bulls last weekend. Behind an explosive aerial attack led by senior quarterback Tony Pike and arguably the nation's best wideout in classmate Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati has taken control of the Big East and exploded up the polls after starting the season out of the top 25.
Cincinnati is the fourth-highest scoring team in the nation at 40.7 points per game, albeit a figure that is slightly skewed by the 70-point barrage the Bearcats put up against lowly Southeast Missouri State in their second game of the season. Still, Cincinnati has never been held under 28 points in its six games and is racking up over 450 yards a game.
The passing attack is the marquee portion of the Bearcats' potent and high-powered offense, although the team still averages 146.8 yards a game on the ground. But Gilyard, who is likely to start sky-rocketing up NFL draft boards, has seven touchdowns and 43 receptions already this season.
Pike, who was named to the second-team All Big East last season, has become a dark-horse Heisman Trophy candidate in his senior campaign by throwing for over 1600 yards and 15 touchdowns so far.
The Cincinnati defense, which came into the year with questions after switching to a 3-4, is also performing well above expectations and is in the top 15 in the nation in points allowed per game. Behind defensive-minded coach Brian Kelly, the Bearcats have tallied 13 interceptions.
With his success, Kelly has proven himself to be one of the best coaches in the nation, maximizing the talent at a historically poor football school to turn it into a BCS Championship contender. He has led Cincinnati to double-digit win totals in each of his first two seasons since coming over from Central Michigan and is well on his way to a third. The Bearcats are a legitimate threat to return to a BCS bowl this season, and they have a shot at the biggest game of them all if Pike's recent arm injury does not keep him out for a prolonged period of time.
While Cincinnati is only a mild shock — after all, the Bearcats were in the Orange Bowl last year — Iowa's meteoric rise has been more improbable. Although the Hawkeyes were ranked at the bottom of the preseason top 25, few would have predicted that they would be a justifiable candidate for the BCS Championship at 7-0.
Iowa has already upset the then-No. 5 Penn State Nittany Lions in Happy Valley, notoriously one of the hardest places to play in the nation, and also has beaten Michigan and Wisconsin, two of the better teams in the Big 10. After starting the season with a one-point win over Northern Iowa, a game in which the Hawkeyes needed a last-second field goal block to hold on for the victory, few would have envisioned this.
Coach Kirk Ferentz has his team looking like the class of the conference. With a playmaking defense, led by sophomore Tyler Sash, that is tops in the NCAA in interceptions, as well as an ever-improving quarterback in junior Rickey Stanzi, Iowa could keep its undefeated record intact throughout the rest of the year.
With no clear cut team that is head and shoulders above anyone else — witness near losses for both Florida and Texas last weekend — this could be a year in which some team comes out of the blue to snatch a spot in the BCS Championship in January. And as of right now, it is apparent that the surprising Cincinnati and Iowa squads are both candidates to fill that role.
