The Cincinnati–West Virginia rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the US

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

Bearcats and

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

Mountaineers Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

, which are about apart. The rivalry dates from their first

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

game in 1921, and has continued across all sports, including

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

since 1940. The rivalry intensified while the two schools were conference foes and members of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

from 2005 to 2011.

History

The schools have not played since West Virginia left the Big East for the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

in 2012. Cincinnati remained in the Big East, which became the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

in 2013. Cincinnati was later invited on September 10, 2021, into the Big 12 Conference, starting in 2023–24 season. To continue the series between the two schools, the Big 12 announced a protective rivalry between the two in the conference's future. In men's

both

Gale Catlett Wendell Gale Catlett Article refers to Catlett as "W. Gale Catlett". (born October 31, 1940) is a retired American basketball coach who was head coach at the University of Cincinnati and West Virginia University. Playing career Born in Hedgesvil ...

and

Bob Huggins Robert Edward Huggins (born September 21, 1953) is an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed “Huggy Bear,” he is currently the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team. Huggins previously held the head coach ...

were successful head coaches at both institutions.

Football

Notable games

November 17, 2007:

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

had momentum as the No. 5 ranked team in the nation, and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

was ranked No. 21 after back-to-back wins against ranked opponents No. 20

USF USF may refer to: Universities * University of Saint Francis (Indiana), Ft. Wayne, Indiana * University of San Francisco, California * University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida * University of St. Francis, Joliet, Illinois * University of Siou ...

and No. 16

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. West Virginia was able to hold on for a victory by defeating No. 21 Cincinnati 28-23 to keep its Big East title hopes alive. November 13, 2009:

was undefeated with a 9-0 record and ranked No. 5, the Bearcats seeking a second consecutive Big East Championship.

was ranked No. 23. Cincinnati would hold off the Mountaineers to remain undefeated, beating West Virginia 24-21, which helped propel Cincinnati to the

2010 Sugar Bowl The 2010 Allstate Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the 76th Sugar Bowl. The Florida Gators defeated the Cincinnati Be ...

Game results

Rankings are from the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

(1936–present), CFP Poll (2014–present)

Men's basketball

Notable games

March 14, 1998: In the round of 32 of the 1998 NCAA tournament #2 Seed Cincinnati would take the lead with 7.1 seconds remaining in the second half before the #10 Seed Mountaineers stormed back down the court and took the lead back with their own 3-point shot, upsetting the Bearcats 75–74. January 30, 2008: In his first game at West Virginia facing his former school,

lost to his former assistant coach Mick Cronin as Cincinnati beat the Musketeers 62–39 in Morgantown.

Game results

Rankings are from the

(1936–present)

Notes

^A 1998 NCAA Round of 32
^B

2010 Big East men's basketball tournament The 2010 Big East men's basketball tournament, a part of the 2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place in March 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the Georgetown Hoyas 60–5 ...

References

{{Navboxes , list = {{Cincinnati Bearcats football navbox {{West Virginia Mountaineers football navbox College football rivalries in the United States Cincinnati Bearcats football West Virginia Mountaineers football

History

Football

Notable games

Game results

Men's basketball

Notable games

Game results

Notes

See also

References