Getting a top 10 win with a team this young and wounded?

It would be extraordinary 

This game reminds me of the Temple game. Cincy can easily beat us, especially with the issues we are experiencing right now, but even with a win it will matter less then Clemson.

 

Cincy is a good team and I fully expect to lose (shock there huh). 

I've gone to 2-3 ND games and one spring game. I'm a Pennsylvania boy so I went to ND-Temple game and I agree with @cali_domer so much. Close game and a very good win. Turned on as I remember a Late game Will Fuller TD and was helped by a kizer TD run.

@Mike I believe temple was still coached by Matt Rhule at that time but everyone knew he had an NFL future. My point is if ND wins Years afterwards it becomes ND beat Temple. If ND loses however I feel like it could be viewed as Luke Fickell's spring board to USC or the  like. 

A win in this game will be much bigger for Cincinnati than for ND. It could give them some legitimacy in the college football world. A loss, on the other hand, would do more damage to ND, I think.

There’s no way this would be a bigger victory than beating Clemson last season. Cincinnati is a good team, but I do believe they are somewhat overrated, based on who they’ve played this year and squeaking by an Indiana team that also was overrated coming into the season.

11 minutes ago, jimbo said:

A win in this game will be much bigger for Cincinnati than for ND. It could give them some legitimacy in the college football world. A loss, on the other hand, would do more damage to ND, I think.

There’s no way this would be a bigger victory than beating Clemson last season. Cincinnati is a good team, but I do believe they are somewhat overrated, based on who they’ve played this year and squeaking by an Indiana team that also was overrated coming into the season.

Agree mostly. A W means a ton to Cinci, not so much to us. A loss hurts us more than Cinci.

Clemons win last year was diminished by TL not playing. I rank the close loss to a Watson led Clemson during a hurricane over last year's win.

A win over a 7th-ranked media darling team will grab headlines everywhere. It would be a huge psychological boost to an ND team that knows it has something to prove. ND would move up to 7 probably. That’s all pretty major stuff. 
I’m confident no one who participates in polls wants to rank highly an ND team that keeps getting destroyed in big bowl and playoff games, but when you are already inside the top 10 and beat a team ranked ahead of you, it definitely is adding some street-cred to your ranking. 

Unfortunately, Brian "Big Game" Kelly seems to only be able to beat a Top 10 team when it has lost its All American QB and multiple key defensive players due to Covid. Since Group of Five member Cincinnati with its three # recruits actually had its starters healthy, Kelly came up short (again). 

Cincinnati is going to find out, like us, that being undefeated is meaningless if/when they get to the playoffs. They see beating us as a big win, but we’re  not a very good football team. They’re gonna get crushed eventually, but it’s fun for them. They have a rinky  40,000 seat stadium. So, seeing our stadium and the illusion of our excellence built over the years beating up ACC cupcakes has given them the illusion that they’re better than they are.  

4 minutes ago, Frankus said:

Cincinnati is going to find out, like us, that being undefeated is meaningless if/when they get to the playoffs. They see beating us as a big win, but we’re  not a very good football team. They’re gonna get crushed eventually, but it’s fun for them. They have a rinky  40,000 seat stadium. So, seeing our stadium and the illusion of our excellence built over the years beating up ACC cupcakes has given them the illusion that they’re better than they are.  

Cincinnati won’t be a playoff team.  There are only two spots up for grabs.  Their two power 5 wins will be over an Indiana team that might go 4-8, and ND, who probably won’t finish as a ranked team.  Their resume will not stack up with the power 5 contenders. 

3 minutes ago, Frankus said:

Cincinnati is going to find out, like us, that being undefeated is meaningless if/when they get to the playoffs. They see beating us as a big win, but we’re  not a very good football team. They’re gonna get crushed eventually, but it’s fun for them. They have a rinky  40,000 seat stadium. So, seeing our stadium and the illusion of our excellence built over the years beating up ACC cupcakes has given them the illusion that they’re better than they are.  

We've also thrown weak ass MAC teams in there. I miss the good ol' days starting off Purdue Michigan Michigan State. Wouldn't have a gimme on the schedule. The weakest teams would be Navy and Boston College. 

Yes this is probably the worst part is to have to listen to pundits on the radio (mostly listen to ESPN U radio) and TV talk about whether or not Cinci is deserving of a top 4 spot. 

Arkansas, Ole Miss, Ohio State,, Sparty etc would roll this team. Vegas would have a pretty hefty money line/spread. 

Just now, JTennant said:

We've also thrown weak ass MAC teams in there. I miss the good ol' days starting off Purdue Michigan Michigan State. Wouldn't have a gimme on the schedule. The weakest teams would be Navy and Boston College. 

Yes this is probably the worst part is to have to listen to pundits on the radio (mostly listen to ESPN U radio) and TV talk about whether or not Cinci is deserving of a top 4 spot. 

Arkansas, Ole Miss, Ohio State,, Sparty etc would roll this team. Vegas would have a pretty hefty money line/spread. 

Cincinnati could easily finish dead last in the SEC West this year if they were in that league.