BYU Cougars (9-1) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-3)
November 22, 2025 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Cincinnati Bearcats +2.5; Over/Under: 53.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The BYU Cougars and the Cincinnati Bearcats meet Saturday in college football action from Nippert Stadium. Here’s a Cincinnati vs BYU prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Cincinnati vs BYU pick.
BYU Cougars Betting Preview
The Cougars got off to a great start this year, dispatching all comers for a while. BYU beat Portland State, Stanford, East Carolina, Colorado, West Virginia, Arizona, Utah and Iowa State in their first eight outings of the season. On November 8 versus Texas Tech however, the Cougars took their first loss of the year 29-7. BYU gave up points in every quarter during that game and put up just 255 yards on offense with 14 first downs and a pretty rough 3-of-14 success rate on third downs. The three turnovers didn’t help the Cougars either.
In their game versus TCU last weekend, the Cougars didn’t have a ton of trouble. BYU was up 27-10 by halftime and scored in every quarter (including double-digits in three of them) on the way to a 44-13 blowout win. QB Bear Bachmeier finished 23-of-33 for 296 yards and a score while LJ Martin topped the rush on 21 carries for 88 yards and another TD. Parker Kingston caught five balls for 80 yards to lead the Cougars receivers in the winning effort.
Cincinnati Bearcats Betting Preview
Over on the Bearcats’ side, they lost a tough one 20-17 versus Nebraska in their opener. Cincinnati would then beat Bowling Green, Northwestern State, Kansas, Iowa State, UCF, Oklahoma State and Baylor ahead of another loss to Utah. In the November 1 defeat by the Utes, the Bearcats gave up double-digit points in each of the first three quarters in a 45-14 blowout road loss. Cincinnati had three turnovers (two fumbles) on offense but did gain 427 total yards and 206 rushing yards. The defense gave up 480 yards on the other side in the loss, including 267 yards on the ground with 29 first downs.
Matched up against Arizona last weekend, Cincinnati was up 14-10 by halftime. The Bearcats were outscored 20-10 the rest of the way however, leading to a 30-24 defeat. QB Brendan Sorsby finished with a 15-of-28 line for 154 yards, one TD and two picks while also scoring a rush TD. Tawee Walker led the run with 12 totes for 119 yards while leading receiver Jeff Caldwell logged 68 yards and a touchdown on five catches in the Bearcats loss.
BYU Cougars @ Cincinnati Bearcats Betting Trends: Week 13
Cincinnati Bearcats Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 13, Brendan Sorsby ranks 2nd amongst qualified players for sack percentage (1.1%) this season.
BYU Cougars Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 13, Parker Kingston is one of only 11 players in the FBS to record 3+ rushing and 3+ receiving TDs this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- Cincinnati ranks 136th among FBS teams for time of possession per game this season (24:39).
- Cincinnati ranks 2nd among FBS teams for 4th down conversion percentage this season (81.3).
- BYU ranks T7th among FBS teams for Q4 points per game this season (10.4).
- BYU ranks T7th among FBS teams for interceptions this season (14).
Cincinnati vs BYU Prediction
I’ll stick with BYU. The Cougars put up a nice effort against a pretty good TCU team last weekend, notching 447 total yards with 6.2 yards per play, 28 first downs and 6-of-12 on third-down tries. Defensively BYU held the Frogs to 298 yards with 15 first downs, two picks and a very nice 1-of-10 allowed on third-down conversion attempts. The Cougars bounced back well after posting just seven points in a loss to Texas Tech, and they’ve now put up 41 or more points in each of their last two wins.
As for Cincinnati, they lost steam in the second half against Arizona last weekend and only held the ball for 23:19 of game time. The Bearcats mustered just 154 pass yards, 14 first downs and 3-of-12 on third downs offensively along with a couple of picks. The defense gave up 6.5 yards per play and 8-of-16 on third downs with no takeaways. That makes consecutive losses for Cincinnati, and they’ve given up a combined 75 points in that pair of games. The Bearcats have another difficult matchup incoming this weekend, and they’ll need to sharpen up if they want to be competitive against BYU. I like the Cougars a little better cover-wise.
