Cincinnati’s Gritty Climb From Rock Bottom To College Football History
The Lead
Wondery
3.9 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2021
⏱️ 26 minutes
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Summary
The Cincinnati Bearcats made football history this week by becoming the first non-Power Five team to make the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014. But what makes their accomplishment even more remarkable is the fact that the program was in shambles just five years ago, and was basically irrelevant for much of its existence. Reporter Justin Williams, who covers Cincinnati for The Athletic, joins us today to explain how the program went from rock bottom to contending for a national championship in such a short period of time -- thanks in large part to one man and a healthy dose of Midwestern grit.
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Transcript
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| 0:46.0 | Music |
| 1:01.0 | This past weekend the Cincinnati Bearcats football program made history, |
| 1:05.0 | becoming the first non-power conference team to make the college football playoff. |
| 1:09.0 | Today the athletics Justin Williams on how a program that was once a bit of a dumpster fire |
| 1:15.0 | is now fighting for a national championship thanks in large part to one man and a healthy dose of Midwestern grit. |
| 1:22.0 | They didn't have all these shiny amenities that Ohio State might have or Alabama might have or Clemson might have |
| 1:28.0 | and instead of trying to cover them up with smoking mirrors they kind of just leaned into it. |
| 1:33.0 | From Wondry and the Athletic I'm Anders Keltow. It's Thursday December 9th and this is The Lead. |
| 1:39.0 | Justin Williams welcome to the show. Thank you appreciate amy on. |
| 1:46.0 | So Justin you cover the Cincinnati Bearcats for the athletic can you tell us about the mood inside the football stadium on Saturday as they beat Houston and booked their ticket to the college football playoff. |
| 1:57.0 | The fun thing for Cincinnati was because Oklahoma State lost in that big 12 championship game which was on it new |
| 2:04.0 | Eastern time right before Cincinnati's game by the time that game kicked off the fan base was aware that if Cincinnati wins there in the playoff. |
| 2:13.0 | And so that whole game especially in that third quarter when Cincinnati took a big lead you could feel the energy of the stadium and of the city. |
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