Five schools who could be Miami Hurricanes rivals if ND joins ACC
Cincinnati
Cincinnati seems like the least likely of the five teams on this list to receive an invitation to the ACC. The Bearcats have been longtime rivals with Louisville but do not have the national cache the Cardinals do. Louisville brought three national championships in basketball and 10 Final Four appearances to the ACC.
Cincinnati has six Final Four appearances and two National Championships, but those came in 1961 and 1962 to go with a National Runner-up in 1963. Most of Cincinnati’s football success has come over the last 15 years. The Bearcats did not win 10 games in the season for the first time until 2007.
Like Memphis and Temple, Cincinnati has seen a turnover of coaches leaving for more prestigious jobs. Mark Dantonio left for Michigan State, Brian Kelly for Notre Dame and Butch Jones for Tennessee. After 4-8 records in the final season under Tommy Tuberville and first under Luke Fickell, Cincinnati has stabilized.
Next. How ACC would look aligned geographically. dark
Fickell has led Cincinnati to a 22-5 record over the past two seasons. Cincinnati is the 68th largest city in the country, but the 28th largest metro area. Geographically it’s about 100 miles from Louisville and less than 300 from Pittsburgh. The Bearcats would be the longest shot of the five listed here for an invitation from the ACC.