Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Temple Owls: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 11/19/2022

Time: 4 p.m. ET

Venue: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA

Where to watch: ESPNU

DraftKings: Cincinnati -17

FanDuel: Cincinnati -16.5

BetMGM: Cincinnati -17

Caesars: Cincinnati -17

No. 25 Cincinnati: 8-2 (5-1 American)

Temple: 3-7 (1-5 American)

Cincinnati: won 27-25 vs. East Carolina

Temple: lost 43-36 at Houston

It’s certainly not the best team they’ve fielded, not even remotely close to last year. But the Cincinnati Bearcats are still hanging around. It might not be a College Football Playoff-bound team, but it still possesses a strong defense that can win most battles. And at 5-1, there’s still a chance to get to win the AAC, but it’s going to take some help. First order of business is taking care of the Temple Owls on Saturday.

Cincinnati’s lone conference loss is the one that might cost them the most, the 25-21 loss to the UCF Knights on Oct. 29. As of now, UCF would be in the title game with Cincinnati as the odd team out. The Bearcats responded with wins against Navy and East Carolina, the latter being a 27-25 home win last week. Ben Bryant threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns but completed less than 50 percent of his passes to get there. Tyler Scott caught 7 passes for 140 yards one of those touchdowns.

It's definitely not Desmond Ridder getting the call under center here, but the Cincinnati defense is still elite in its own right. Despite the offense putting up 310 yards of offense, the defense gave up 454 but still made enough plays in the first half to keep ECU at bay.

Now No. 25 in the country, Cincinnati can play its way toward a good bowl game if it finishes strong. Having the conference title within the next couple of weeks would help a great deal, but the way UCF is playing, that’s going to require a lot of prayer or whatever.

Temple is officially no longer bowl eligible after losing 43-36 at Houston last week. The Owls, now 1-5 in conference play, just dug themselves too big a hole to climb out of with these conference losses. Temple quarterback E.J. Warner threw for 486 yards and three touchdowns, and Jose Barbon caught 8 passes for 128 yards while David Martin-Robinson caught 10 more balls for 114 yards and a touchdown.

The fact we’re even discussing this type of offense from a Temple-run program is kind of funny and somewhat shocking all at the same time. The only thing we really need to be concerned about is Cincinnati covering despite this sudden surge of a Temple offense.

Let’s put it this way: Such occurrences won’t be happening because it’s not like any team can just score willy-nilly against this Cincinnati defense. Temple missed a chance for a big win last week, and it won’t get a second chance against the Bearcats. Cincinnati by 20

Temple is 3-11 ATS when the total is between 49.5 and 56 the last 2 seasons.

Cincinnati is 0-6 ATS after 3 straight games where it committed 1 turnover or less the last 3 seasons.

Temple is 34-17 ATS after 2 straight games where they committed 1 turnover or less since 1992.

Passing: Ben Bryant -- 2,602 yards, 20 TD, 7 INT

Rushing: Charles McClelland -- 766 yards, 6 TD

Receiving: Tyler Scott -- 826 yards, 9 TD

Passing: E.J. Warner -- 2,334 yards, 13 TD, 9 INT

Rushing: Edward Saydee -- 575 yards, 5 TD

Receiving: Jose Barbon -- 727 yards, 2 TD