Cincinnati made its debut as host for ESPN College GameDay Saturday morning before the team's 3:30 p.m. showdown with Tulsa at Nippert Stadium.
The popular pregame show featured Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and celebrity guest picker Nick Lachey.
Show hosts were impressed by the size of the crowd in Cincinnati.
"They may be No. 6 in ratings, but they are No. 1 in (the size of the crowd)," Howard said during a pre-game telecast on YouTube.
The crowd roared and chanted "Corso, Corso" when Corso was shown on TV kissing a Cincinnati helmet.
Herbstreit, whose son is a freshman at Cincinnati St. Xavier High School, is renting a home in Cincinnati. The former Ohio State quarterback is also a well-known Cincinnati Reds fan, so the show was something of a homecoming for the one-time Centerville Elks quarterback.
The show aired live just several days after the undefeated Bearcats were ranked No. 6 in the first College Football Playoff rankings. That felt like a slight to man, and some felt that ESPN might have been behind it. Cincinnati Enquirer sports columnist Paul Daugherty wrote earlier in the week:
"Given the history of the 13-member conglomeration of ESPN caddies and Power 5 worshippers (Let us all bow our heads to Alabama) what did you expect?"
GameDay, one of the network's signature shows, is famous for its live crowd and the signs fans hold up. Did Bearcat fans notice the perceived ranking snub this week?
Uh, yeah.
Here are some of our favorite from ESPN College GameDay's Cincinnati show:
CFP 'SCREWED' Cincinnati
Cincinnati's No. 6 ranking was a popular theme of signs on Saturday.
I had a better sign, but the committee wouldn't let it in
Fans continued to be unhappy with the playoff committee.
I'm ready to get hurt again
This sign inspired by "The Office" speaks to the angst Cincinnati fans felt this week.
What are those?
UC fans point out that the team hasn't lost this year, while three teams currently ranked above the Bearcats have one loss.
'We should have lost to Stanford'
Sign takes a swipe at Oregon, who lost to Stanford but has a better ranking than Cincinnati.
The College Football Playoff top 25
Ohio State is in a good spot in the first rankings, which will be updated every Tuesday until the selection show on Dec. 5, the day after the Big Ten Championship Game.
Here is the top 25 College Football Playoff rankings this week.
- Georgia 8-0
- Alabama 7-1
- Michigan State 8-0
- Oregon 7-1
- Ohio State 7-1
- Cincinnati 8-0
- Michigan 7-1
- Oklahoma 9-0
- Wake Forest 8-0
- Notre Dame 7-1
- Oklahoma State 7-1
- Baylor 7-1
- Auburn 6-2
- Texas A&M 6-2
- BYU 7-2
- Ole Miss 6-2
- Mississippi State 5-3
- Kentucky 6-2
- NC State 6-2
- Minnesota 6-2
- Wisconsin 5-3
- Iowa 6-2
- Fresno State 7-2
- San Diego State 7-1
- Pittsburgh 6-2
2021 Cincinnati Bearcats football schedule
- Sept. 4: Cincinnati 49, Miami University 14
- Sept. 11: Cincinnati 42, Murray State 7
- Sept. 18:Cincinnati 38, Indiana 24
- Oct. 2: Cincinnati 24, Notre Dame 13
- Oct. 8:Cincinnati 52, Temple 3
- Oct. 16: Cincinnati 56, UCF 21
- Oct. 23: Cincinnati 27, Navy 20
- Oct. 30: Cincinnati 31, Tulane 12
- Nov. 6: vs. Tulsa, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
- Nov. 12: at USF, 6 p.m., ESPN2
- Nov. 20: vs. SMU, TBA
- Nov. 26: at East Carolina, 3:30 or 7 p.m., ABC/ESPN
Joe Harrington contributed to this article.
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