No. 3 = 2019 -11-3 record
Luke Fickell’s most recent team comes in at number three for me. Highest Strength of Schedule of any of the five teams that make the list (47). Three losses, one early season on the road against an Ohio State team who had a historic season, one on the road with a backup quarterback in his first start of his career, and then one loss to the same team a week later with a starter who wasn’t truly healthy for months. It’s hard to fault this Bearcats team for those losses and for only putting up 29 points per game. When you think back on this season you usually think of all the close calls, the penalties, the frustrating play, but all this team did was just find ways to win. They got as high as 17th and finished the season ranked 21st in the AP Poll and clinched their first ever American Athletic Conference Title game appearance. The Bearcats capped off the season with an utter dismantling of Boston College 38-6 in the Birmingham Bowl and really the game wasn’t that close. With Brian Kelly’s teams being remembered for prolific offensive outbursts, this Fickell squad made their mark on the defensive side of the ball. The Ahmad Gardner pick-six to help win the UCF game will forever be the memory of the season as he became a focal point of a defense that surrendered only 20 points a game, good for 24th in the country.
