The University of Cincinnati football team hasn't given up on winning the Conference USA championship and the automatic Liberty Bowl berth that goes with it, despite last week's loss to first-place Louisville. But if they fall short, the Bearcats remain in position to secure one of the league's three remaining bowl bids.

UCONN at UC

• Kickoff: 1 p.m. today, Nippert Stadium (35,000).   • Records: UC 4-3, Connecticut 2-5.   • TV: None.   • Radio: WLW-AM (700).   • Series: First meeting.   • Line: UC by 25.   • What to watch: UC wide receiver LaDaris Vann has caught a pass in 27 straight games, the second-longest streak in school history and six shy of the record of 33 held by Jason Stargel.

        UC, 4-3 overall, 4-1 in C-USA, takes a break from conference play today when it plays Connecticut, 2-5, at 1 p.m. at Nippert Stadium. The Bearcats, who need two more victories to become bowl eligible, can't afford to relax.

        Next week, they'll take part in another conference showdown game, when they play at home against East Carolina, which shares first place with Louisville. Their remaining two games after that are at Memphis and at home against Louisiana-Monroe.

        “Three out of four will get it done,” said UC coach Rick Minter. “If we're 5-2 in the league, we'll be OK, as long as we win these other two.”

        Even if UC beats East Carolina and finishes in a tie with Louisville, it's unlikely the Bearcats would go to the Liberty Bowl. In the event of a tie at the top of the standings, Liberty officials have the right to choose the team they want. Considering that Louisville took an estimated 27,000 fans to Memphis last year, the Cardinals would have a decided advantage.

        In addition to the Liberty Bowl, the league sends representatives to the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala., the galleryfurniture.com Bowl at the Houston Astrodome and the Motor City Bowl in Detroit. But only the Liberty Bowl is automatic. The remaining three bowls choose from among the league's bowl-eligible teams, with the GMAC Bowl receiving the first pick, followed by the galleryfurniture.com and the Motor City.

        “It goes back to issues of travel and history,” said Brian Teter, a C-USA assistant commissioner.

        Last year, UC lost to Marshall in the Motor City Bowl, but may have helped its bowl cause for the future by taking 12,000 fans to Detroit.

        “They did very well last year,” Teter said.

        The C-USA representative in the Motor City Bowl plays the champion of the Mid-American Conference. On the surface, that creates the possibility of a UC-Miami rematch, with the RedHawks currently unbeaten in the MAC. But that, too, is an unlikely scenario.

        “They frown on rematches,” Teter said. “If Miami were to win their division and Toledo wins their divison, maybe to avoid a rematch, they'd send Miami to Mobile. I don't think they'd play again. That would be a real stretch.”

        Last week, representatives from the Liberty Bowl, GMAC Bowl and Motor City Bowl attended UC's loss to Louisville. There will be no bowl scouts on hand at Nippert today, but the UC players and coaches know that wherever the scouts are, they'll be factoring in the result of UC's game against UConn.

        This is a game the Bearcats are expected to win fairly easily over a Connecticut team that's in only its second year in Division I-A. UC is favored by 25 points.

        The Huskies, who have beaten Rutgers and Eastern Michigan and lost last week to Ball State, 10-5, have no seniors on their roster. Seven starters on defense and nine on offense are either freshmen or sophomores.

        “We're still looking for that game where we come out smoking and just play extremely well,” Minter said. “We're just finding ways to get behind, then we battle back and make it exciting and find a way to win or just barely lose. We'd love to have a different kind of game, but I don't know if it's going to happen this year.”

        If the Bearcats intend to make a statement about their bowl worthiness, it needs to happen today.

UC needs strong finish to solidify bowl bid Minter has put UC on solid footing Murphy knows UC's grown

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