2017 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

The 2017 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats were led by first-year head coach Luke Fickell who was hired in December 2016. The Bearcats played their home games at Nippert Stadium, and were members of the East Division in the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 2–6 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place in the East Division.

Previous Season
In 2016, the Bearcats were led by fourth-year head coach Tommy Tuberville, After being predicted to finish second in the AAC East, The Bearcats finished 2016 season with a 4-8 (1-7 AAC) record with a five-game losing streak to end the year, missing a bowl game for the first time since 2010. UC suffered a number of season-ending injuries and never found any consistency offensively, dropping from the Top-5 in the NCAA FBS a year ago to No. 101 in total offense. The defense showed significant improvements during the campaign, including being among the national leaders in forced turnovers. After the season Tuberville announced he was stepping down as head coach on December 4, 2016. Tuberville was 29-22 with the Bearcats, notching three bowl appearances and a share of the 2014 American Athletic Conference Championship

Schedule
The Bearcats' 2017 schedule will consist of six home games and six away games. Cincinnati will host two of its four non-conference games; against Austin Peay from the Ohio Valley Conference, and Marshall from Conference USA. They will travel to Michigan for the first ever meeting between the Bearcats and Wolverines and long time rival Miami (OH) for their annual Victory Bell game.

The Bearcats will play eight conference games; hosting UCF, UConn, Temple and SMU. They will travel to East Carolina, Navy, South Florida and Tulane. On September 14, 2017, the American Athletic Conference announced that Cincinnati will play at USF on Saturday, October 14 and will have its bye week on October 28 due to the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Defensive player of the week

 * Week 3: Malik Clements

American Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team

 * James Smith, P

American Athletic Conference All-Conference Second Team

 * Korey Cunningham, OT


 * Jaylyin Minor, LB

American Athletic Conference All-Conference Honorable Mention

 * Marquise Copeland, DL