Cincinnati–Memphis rivalry

Cincinnati Bearcats Memphis Tigers
Sport	Football, basketball, others
First meeting	1966

The Cincinnati–Memphis rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and the University of Memphis Tigers. The rivalry between these two schools dates to their first college football game in 1966, and has continued across all sports, with the men's basketball series gaining attention as well, having started in 1968. The schools have also shared conferences historically, with the rivalry stretching over the span of five conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference, to the Metro Conference, Great Midwest Conference, Conference USA, and more recently in the American Athletic Conference. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

History

College Comparison

	Cincinnati	Memphis
Founded	1819	1912
Type	Public	Public
Location	Cincinnati, OH	Memphis, TN
Conference	Big 12	American
Students	44,338	21,521
School colors
Nickname	Bearcats	Tigers
Stadium	Nippert Stadium	Liberty Bowl
Arena	Fifth Third Arena	FedExForum

Both universities share histories in their founding as small city universities into large universities with prominent Division 1 athletic programs. The schools would first face off as members of the Missouri Valley Conference in the 1960s and then both schools would be founding members of the Metro Conference, Great Midwest Conference, and Conference USA. The schools were reunited as conference rivals due to the 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment as members of the American Athletic Conference. While the rivalry was represented annually in football, the true intensity of the rivalry was felt more deeply on the basketball court.

Since the founding of the American, the schools have had many notable contests in various sports. Most recently, with the football teams facing off in the 2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, with Memphis claiming the victory.

Football

Cincinnati–Memphis football rivalry

Cincinnati Bearcats Memphis Tigers
Sport	College football
First meeting	November 19, 1966 Memphis, 26–14
Latest meeting	October 31, 2020 Cincinnati, 49–10
Next meeting	TBD
Statistics
Meetings total	37
All-time series	Memphis leads, 23–14 [4]
Longest win streak	Memphis, 8 (1966–1974)
Current win streak	Cincinnati, 1 (2020–present)

Notable games

November 24, 2001: Memphis was searching for their first winning season since 1994 and the story looked complete when the Tigers scored a touchdown with 2:16 left in the 4th quarter. However, Bearcats QB Gino Guidugli led a 75 yard drive, including a 36-yard catch on 4th and 27, that would end with the Bearcats scoring a touchdown with 4 seconds left to win 36–34. ^[5]

September 24, 2015: In a primetime Thursday night match, Memphis QB Paxton Lynch and Cincinnati QB Hayden Moore led a 99 point shootout. Moore, replacing the injured Gunner Kiel during the first quarter, would set a Cincinnati record throwing for 557 yards. Despite surrendering the most yards in Memphis football history, the Tigers would win the game 53–46. ^[6]

December 7, 2019: In what would be Mike Norvell's final game at Memphis, the No. 20 Bearcats and No. 17 Tigers clashed for the second consecutive week in the 2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game. Bearcats QB Desmond Ridder returned from injury to start and the teams went blow for blow, with the game having 6 lead changes. However, the Tigers once again proved to be too much for the Bearcats and would win 29–24 to clinch an appearance in the 2019 Cotton Bowl Classic. ^[7]

Game results

Rankings are from the AP Poll (1936–present), CFP Poll (2014–present)

Cincinnati victories

Memphis victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 19, 1966 Memphis, TN Memphis State 26–14 2 September 30, 1967 Memphis, TN Memphis State 17–0 3 October 11, 1969 Cincinnati, OH Memphis State 52–6 4 November 28, 1970 Memphis, TN Memphis State 14–10 5 October 30, 1971 Cincinnati, OH Memphis State 45–21 6 November 11, 1972 Memphis, TN Memphis State 49–24 7 November 24, 1973 Cincinnati, OH Memphis State 17–13 8 October 12, 1974 Memphis, TN Memphis State 13–7 9 September 20, 1975 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati 13–3 10 November 25, 1978 Memphis, TN Cincinnati 34–14 11 November 24, 1979 Memphis, TN Memphis State 23–17 12 November 8, 1980 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati 14–10 13 November 7, 1981 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati 38–7 14 October 16, 1982 Memphis, TN Cincinnati 16–7 15 November 12, 1983 Cincinnati, OH Memphis State 43–10 16 September 22, 1984 Memphis, TN Memphis State 47–7 17 October 14, 1989 Cincinnati, OH Memphis State 34–17 18 October 10, 1992 Memphis, TN Memphis State 34–14 19 October 30, 1993 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati 23–20 20 October 22, 1994 Memphis, TN Memphis 26–3 No. Date Location Winner Score 21 October 21, 1995 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati 28–3 22 October 5, 1996 Memphis, TN Memphis 18–16 23 October 4, 1997 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati 20–17 24 October 17, 1998 Memphis, TN Memphis 41–23 25 November 20, 1999 Cincinnati, OH Memphis 21–13 26 November 11, 2000 Memphis, TN Cincinnati 13–10 27 November 24, 2001 Memphis, TN Cincinnati 36–34 28 October 26, 2002 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati 48–10 29 November 22, 2003 Memphis, TN Memphis 21–16 30 October 23, 2004 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati 49–10 31 October 30, 2013 Memphis, TN Cincinnati 34–21 32 October 4, 2014 Cincinnati, OH Memphis 41–14 33 September 24, 2015 Memphis, TN Memphis 53–46 34 November 18, 2016 Cincinnati, OH Memphis 34–7 35 November 29, 2019 Memphis, TN No. 18 Memphis 34–24 36 December 7, 2019† Memphis, TN No. 17 Memphis 29–24 37 October 31, 2020 Cincinnati, OH No. 7 Cincinnati 49–10 Series: Memphis leads 23–14 [4] [8] † 2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

Wins by location

Category	Cincinnati	Memphis
Cincinnati, OH	9	8
Memphis, TN	5	15

Men's Basketball

Cincinnati–Memphis basketball rivalry

Cincinnati Bearcats Memphis Tigers
Sport	College basketball
First meeting	January 22, 1968 Cincinnati 75 – Memphis 68
Latest meeting	February 26, 2023 Memphis 76 – Cincinnati 73
Statistics
Meetings total	84
All-time series	Cincinnati leads, 47–38
Largest victory	Cincinnati by 34 (December 31, 2017)
Longest win streak	Memphis, 11 (January 13, 1982 – January 10, 1987)
Current win streak	Memphis, 3 (February 11, 2021–present)

Men's Basketball Comparison

	Cincinnati	Memphis
First Season	1901	1920
NCAA Championships	2	0
NCAA Final Fours	6	3*
NCAA Tournament Appearances	33	26*
Conference Championships	29	14*
Conference tournament Championships	12	11*
All-Americans	44	38
Consensus 1st Team All-Americans	8	4
Player of the Year	3	0
Conference Player of the Year	10	12

The teams have faced off 84 times in basketball series history, with Cincinnati leading the all-time series 47–36 (and one win vacated by Memphis) as of the 2021–22 season. The teams have played six times in conference tournaments with Cincinnati leading 5–1. Memphis and Cincinnati have faced off once in the NCAA tournament, with Cincinnati leading 1–0.

Notable games

March 29, 1992: In a rare coincidence, the Tigers and Bearcats faced off for the fourth time during the 1991–92 season, this time in the NCAA Elite Eight. Nick Van Exel and Cincinnati defeated Great Midwest Player of the Year Penny Hardaway in the two regular season matchups and in the tournament final hosted in Chicago. No. 12 Cincinnati would prove to be too much for the Tigers again in Kansas City beating the Tigers 88–57 before falling to the Michigan Fab Five in the Final Four.

February 6, 1993: After four defeats in the prior season, Memphis and Penny Hardaway were ready for blood when the Bearcats visited the Memphis Pyramid. The No. 4 Bearcats were defeated by the Tigers 68–66, recording Memphis their 1,000 program win and what would be Hardaway's only win as a player against Cincinnati. ^[9]

March 1, 1997: The No. 9 Bearcats were defeated in Memphis 75–63, in what became famously Memphis coach Larry Finch's final game as he was forced to resign by University of Memphis administrators. He would leave as Memphis's winningest coach of all time. ^[10]

March 3, 2002: Steve Logan and the No. 4 Bearcats came into their senior day game against the Tigers having won or shared each of Conference USA's six regular season titles, but the Tigers battled furiously to top Cincinnati. Cincinnati missed all 16 of their three-point attempts, with senior Logan having to take charge and tie the game with only 6.9 seconds left to send it to overtime. The Bearcats would prevail in the OT period 80–75. ^[11]

March 1, 2003: The Bearcats entered the game holding a six-game winning streak at the expense of the Tigers. Memphis dominated the second half and led by 23 points from Chris Massie, Memphis won, 67–48, handing Cincinnati its worst defeat in eight years of Conference USA play. ^[9]

March 6, 2004: No. 20 Memphis visited No. 13 Cincinnati having won 12 of their previous 13 games. In the regular season finale, Bearcat Tony Bobbitt would sink a critical three-pointer to give UC the lead with 36 seconds remaining. Cincinnati would win 83–79. ^[12]

March 5, 2005: It what would be Bob Huggins final game as against Memphis as Cincinnati's Head Coach, the No. 22 Bearcats won in a game with a bizarre ending. Mistakenly believing the Bearcats to have the lead, James White received the inbound and scored a lazy shot with only a few seconds remaining. That basket would prove to be the difference in beating John Calipari's Tigers 62–60. ^[13]

January 4, 2014: In the first game of the two teams in the American Athletic Conference, the Bearcats came storming into FedExForum to take on the No. 18 Tigers. Cincinnati would topple Memphis 69–53. Both teams would advance to the 2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as the rivalry was rekindled in the new conference. ^[14]

Game results

Rankings are from the AP Poll (1936–present)

Cincinnati victories

Memphis victories

Tie games

Vacated wins [n 1]

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 January 22, 1968 Mid-South Coliseum Cincinnati 75–68 2 March 2, 1968 Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati 72–63 3 January 25, 1969 Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati 62–53 4 February 8, 1969 Mid-South Coliseum Cincinnati 75–68 5 January 24, 1970 Mid-South Coliseum Cincinnati 78–69 6 February 7, 1970 Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati 77–63 7 January 24, 1976 Mid-South Coliseum Memphis State 85–79 8 March 6, 1976 Armory Fieldhouse No. 13 Cincinnati 103–95 9 January 31, 1977 Riverfront Coliseum No. 12 Cincinnati 88–82 10 March 4, 1977 Mid-South Coliseum No. 14 Cincinnati 68–67 11 January 14, 1978 Mid-South Coliseum Memphis State 67–63 12 January 21, 1978 Riverfront Coliseum Memphis State 83–76 13 January 22, 1979 Mid-South Coliseum No. 19 Cincinnati 63–61 14 February 10, 1979 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 87–79 15 January 7, 1980 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 74–64 16 February 14, 1980 Mid-South Coliseum Memphis State 61–59 17 January 31, 1981 Riverfront Coliseum Memphis State 99–85 18 February 7, 1981 Mid-South Coliseum Cincinnati 65–62 19 January 13, 1982 Mid-South Coliseum Memphis State 107–75 20 January 23, 1982 Riverfront Coliseum Memphis State 70–63 21 January 15, 1983 Riverfront Coliseum No. 1 Memphis State 80–63 22 February 28, 1983 Mid-South Coliseum No. 14 Memphis State 84–77 23 January 4, 1984 Riverfront Coliseum No. 19 Memphis State 85–62 24 February 27, 1984 Mid-South Coliseum No. 12 Memphis State 56–44 25 January 28, 1985 Mid-South Coliseum No. 4 Memphis State 81–61 26 February 13, 1985 Riverfront Coliseum No. 5 Memphis State 68–55 27 January 15, 1986 Riverfront Coliseum No. 6 Memphis State 89–71 28 February 3, 1986 Mid-South Coliseum No. 2 Memphis State 74–55 29 January 10, 1987 Mid-South Coliseum Memphis State 83–63 30 February 16, 1987 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 76–73 31 March 6, 1987A Freedom Hall Memphis State 87–58 32 January 25, 1988 Cincinnati Gardens Memphis State 75–70 33 February 22, 1988 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 106–90 34 January 7, 1989 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 89–79 35 February 15, 1989 Mid-South Coliseum Memphis State 81–71 36 February 3, 1990 Mid-South Coliseum Memphis State 82–64 37 February 15, 1990 Shoemaker Center Cincinnati 82–76 38 February 2, 1991 Shoemaker Center Cincinnati 73–59 39 February 14, 1991 Mid-South Coliseum Memphis State 70–63 40 January 18, 1992 Shoemaker Center Cincinnati 75–66 41 March 7, 1992 Memphis Pyramid No. 14 Cincinnati 69–59 42 March 14, 1992B Chicago Stadium No. 12 Cincinnati 75–63 43 March 29, 1992C Kemper Arena No. 12 Cincinnati 88–57 44 February 6, 1993 Memphis Pyramid Memphis State 68–66 No. Date Location Winner Score 45 March 6, 1993 Shoemaker Center No. 12 Cincinnati 78–55 46 March 13, 1993D Memphis Pyramid No. 11 Cincinnati 77–72 47 January 23, 1994 Memphis Pyramid Memphis State 62–55 48 February 3, 1994 Shoemaker Center No. 25 Cincinnati 69–64 49 March 12, 1994E Shoemaker Center No. 25 Cincinnati 68–47 50 February 3, 1995 Memphis Pyramid Memphis 74–69 51 March 2, 1995 Shoemaker Center Memphis 83–73 52 March 10, 1995F Bradley Center Cincinnati 77–64 53 February 29, 1996 Shoemaker Center No. 7 Cincinnati 71–66 54 March 1, 1997 Memphis Pyramid Memphis 75–63 55 January 8, 1998 Shoemaker Center Cincinnati 61–54 56 February 27, 1999 Memphis Pyramid No. 9 Cincinnati 89–64 57 January 19, 2000 Shoemaker Center No. 1 Cincinnati 75–55 58 February 15, 2001 Memphis Pyramid Cincinnati 66–65 59 March 9, 2001 Shoemaker Center Cincinnati 89–79 60 March 3, 2002 Shoemaker Center No. 4 Cincinnati 80–75OT 61 March 1, 2003 Memphis Pyramid No. 24 Memphis 67–48 62 March 6, 2004 Shoemaker Center No. 13 Cincinnati 83–79 63 March 5, 2005 FedExForum No. 22 Cincinnati 62–60 64 December 3, 2005 Fifth Third Arena No. 9 Memphis 91–81 65 January 4, 2007 FedExForum No. 22 Memphis 88–55 66 December 19, 2007 Fifth Third Arena No. 2 Memphis† 79–69 67 December 29, 2008 FedExForum Memphis 60–45 68 January 4, 2014 FedExForum Cincinnati 69–53 69 March 6, 2014 Fifth Third Arena No. 15 Cincinnati 97–84 70 January 15, 2015 FedExForum Memphis 63–50 71 March 8, 2015 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 77–65 72 January 21, 2016 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 76–72 73 February 6, 2016 FedExForum Memphis 63–59 74 February 23, 2017 Fifth Third Arena No. 15 Cincinnati 87–74 75 December 31, 2017 BB&T Arena No. 21 Cincinnati 82–48 76 January 27, 2018 FedExForum No. 9 Cincinnati 62–48 77 March 10, 2018G Amway Center No. 8 Cincinnati 70–60 78 February 7, 2019 FedExForum No. 25 Cincinnati 69–64 79 March 2, 2019 Fifth Third Arena No. 23 Cincinnati 71–69 80 January 17, 2020 FedExForum No. 22 Memphis 60–49 81 February 13, 2020 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 92–86OT 82 February 28, 2021 Fifth Third Arena Memphis 80–74 83 January 9, 2022 FedExForum Memphis 87–80 84 February 16, 2022 Fifth Third Arena Memphis 81–74 85 January 22, 2023 Fifth Third Arena Memphis 75–68 86 February 26, 2023 FedExForum Memphis 76–73 Series: Cincinnati leads 47–38 † Vacated by Memphis

Source ^[16]

Notes

^A 1987 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament
^B 1992 Great Midwest Conference men's basketball tournament
^C 1992 NCAA Elite Eight
^D 1993 Great Midwest Conference men's basketball tournament
^E 1994 Great Midwest Conference men's basketball tournament
^F 1995 Great Midwest Conference men's basketball tournament
^G 2018 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament

Wins by location

Category	Cincinnati	Memphis
Cincinnati, OH	28	13
Chicago, IL	1	0
Highland Heights, KY	1	0
Kansas City, MO	1	0
Louisville, KY	0	1
Memphis, TN	14	23
Milwaukee, WI	1	0
Orlando, FL	1	0

Wins by venue

Category	Cincinnati	Memphis
Amway Center	1	0
Armory Fieldhouse	4	0
BB&T Arena	1	0
Bradley Center	1	0
Chicago Stadium	1	0
Cincinnati Gardens	2	1
FedExForum	4	6
Shoemaker Center Fifth Third Arena	18	5
Freedom Hall	0	1
Kemper Arena	1	0
Riverfront Coliseum	4	7
Memphis Pyramid	4	5
Mid-South Coliseum	6	12

Women's Basketball

First playing in the 1977–78 season, Memphis now leads the all-time series 36–24 as of the end of the 2020–21 season. ^{[17] [18]}

Baseball

The baseball teams have met a total of 137 times since 1962, with Memphis leading the series 67–50 as of the end of the 2021 season. ^{[19] [20]}

References