1983 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

1983 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Conference	Independent
Record	4–6–1
Head coach	Watson Brown (1st season)
Captain	Gene Beck, Bill Booze, Don Goodman, George Jamison, Linwood Marshall
Home stadium	Riverfront Stadium, Nippert Stadium

1983 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				9	–	2	–	0
No. 19 Boston College		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 16 West Virginia		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 20 East Carolina		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
No. 18 Pittsburgh		–		–				8	–	3	–	1
Florida State		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Penn State		–		–				8	–	4	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				6	–	4	–	1
Notre Dame		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Cincinnati			–					4	–	6	–	1
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				4	–	6	–	0
Temple		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Army		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

1983 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Holy Cross ^			–					9	–	1	–	1
No. 17 Tennessee State			–					8	–	2	–	1
No. 7 Colgate ^			–					8	–	3	–	0
Lehigh			–					8	–	3	–	0
Lafayette			–					6	–	4	–	0
Northeastern			–					6	–	4	–	1
Southeastern Louisiana			–					6	–	5	–	0
William & Mary			–					6	–	5	–	0
Nicholls State			–					5	–	6	–	0
Bucknell			–					4	–	5	–	1
Delaware			–					4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern State			–					4	–	7	–	0
James Madison			–					3	–	8	–	0
Richmond			–					3	–	8	–	0
Western Kentucky			–					2	–	8	–	1
^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

The 1983 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season (de facto) and 1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season (de jure). The Bearcats were led by first-year head coach Watson Brown. Due to an NCAA mandate that average attendance (home and away) exceed 20,000 fans, Cincinnati was to be relegated to NCAA Division I-AA. The program sued NCAA, managing to limit the tenure of I-AA play to just the 1983 season. They participated as independent and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium with on-campus Nippert Stadium being used as a supplement for the second of five straight seasons.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	at No. 20 Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	W 14–3	83,683
September 17	Oklahoma State	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	L 17–27
September 24	at Louisville	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY (Keg of Nails)	L 23–31	23,992
October 1	Cornell	Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati, OH	W 48–20	13,840
October 8	Temple	Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati, OH	W 31–16
October 15	at Florida State	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	L 17–43	55,102
October 22	No. 8 Miami (FL)	Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati, OH	L 7–17	14,163
October 29	at Kentucky	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	T 13–13	57,789
November 5	Rutgers	Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati, OH	W 18–7
November 12	Memphis State	Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati, OH (Rivalry)	L 10–43
November 22	at Miami (OH)	Yager Stadium Oxford, OH (Victory Bell)	L 10–14
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game