Original post is here.

Best case in a nutshell: 11-1 and Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Worst case in a nutshell: 6-6 and International Bowl

Reality: 12-0 and Sugar Bowl

That's just crazy talk: "There's a lot of hype over the offense, but these are basically the same players who scored seven points in the Orange Bowl. [Tony] Pike, [Mardy] Gilyard and Co. are solid, but not some unstoppable machine. And that's a problem, because the revamped defense misses Mike Mickens, Connor Barwin, DeAngelo Smith and all the other stars and springs more leaks than the BALCO investigation."

Not too far off: "Blessed with a healthy returning quarterback for the first time in years, [Brian] Kelly unleashes the full fury of his offense ... [as] the Bearcats average more than 30 points per game. The defense just keeps chugging on despite the loss of 10 starters from 2008 ... The new-look Bearcats roll into Rutgers on Labor Day and outscore the Scarlet Knights, who are still piecing together their quarterback and receiver situations. Two weeks later, Cincinnati wins at Oregon State to move into the Top 20."

What really happened: Cincinnati is the rare team that actually outperformed even my best-case scenario. The most optimistic of fans probably couldn't have predicted a 12-0 season, especially once Pike got hurt again in the South Florida game. But everything worked to the best possible outcome for the Bearcats, including their thrilling late-season wins over UConn, West Virginia and especially Pittsburgh. The only negative was losing Kelly to Notre Dame before the Sugar Bowl.