CINCINNATI — It's shaping up to be an historic season for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. The football team is undefeated and near the top of the polls, and the team wants to prove it deserves a shot at a national title. 

What You Need To Know

  • The University of Cincinnati is celebrating homecoming in a big way

  • The University of Cincinnati Bearcats are currently undefeated at 8-0

  • On Saturday, they will play against Tulsa

  • ESPN College GameDay will be on campus for the pregame show

University of Cincinnati freshman Caleb Shorter was busy during homecoming week finishing up assignments. Shorter is a statistics major who said he enjoys calculating formulas, predicting things and finding probabilities.  

“I do that stuff all in my free time," said Shorter. “So the idea that I would be able to get paid for it eventually is where my desire comes from.”

When Shorter isn’t in class or studying, he enjoys playing football with his friend, Noah, and cheering on the Bearcats. On Saturday, Shorter plans to be among the fans at ESPN College GameDay.

“Everyone is dressed up with signs, we’re all wearing the same color — just the whole school participation makes it an event that’s unmatched by anything else,” he said. 

Since Thursday morning, the College GameDay crew has been setting up. The wildly-popular pregame show is making its first visit to UC. Senior operations producer Judy Weiss said each and every week it's all about getting the fans pumped up for the game.

“We’re just really excited,” said Weiss. “We always love welcoming our new fans and our new family into the college football and College Game Day.”

Shorter and his friends will be attending the game against Tulsa. Shorter said he’s amazed with how everything is set up behind the scenes.  

“I’ve seen the set on TV before, but I didn’t really think that it was going to be this many people involved,” he said. 

The Bearcats currently are undefeated with an 8-0 record. They are ranked as the second best team in the country by the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, but the College Football Playoff Committee has ranked them sixth behind a couple of one-loss teams including Ohio State University.

Shorter said he doesn’t agree with the ranking, but is looking forward to seeing his favorite team win.  

“I’m extremely optimistic,” he said. “I think it’s locker room, drawing board material that we’re put sixth in the ranking. So I think we’re going to win by 90.”