Football: Bearcats Earn Pre-Season Accolades

Photo: Cincinnati Athletics

Athlon Sports recently released their pre-season All Big 12 list and eight Bearcats were included.

Dontay Corleone and Luke Kandra were both first-team all-conference selections.

Offensive lineman Gavin Gerhardt and punter Mason Fletcher both earned spots on the second team. Corey Kiner and Dartanyan Tinsley were third-team selections, while wide receiver Xzavier Henderson and linebacker Jared Bartlett were both selected to the fourth team.
 
Both Corleone and Kandra earned Pre-season All American honors from Phil Steele as well. Corleone was also named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy preseason watch list. Kandra was named an All-American last year by the Associated Press and Walter Camp, and was an All-Big 12 honoree. He was ranked by Pro Football Focus as the second-best run blocking guard with a grade of 82.1, and the third-ranked Power Five guard (81.8).

Tinsley, Fletcher, and Henderson all earned preseason all-conference honors from Phil Steele as well.

Fletcher is a former All-American and two-time all-conference punter.

Cincinnati announces two future non-conference opponents:

UC will host Northwestern State on Sept. 13, 2025 and Western Carolina on Sept. 12, 2026.
 
The Bearcats are 2-0 all-time vs. Northwestern State. The first meeting came in 1977, a 41-0 victory, and the most recent meeting was a 66-9 win on Sept. 14, 2013.
 
Cincinnati and Western Carolina have met once before. The Bearcats won that game at home, 7-3, on Sept. 17, 2005.