Intrastate rivalries are just kind of a thing that college football is known for. Ask teams from any state who their biggest rivals are, and at least one of them is going to be right down the road.
In Ohio, two schools have built an impressive little rivalry on the football field: the Miami RedHawks and the Cincinnati Bearcats. Whenever these teams meet up on the gridiron, it’s likely to be a battle as they both vie for the right to take home the Victory Bell trophy.
On this page, we’ll outline your options for betting on this rivalry. We’ll also go over some history, where to get your odds for each game and more.
Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Miami RedHawks odds
With how intense this game can get, it should come as no surprise to discover these two campuses are about an hour apart. There is definitely no neighborly love on the field when they meet up. If you’re looking for the odds on this particular rivalry game, then you’ve come to the right place.
Below is an odds feed specifically for the RedHawks versus the Bearcats. From here, you can check odds specific to the bets you’re interested in, and you can access the sportsbook that offers the best lines simply by clicking on them.
Where to bet on Miami (OH) vs. Cincinnati
With the expansion of legal sports betting to a growing number of states, more and more people have access to reputable sportsbooks — like FanDuel Ohio and DraftKings Ohio, among many others. If you’re not sure which ones are right for you, check out our reviews on this site. Once you’ve found a book you like, head to its website to sign up and claim any available welcome bonuses.
You can also sign up for more than a single account if you wish. They are free and it’s easy, so you might as well give yourself the best betting options, shop for the best sports lines and create a betting strategy that works best for you.
Popular bets on Miami (OH) vs. Cincinnati
When it comes to betting on college football in Ohio, you’re going to discover a variety of bets and options. The three most popular, however, are the moneyline, point spread and total, which we go over below.
Point spread
Experienced bettors tend to turn to the point spread as their favorite way to make a wager. Overall, it is a fairly easy bet to understand and research for.
Essentially, the sportsbook will set a spread for the game at a specific number. For bets on the favorite to pay out, it must win the game by more than the spread number. Any win by the favorite with a smaller margin — or loss by the favorite — would pay out on the other side.
Here’s an example of what a point spread bet on the Bearcats and RedHawks might look like at Caesars OH sportsbook:
| Cincinnati Bearcats | -14.5 (-110) |
| Miami RedHawks | +14.5 (-110) |
As you can see, the odds on the Bearcats show a negative point spread, which means they are favored to win and, in this case, by a decent margin. As the favorite, Cincinnati has to win by 15 points or more in order for spread bets on that side to win. Miami, on the other hand, needs to lose by fewer than 14 points or win outright.
In either case, the odds are -110, which means a winning bet of $110 would collect a profit of $100. In that case, the total payout would be $210 — your initial stake plus the profit.
Moneyline
Most newcomers to sports betting tend to gravitate toward moneyline bets. They’re the simplest to understand and can be a lot of fun. The short of it is, you simply need to pick the winner out of the two teams playing. If you’re right, you win. If not, you lose.
It really is that simple. Of course, the wonderful thing about sports is you never know for sure who is going to win the game. That’s why they play them instead of just picking a winner based on how it would play out on paper.
Here’s an example of a potential moneyline bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in OH:
| Cincinnati Bearcats | (-115) |
| Miami RedHawks | (+135) |
The negative odds on the Bearcats indicate that they are the favorite to win the game. The RedHawks, on the other hand, are the underdog.
As we discussed above in our point spread example, a negative number means a bet of that amount would win $100 in profit. For this example, you’d wager $115 in hopes of winning $100. If you place a money line bet on the side with positive odds, meanwhile, you’d stand to win an amount equal to the odds for every $100 that you bet. A $100 wager on Miami would potentially pay out $135.
Of course, you don’t have to wager that high or that low. All payouts will keep the same ratio and adjust to the amount that you bet.
Total
The other name for this bet is the over/under. The two bets are one and the same. Unlike our above examples, this bet isn’t going to require you to pick a winner in the game.
Instead, the sportsbook will set a line for the total combined score of the game. You can then bet on whether the actual score will be over or under that line.
In college football, the over/under is one of the most popular bets. It’s not the easiest to wager on since it requires a fair amount of research. If you’re not afraid to do a little deeper diving, however, you may find some success.
Here’s an example of a line on the total at the BetRivers Sportsbook in Ohio:
| Over | 54.5 (-110) |
| Under | 54.5 (-110) |
Keep in mind that you don’t need to worry about which team is going to secure the victory in this contest. Instead, your focus is on the total points the two teams will combine to score.
If the final is 30-21, then bets on the under would pay out in this example. If that score were instead 36-21, then it would be the over that wins. In either case, the odds are -110, which means you could wager $110 for the chance to win $100.
Cincinnati vs. Miami betting trends
As of the 2021 season, following a dominating 49-14 victory by the Bearcats, the all-time head-to-head record between these schools stands at 59-59-7.
It hasn’t been a great run by the RedHawks, actually. They’ve lost 15 straight, despite a couple of very close games. From 2014 to 2017, Cincinnati’s largest margin of victory was just seven points. The lowest was four.
An interesting fact is that the first time these two teams met was on Dec. 12, 1888. The game ended with a 0-0 tie. It was the first college football game to take place in the state of Ohio.
Miami (OH)-Cincinnati history
The college football games between the Miami RedHawks and the Cincinnati Bearcats are part of the oldest current non-conference rivalry in the United States, though they were in the same conference for a couple of decades. Each time these two teams meet, they are fighting for the right to hoist the Victory Bell trophy.
The rivalry ranks fifth on the list of the most played series in college football and is first on that list for any teams located west of the Allegheny Mountains. Additionally, it is the most played currently active rivalry series involving schools from the same state.
The two teams have agreed to extend their series through 2029.
Notable Bearcats vs. RedHawks games
There are quite a few noteworthy games when it comes to this historic rivalry, but we’ve selected just a few that we think stand out among the rest.
- Nov. 25, 1950: Former Miami head coach Sid Gillman had taken the reins of the Bearcats and brought them to the Mid-American Conference championship game. Across the field stood the RedHawks (then called the Redskins) and their new coach, Woody Hayes. There was a snowstorm flurrying around the two teams as Miami took control of the game and dominated, 28-0. The game took place on the same day as the historic Snow Bowl between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes — the latter hiring Hayes away from Miami after losing to their rivals from Ann Arbor that season.
- Nov. 23, 1968: Trailing 21-6, the Bearcats needed to dig deep and find some cracks in the Miami defense. Quarterback Greg Cook, who was being coached by future Michigan legend Bo Schembechler, helped his team dig their way out of that hole until kicker Jim O’Brien was able to nail a 47-yard field goal with just three seconds left in the game to give Cincinnati the win, 23-21.
- Sept. 27, 2003: Ben Roethlisberger was well aware of games that required him to put up big numbers well before he was drafted into the NFL. His Miami RedHawks were leading the 3-0 Bearcats when Cincinnati turned the game around and began a massive comeback. They scored three times in the final eight minutes, but Roethlisberger’s 377 yards through the air would prove to be too much to overcome as the RedHawks held off the Bearcats, 42-37.
- Sept. 16, 2017: It looked as if Miami was about to end Cincinnati’s winning streak in the rivalry, holding a 17-6 lead with just under five minutes left in the game. The Bearcats, however, were determined to ruin a RedHawks homecoming and put together an impressive come-from-behind victory that was dramatically sealed with Malik Clements taking in a 14-yard pick-six to give his team the 21-17 lead and the win.