15 Fun Facts about 2005: Last Time Miami Ohio Beat Cincinnati

 

On September 4, 2021, Cincinnati Bearcats will host Miami Ohio Redhawks in the 125th meeting of legendary battle for the "Victory Bell".

Miami currently leads the series 59-58 (plus 7 ties), but Cincinnati was won a series-high 14 in a row, dating back to 2006, which happened to be my freshman year at UC, so I have been fortunate to never see Miami beat Cincinnati.

Last time Cincinnati lost was 2005. With that being over 15 years ago, I look back at 15 fun facts about what the world looked like the last time Miami won.

1. No one has EVER tweeted "Miami Ohio beats Cincinnati in football". That's because Twitter did not yet exist in 2005. It launched in March 2006.

2. Blackberry and RAZR phones were the two most popular cell phones.

3. #1 song in the US was "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey. #2 was Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl".

4. Notable average stock prices

• Amazon - $39 in 2005 ($3,300+ today)
• Disney - $26 ($177)
• Apple - $1.67 ($150)

5. Harry Potter and the Goblet Fire was 2005's #1 grossing movie

6. The MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) was not yet a thing. The first MCU movie was three years away from being released (Iron Man came out on May 2008).

About the Bearcats

7. Before 2006 (when the winning streak started), Cincinnati played in 8 bowl games in over 100 years. Since 2006, Bearcats have played in 12 bowl games over 15 years.

8. Cincinnati is currently coached by Luke Fickell in the American Athletic Conference, dressed in Under Armour. In 2005, Cincinnati was coached by Mark Dantonio in the Big East, wearing Nike. Since Miami's last win, Cincinnati has had 3 apparel providers (Nike, Adidas, Under Armour), 2 conferences (Big East, AAC), and 5 head coaches (Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, Tommy Tuberville, Luke Fickell).

9. Mick Cronin, who led Cincinnati to 9 straight NCAA Tournament appearances between 2011-2019, while coaching his alma mater for 15 years, was in his final season as head coach at Murray State before moving on to Cincinnati in 2006.

About Miami

10. When Miami beat Cincinnati in 2005, it was the 12th consecutive winning season for the Redhawks. In the 14* seasons since, they produced a winning record just twice (10-4 in 2010 and 8-6 in 2019). (*excluding the 2020's 2-1 record)

11. Miami head coach Chuck Martin (now in his 8th season) was an assistant coach at Grand Valley State in 2005. This is notable, because the head coach at GVSU was Brian Kelly and the Offensive Coordinator was Butch Jones.

What the world of college football looked like

12. The Big East included first-year members Cincinnati, Louisville, and South Florida plus West Virginia, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, and Syracuse.

Big East wasn't the only now-defunct conference...

13. The WAC (Western Athletic Conference) included these current conference's teams

• Mountain West - Boise State, Nevada, Hawaii, Utah St, Fresno St, San Jose State
• Sun Belt - Louisiana Tech
• Independent - New Mexico State
• FCS - Idaho

14. Here is what the Big 12 North standings looked like at the end of the 2005 season.

• 1) Colorado (PAC-12)
• 2) Nebraska (Big 10)
• 3 Missouri (SEC)

15. In 2005, there were 28 bowl games. In 2021, there will be 41 bowl games, including one presented exclusively on Barstool Sports and one named after Jimmy Kimmel. 10 of the bowl games will be held in stadiums built during Cincinnati's win streak.