UC Coach Brian Kelly talks a big game. I love the guy for it. He talks up the football in the Big East as cream of the crop. While the Big East is a BCS conference, let's not fool yourself there. The Big East might be ahead of the ACC in the BCS pecking order, but that's it.

Yesterday, the Bearcats got a glimpse of what the cream of the crop really is. They travelled to Norman, Oklahoma and took on the #4 Sooners. There were points where it looked like UC would get blown out, but then they battled back. I would expect nothing less of Brian Kelly's team, but to scrap and battle. But, in the end, the Sooners doubled up the Bearcats and blew them away.

I was hoping to see more from the Cats. I wanted it to stay close. That would've been one of those alleged "moral victories." Instead, Kelly and the Cats are left with the realization that they're not there yet. Where's there? There is a perennial powerhouse. There is the real cream of the crop in college football. The Cats have climbed the ladder in college football. They have some climbing still to do. This is why I think Brian Kelly will stick around. I think he dreams of and desires to get UC to that point. Can he get them there? Who knows. At least he saw yesterday what it will take.

It will take a lot more talent. It will take better offensive line protection. It will take a lot more speed on defense. The Sooners blew the Cats away in the trenches. That's where the game was lost. The Cats couldn't get to the QB and the Cats muscle up front, couldn't keep Oklahoma from getting to QB Dustin Grutza. So much so, that Grutza fractured his fibula in a nasty hit. Grutza is now lost for a significant amount of time. Can the Cats swallow this bitter pill and learn from it? Or will this deflate them and sprial their season? Time will only tell.

At least Coach Kelly saw with his own eyes what it really means to be a national contender. If he can land that kind of talent, then he can get UC there. Otherwise, he'll have to settle for what he's got. A second-tier, BCS school, that won't play in a BCS bowl. 

College Football oklahoma, cincinnati, brian kelly, dustin grutza