So why is Brian Kelly taking his team halfway around the world, again, this weekend to play a football game? Simple answer: the Big 10 is ducking him. Kelly says he wants as many out of conference games for his Bearcats against BCS teams. And the Big 10 has been more than reluctant to schedule Kelly in "home and home" series. The Buckeyes, the Boilermakers, the Wolverines would be more than happy to have UC come to their places to play. But return the trip to Nippert Stadium and it's 35,000 seats or a game at Paul Brown Stadium? As Tony Soprano would say, "Feggadaboudit".

No Big 10 school (or any legit contender from the Big 12 or SEC) would ever dare come to Cincinnati, where Kelly's offense would run them off the field and risk losing a game and incur the wrath of their fans. But Oregon State, the Bearcats opponent this week, is willing to do it because the Beavers are in the same boat at the 'Cats. They too are searching for quality BCS opponents to play.

Kelly said today he doesn't think his team will have a tough time adjusting the the time change. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:45pm Cincinnati time, roughly 45 minutes earlier than the 'Cats start time last week against Southeast Missouri State.

OK, so I've have about 48 hours to digest and break down that final play that Denver pulled off to beat the Bengals. Here's my take: the Bengals were simply out of position. You had three Bengals, two of which were safeties, converging on Broncos receiver, Brandon Marshall, the intended target. That's OK. What wasn't OK was that there was no Bengal playing 'centerfield'. There was no Bengals safety playing deep.

Here's what had to be done: a safety needed to be stationed at the Bengals 38 yard line. Because history told us that that was the furthest point from where the Denver place kicker could have successfully kicked a field goal. And in a 7-6 game, at that time, it would have been the difference.

Instead, the only other safety on the field, Chinedum Ndukwe was moving toward the pass from Kyle Orton, roughly on the Broncos 40 yard line even though three of his teammates are there to defend.

We all know by now that the ball was tipped by Bengals cornerback, Leon Hall (and if he didn't touch it, the ball would've sailed out of bounds) and into the arms of Brandon Stokely who took it to the house for the game winning touchdown.

At issue is field presence. The Bengals simply didn't have it Sunday and the Broncos stole a win away from them.

Now, the schedule has the Bengals off to Green Bay this Sunday, then home to play the Steelers, then at Cleveland and at Baltimore. There is a real possibility this team begins the season at
1-4. At that point, we can all start talking about UC and Xavier basketball.

The only way the Bengals get into the NFL playoffs starts by beating Denver this Sunday. I've done the math.

9-7 COULD get an AFC team in. But the tie breakers may not all fall the Bengals way. And certainly, if the Bengals end up 9-7, their ninth win must come against Denver, as the Broncos are pretty much in the same boat as Cincinnati.

Can the Bengals go to Denver and win this week? Sure. Honestly, with the exception of the loss to the Colts Monday night, the Bengals haven't played a team this season they couldn't have beaten. Will the Bengals beat the Broncos? I saw nothing Monday night that would lead me to believe they will. The Colts, notoriously a finesse rather than a power team, pushed the Bengals all over the RCA Dome turf. Peyton Manning systematically picked the Bengals apart, running up 394 yards of total offense. The Colts converted on 3rd down 50 percent of the time.

Worse, was what the Bengals offense did, or didn't do. It didn't run with any consistency and failed to protect Carson Palmer. He was not only sacked, he was hit on a lot of plays. Chad Johnson and T.J.Houshmandzadeh were reduced to rumors.

Remember, still lurking is Pittsburgh. And the Steelers could come into Cincinnati New Year's Eve with a mathmatical chance to make the playoffs themselves. At the very least, they could play a large hand in whether or not the Bengals play on.

But it begins with Denver. If the Bengals lose to the Broncos, the Broncos gain the tie breaker over Cincinnati. Denver finishes with a weak 49ers team, in Colorado. The Jaguars and Jets remain the other contenders for 'cards'. While the Jags have a little tougher road remaining than the Jets, both could wind up with 10-6 records.

The wiggle room for the Bengals is gone. For them, the playoffs begin Sunday, in Denver.

Ken