After the 2022 regular season ended, the Bearcats went 9-3 and got a bowl matchup against Louisville in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
Around 2 weeks before the bowl game, Luke Fickell announced he would be leaving the Bearcats to take a coaching job at Wisconsin, the year before the Bearcats would be taking the jump to the Big 12. In February of 2022, Fickell had signed an extension to stay with the Bearcats until 2028, then left after 1 season under the new contract.
With Fickell being at Wisconsin for two full seasons now, going into his third, many people are starting to speculate if he was that successful as a head coach at Cincinnati.