Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

The first official BCS standings will come out on Sunday, and ESPN's Brad Edwards has already crunched the numbers from the polls and computers to predict what we might see in the top 10.

In Edwards' mock standings, Cincinnati is No. 9. The Bearcats would have some work to do to get in the top two and qualify for the BCS title game. They are two spots below LSU, which just lost to Florida, and trail four one-loss teams in total, including Ohio State.

Cincinnati's strength of schedule and poll standing should be helped greatly if it can win at South Florida. Eventually, the Bearcats would have to climb above Boise State (Edwards' No. 5), but the schedule argument would help in that case. Virginia Tech, USC and Texas would also have to lose, and whoever doesn't emerge from the SEC title scrum between Florida and Alabama would have to fall far enough behind the Bearcats.

But that's a lot of ifs and a long way down the road. Right now, Cincinnati just has to concentrate on Thursday's showdown in Tampa.