There was a promise that coach Luke Fickell made to his wife, Amy Fickell, years ago. If Cincinnati won the American Athletic Conference championship game, he'd buy her a new ring.

"I've gotta pay up," Fickell said after the Bearcats' 27-24 win over Tulsa to win the conference crown.

Cincinnati has had to fight plenty this season, along with every other team. The Bearcats have had multiple battles with positive COVID-19 tests. As a result, they had their final two regular season games (at Temple and at Tulsa) canceled and didn't play since Nov. 21.

But Cincinnati also had plenty go right. They've been in the national spotlight for nearly two months, in the discussion for a berth in the College Football Playoff, however much of a longshot that might have been. And they were fortunate to play seven of their nine games at Nippert Stadium. That included the AAC title game, in which the Bearcats hosted and won their first conference championship last night.

After the game, Fickell, Desmond Ridder, Cole Smith and Darrick Forrest spoke with members of the media about the win.