The 2011 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats were led by second year head coach Butch Jones and played their home games at Nippert Stadium and two conference games at Paul Brown Stadium. They are a member of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 5–2 in Big East play to share the conference championship with Louisville and West Virginia. Despite the conference title, which was their third in the last four years, they did not receive the conference's automatic bid into a BCS game (West Virginia received the bid based on BCS rankings). They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they defeated Vanderbilt 31–24.