| Year: | 1983 |
| Team: | Cincinnati Bearcats |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Independent |
| Record: | 4–6–1 |
| Head Coach: | Watson Brown |
| Hc Year: | 1st |
| Captain: | Gene Beck, Bill Booze, Don Goodman, George Jamison, Linwood Marshall |
| Stadium: | Riverfront Stadium, Nippert Stadium |
The 1983 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season (de facto) and 1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season (de jure). The Bearcats were led by first-year head coach Watson Brown. Due to an NCAA mandate that average attendance (home and away) exceed 20,000 fans, Cincinnati was to be relegated to NCAA Division I-AA. The program sued NCAA, managing to limit the tenure of I-AA play to just the 1983 season. They participated as independent and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium with on-campus Nippert Stadium being used as a supplement for the second of five straight seasons.[1]