Best teams to never make College Football Playoffs

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JANUARY 11: A general view of the CPF National Championship midfield logo before the College Football Playoff National Championship football game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Hard Rock Stadium on January 11, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /

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Desmond Ridder (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

Best teams to never make CFB Playoffs: 11. Cincinnati, 2020

The Cincinnati Bearcats were a powerhouse for most of the 2020 season. They took care of business in their first three games against Austin Peay, Army, and USF. Granted, those aren’t considered the most imposing programs in the world but when the schedule got tougher, Cincinnati kept on rolling.

When SMU, Memphis, and Houston popped up on their calendar, the Bearcats merely chuckled to themselves as they ran through them as well, defeating all of those previously mentioned teams by double digits. Tulsa gave them a scare in the American Championship Game but Cincinnati prevailed by three points.

There are some who will point to the Bearcats’ loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Chick-Fil-A game as a clear indication that they were never College Football Playoff contenders but that’s simply not the case. The Bearcats not only had the eighth-best scoring defense in the nation, holding teams to 16.8 points per game but they also had the 13th best rushing defense, holding the opposition to 111.1 rushing yards per game.

With Alabama having a relatively easy time out there before winning it all last season, maybe Cincinnati could’ve given them a lot more trouble than Notre Dame and Ohio State.

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