Cincinnati Football is where it deserves to be
Cincinnati football is on the outside looking in, and for now, that’s where they belong.
College Gameday at Cincinnati was a sight to see. It was definitely one of the best atmospheres thes how has ever had. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, none of that has any bearing on what the College Football Playoff Committee does.
The angry Cincinnati football mob was out in full force Tuesday night and likely will be again this Tuesday when the next set of rankings are released. It’ll all be about how the Bearcats have been disrespected and deserve better. But were they disrespected or are they getting exactly what they deserve?
Yes, it’s obvious that as a Group of Five team, you don’t get the benefit of the doubt. You have to scratch and claw and earn every single thing you get. The key word there is earn.
Bearcat fans believe they have earned a top four ranking. In actuality, they haven’t earned anything.
Much of this debate comes as a result of a win at Notre Dame, which is a top-10 team, but is also one of the more overrated teams in the country. Notre Dame will win 10 games in spite of itself, not because they’re truly one of the 10 best teams in the nation. Notre Dame does have some quality wins over Purdue and Wisconsin but have also struggled with the likes of Florida State, Toledo and Virginia Tech. But that’s for another time.
Cincinnati’s other Power Five road win was Indiana, who currently sits at 2-7 and without a win over a Power Five opponent. Hard to call that impressive.
If Cincinnati wants to really impress, beat a two win Navy team by more than 7. People love the “common opponent” thread. Cincinnati beat Navy by seven. Notre Dame won by 28. Or, don’t struggle against a one win Tulane team. I don’t care what the score says, that game was much, much closer than the score shows. And don’t depend on a 4th and goal stop against a three win Tulsa team that, by the way, outgained you by 56 yards and had eight more first downs than you did. Those three teams, by the way, have a combined 6-21 record. Cincinnati plays like that against 6-21 teams and wants to be taken seriously against Ohio State, Alabama and Oregon?
Cincinnati football can point the finger at anyone they want and say the odds are stacked against them, but ultimately it comes back on them. Play better. With on field results they’ve had the last three weeks, they’re not helping their case. What would help? Go to USF on Friday and hang 70 because if they struggle again against a two win Bulls team, that will do nothing to help their case that claims to be a top four program.
Cincinnati is undefeated so far, and yes, that’s a solid accomplishment. But if we’re using that (along with a Power Five road win) as the basis for why a team should be ranked high, UTSA is being far more disrespected They’re undefeated, won at Illinois (and before someone even says it, in no way am I comparing Notre Dame and Illinois) and have handled their business in a MUCH more convincing fashion than Cincinnati has. In no way am I saying that UTSA is a College Football Playoff contender. But last I checked, after scanning the College Football Playoff poll of last week, UTSA isn’t even ranked. You want to talk about disrespect, go ask the Roadrunners.
Cincinnati has to straighten it’s act out because if they don’t, they’ll be on the outside looking in and that’s where they belong until they prove otherwise.
This might all be a moot point anyways because who knows if they’ll get passed SMU. At least then they’ll have that “quality loss” they’ve been asking for. Worst case, they can always take the UCF approach and claim a National Championship they didn’t win.