This college football season, a heavily debated topic has been what matters more: a team’s record or who they had to play to get that record? Cincinnati has been the team that brought on this conversation by having an undefeated record while playing in the American Athletic Conference. As it stands right now, the College Football Playoff Committee will have to drop two one-loss or fewer teams, five being conference champions and one being Alabama or Georgia. That begs the question, would you take an undefeated AAC champion Cincinnati with big wins over Notre Dame and SMU, or a one-loss Alabama with another loss in the SEC Championship?
I feel that an undefeated conference champion, who has proven themselves over a top 15 team, definitely deserves a chance to win a national championship. I would take Cincinnati over Alabama if both teams win out and Alabama loses in the SEC Championship. Group of Five teams, such as undefeated UCF, have been denied playoff spots so many times that with a win over Notre Dame, Cincinnati definitely deserves an opportunity to play against top-caliber teams for a championship. If they get destroyed in the semi-finals, then it’s a lesson learned for fans, including myself, and analysts who jumped on the Cinderella bandwagon.
A scenario in which Cincinnati would not get a playoff spot would be if Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Alabama win out, including their conference championships. In that case, it would just be unjustifiable to put in an AAC Conference champion over a Power Five conference champion. In this scenario, the committee would also leave out a one-loss Michigan State, a Notre Dame team with their only loss to Cincinnati, and a one or two-loss ACC champion in Pittsburgh or Wake Forest. Oregon has all but eliminated themselves and with a loss to Ohio State, and Michigan will have as well.
Overall, I believe that unless Cincinnati loses a game, they deserve a chance to win a national championship alongside some of the best college football programs in the country. Oregon losing on November 20th really helped them out, but we won’t know if they get the opportunity they deserve until Sunday, December 5th, when the College Football Playoff Committee makes their final decision.
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