There are two more full Saturdays of regular-season college football action, but time is running out for the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats and their hopes of being one of the final four teams that make it into the CFP.
The latest rankings for the College Football Playoffs have the Bearcats fifth overall which means that some teams will have to lose if Cincinnati intends to blaze a path into the final four.
USA College Football betting sites are also throwing shade at Cincinnati and have placed them as the seventh overall team in the odds to win the NCAAF National Championship on January 10th, implying that they’re more likely to make a New Year’s Six Bowl Game and miss the CFP.
Before Cincinnati fans can begin complaining to the Selection Committee, their Bearcats need to win their final two games. Online football sportsbooks are predicting that they’ll finish the season without a loss, placing their postseason destiny into the hands of other NCAA Football programs.
The good news is that there are several potential avenues that could open up for Cincinnati.
Ways The Cincinnati Bearcats Can Make The CFP
- If the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide lose the SEC Championship Game, it will be difficult for the Selection Committee to rank them ahead of an undefeated Bearcats team that was ranked fifth.
- If the winner of the Big Ten has two losses. The championship picture for the Big Ten Conference is incredibly murky at the moment with three one-loss teams in a log jam at the top.
- The Oregon Ducks lose another game, the College Football Playoffs Selection Committee will be forced to place them behind Cincinnati, even if they win the Pac-12.
Considering how quickly top teams have fallen upon achieving said designation, it is not out of the realm of possibility that any of them could occur.
The only outlier is time, and with only two weekends remaining in the 2021-22 NCAAF season, the clock could run out on the Bearcats and their chances at a National Title.