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Since the College Football Playoff was introduced in 2014 there’s been this push to have a non Power Five team make the cut. Given the uniqueness of the 2020 season, this very well could be the year we see it happen for the very first time. Then again, maybe not.
The first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings are set to be released on Tuesday night and while the three unbeaten teams of Alabama, Notre Dame, and Ohio State will make up the Top 3, the No. 4 spot is the big question mark. It sounds like, for ESPN college football insider Heather Dinich, that spot should maybe go to unbeaten Cincinnati instead of a one-loss team like Clemson, Florida, or Texas A&M.
“If you’re looking at them on paper, they (Cincinnati) actually have a stronger case than both Texas A&M and Florida,” Dinich said on Tuesday’s edition of ‘Get Up.’ “Which leads me to ask, does the committee honor the head-to-head results of the Aggies over the Gators even though Kyle Trask and the Gators have looked phenomenal lately? I think those five, six, seven spots are going to be the most interesting tonight.”
Dinich’s statement of Cincy having a better resume than the Gators and the Aggies is ridiculous.
Yes, the Bearcats will likely go undefeated, but they could play a 15-game schedule with the caliber of their’s and still not have an equal resume to a one-loss Florida or Texas A&M team. Cincinnati’s best win of the season came a week ago, which was a three-point win at 4-3 UCF. If the Bearcats end up running the table their best win will likely be their regular season finale at Tulsa.
Notable wins against Tulsa and against a down year UCF squad shouldn’t warrant a spot in the Top 4 even with an unbeaten record.
Florida’s lone loss was at Texas A&M, while the Aggie’s only loss was to No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Aggies will miss out on playing for an SEC Championship because of that loss to the Tide, but nevertheless, as it stands right now their 5-1 record against all SEC opponents is far superior to Cincy’s resume.
Florida on the other hand, while it may have its one loss, throttled a very good Georgia team a few weeks ago. Again, that win alone outweighs Cincinnati’s unbeaten run against an extremely lackluster group of opponents in the AAC.
Could a non Power Five team get into the Playoff this year? Absolutely, I’m not sure you’ve noticed this but the year 2020 has been a bit unpredictable. While that statement can be true, so too can one explaining that Cincinnati’s resume doesn’t even come close to Texas A&M’s, Florida’s, Clemson’s, or unbeaten Northwestern’s for that matter.
[H/T 247 Sports]