To the esteemed members of the College Football Playoff Committee,
I write to you humbly, and with but a simple request: Put Cincinnati in the playoff, you absolute cowards.
I was furious with you last week, when you slid the undefeated Bearcats in at #9 despite three teams ahead of them having two losses. I figured this was all getting set up for a screw job, giving you the cover to slide in whatever extra SEC team you felt like into the fourth spot were one of the top four teams to go and embarrass itself this weekend.
Well, Notre Dame went and embarrassed itself, getting shellacked 34-10 in the ACC Championship game against Clemson. And lo and behold, now it looks like Texas A&M might be that extra SEC team that slides into the top four.
Were A&M to sneak in, it’d most likely get the #4 seed, and face off against #1 Alabama, and if you’re wondering how that game might turn out, we already know how that game will turn out, because that game already happened this season: Alabama won 52-24. FIFTY TWO TO TWENTY FOUR!
Anyway you slice this, it’s idiotic. If you decide to give it to A&M, well that’s dumb, because A&M already lost to Alabama by four freaking touchdowns.
If you decide to forgive Notre Dame for getting embarrassed by Clemson, and let the Fighting Irish in the playoff, that’s also dumb. Is the thinking there that Notre Dame won’t go ahead and get embarrassed again? A&M can at least make the argument that its team got smoked by one of the top teams a while ago. Notre Dame got smoked … today. Like, a few hours ago.
And here we have Cincinnati, with a 9-0 record and, after tonight’s win over Tulsa, an AAC title. Don’t overthink it. Don’t work yourself in circles. Just put Cincy in.
If you’re worried about the “eye test” and that Cincinnati doesn’t have as strong a roster as Notre Dame or A&M, and you have concerns that the Bearcats might get blown out by a team like Clemson or Alabama, I have some crazy news for you: Notre Dame and A&M already got blown out by Clemson and Alabama, respectively.
We all saw the games. They were on TV and everything.
You don’t have a great fourth candidate and you know it. Let’s show schools outside the P-5 that there’s a point to all this, and that they actually have a shot at this thing.
You got your Clemson. You got your Alabama. You got your Ohio State. It’s everything you clearly have dreamed of since the first preseason ranking. It’s a weird year, and this is a weird situation, and for once in your vanilla lives, just do something fun and interesting.
Put Cincy in, you absolute cowards.
Cordially,
Nate
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