Top-seeded Alabama will face No. 4 Cincinnati in the 2021 Cotton Bowl, for a chance to earn a trip to Indianapolis for the College Football Playoff National Championship. The winner between the Crimson Tide and Bearcats will face the Orange Bowl champion, which will be either No. 2 Michigan or No. 3 Georgia.
This is a big matchup with implications reaching far beyond this college football season. Cincinnati is the first Group of 5 program to make the playoffs. A team from the American Athletic Conference has a lot to prove, as there have been fans and analysts doubting teams like Cincinnati for decades. The Bearcats are entering a four-quarter fight with the biggest, historical figure in the game and want to be the ones to shift the narrative.
Here are five bold predictions for what may happen between Cincinnati and Alabama.