BELIEVE me, when it happens, you aren’t too keen on the random Power Five program getting that fourth spot, either
America, you gush all over Cincinnati, saying it could play with or beat anyone.
You say it really is the seventh-best team in college football, all while also swooning over BYU, but there’s one problem that no one wants to talk about …
Cincinnati and BYU haven’t really played anyone.
A few things can be true at once.
Could Cincinnati and BYU hang with anyone? This year? Sure.
Should they really be getting so much love for their dominant blowout wins? Sort of, but it helps when you play a schedule full of meh.
To quote Thornton Melon, “if you want to look thin, hang out with fat people.”
I know this offends everyone’s sensibilities, but you’re not Group of Five-shaming to call out SMU, Memphis and Houston for merely being teams that play college football – no more, no less.
Cincinnati beat those three, Austin Peay, Army, and USF – oooooh “The Fields Medal The Fields Medal,” let’s put the Bearcats in the College Football Playoff!
Cincinnati won’t play a Power Five team this year until – most likely – the bowl season.
Meanwhile, BYU – through absolutely no fault of its own, because the program doesn’t duck anyone, and had a fantastic schedule blown away because of the changes this year – has beaten Navy, Troy, Louisiana Tech, UTSA, Houston, Texas State, WKU, and a Boise State team without its starting backfield.
Well who doesn’t do that?
Who else goes 8-0 and looks amazing against that slate?
But fine. I actually do think Cincinnati and BYU are really good, but that’s the point … I THINK they’re good.
Iowa State is rolling, going 5-2 with a tough 24-21 loss at Oklahoma State. Who else did it lose to?
Louisiana, handing the Cyclones a 31-14 loss in Ames.
The lone Ragin’ Cajun loss was 30-27 to a Coastal Carolina team that’s unbeaten – and has a Power Five win, at least technically, over Kansas – and yet no one in either poll seems to know or care with Iowa State ranked higher than Louisiana.
And then there’s Liberty, who’s unbeaten and just beat Virginia Tech in Blacksburg for its second Power Five win – and yes, Syracuse is still an ACC team.
Meanwhile, BYU and Cincinnati each beat a 2-3 Houston – UC got the Cougars without some key parts – and everyone is crowning their respective asses.
– You have fun, fans of new big teams
– Group of Five program reality
– The College Football Playoff will be, in …
I Think, I Know, I Believe
– 5 Footballey Opinions
– Sure-Thing Picks of the Century