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College football analyst believes undefeated season for Cincinnati results in Playoff berth

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

One of the biggest gripes about the four-team format with the College Football Playoff is that teams from the Group of 5 conferences don’t have a realistic shot to earn a bid. Over the last seven years, none of the “little guys” have received a shot to play for a national championship.

Josh Pate of 247Sports and The Late Kick with Josh Pate thinks that could change this year. He says if Cincinnati — a projected Top 25 team entering the 2021 season — gets through the season unscathed, Luke Fickell’s Bearcats will earn one of the four spots.

“I’m gonna put it on record right now — if Cincinnati is undefeated, they’re in the Playoff,” Pate said. “I know there’s this misnomer out there — that’s exactly what it is — that the G5 is just outright barred (from the Playoff). No. There’s no G5 that’s ever warranted a spot in the Playoff over the four that have been selected.

“But if Cincinnati wins their conference, they beat two Power 5 teams that a lot is expected of in Notre Dame and Indiana, at some point this year or any point this year, if that’s the resume, I think they’re gonna be in the Playoff. I don’t care if there’s a G5 sticker on their helmet or not.”

Last year, Cincinnati made it through the regular season and AAC Championship Game unscathed, finishing with a 9-0 record. The Bearcats’ only loss was a 24-21 defeat to No. 9 Georgia in the Peach Bowl.

Cincinnati will open the season with games against Miami (OH) and Murray State before back-to-back road contests against Indiana and Notre Dame. Victories in those two games would certainly be nice resume boosters for a Playoff push.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB