The Cincinnati Bearcats have won the AAC conference championship and for just the second time in team history, finished the season with a perfect record. Well deserved congratulations on a terrific season! They won the conference title Saturday night by beating Tulsa 27-24 on a last second field goal at Nippert Stadium. But, not being in a Power 5 conference has played against the Bearcats with the selection committee. After the win, UC has only moved up one spot to no.8, just behind Big 12 champ, Oklahoma, who has two losses and SEC runner-up, Florida, who just lost their third game of the season. Obviously none of us expected the committee to put the Bearcats in the top four and let them in the playoffs, but they deserve a top 5 or 6 ranking and should be playing either Texas A&M or the aforementioned Big 12 champs, Oklahoma. Instead, the Bearcats are going to play the Georgia Bulldogs from the SEC, who had two losses and didn't get to compete for their conference title.
I understand it's the SEC and Georgia will most likely beat the Bearcats, just as Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators did back in 2009 after the Bearcats last undefeated season. But that's not really the point. Give them a chance to compete against another conference champ that didn't make it into the playoffs and see how things work out. What's it going to hurt, really? At the end of the day we know nothing is going to change the way non-power 5 schools are viewed by the committee, so let's just enjoy the undefeated season and AAC championship this Christmas season! GO CATS! -Danny