And they earned their way in as much as anyone else.
Hell... they are a better team than SCUM.
Observations at coin toss. Cinci had nice thin athletes, Bama had taller and thicker athletes. Physical difference was noticeable. Same with Georgia and Mich. Georgia was much thicker than M
Maybe a bunch could but how many could beat Cincinnati? How about when Clemson rolls through an awful ACC or even loses one to a Syracuse or Pitt? Group of 5 6-1 vs power 5 in bowl games this year. AAC 2-1 vs SEC in bowl games. Bottom line is there’s a whole bunch of power 5 schools that are similar in talent to non power 5 schools.
You're comparing the weaker P5 schools to the better nonP5 schools. We're talking about the playoffs, the top 4 teams in the country. Compare a non P5 school to an excellent P5 team who played a much tougher conference schedule and maybe lost just one or two more games than the team playing in a minor conference.
Cincy was undefeated and deserved the shot over say Ohio State. The problem is Cincy has 2-3 star kids going up against the most elite program in the country. Does Alabama even sign a kid who isn't at least a 4 star? The results were very predictable.
But like the BCS cycle that pushed Bama, if Fickel stays and they continue this pattern and the Invitational expands to an actual playoff, they will get better talent.
Don't agree that Cincy deserved the shot. They are not one of the top 4 teams in the country, not even close. They had an excellent season playing in a minor conference, but that shouldn't get them in a 4 team playoff with big-time programs.
I don’t think Cincinnati played any worse than Michigan. If cincy didn’t belong, neither did UM. And if you look back at every semifinal game of the BCS era, 13 of 16 were more than 7 points difference in final score.
You don't really know that until someone beats them. An 8 team playoff would resolve that. Then a Cincy could be a legit 6-8 seed.
