The University of Cincinnati Bearcats have had an historic year, and they intend to cap it off with a playoff spot. With only four teams achieving a coveted spot in the playoffs, the Bearcats, a non power five football school, definitely have had the odds stacked against them.

The official rankings come out on Tuesday, November 30th at 7:00pm. ET. In the previous ranking, the Bearcats were ranked fourth, trailing Georgia, Ohio State, and Alabama. However, after this week, that may change.

Georgia will clearly remain #1, with an undefeated record and dominant wins week in and week out. They will likely defeat Alabama in the SEC Championship, and either way, we can expect Georgia to have a spot in the playoffs.

Alabama may stay ranked at 3 or move down to 4. Unfortunately, Alabama had a last-minute comeback against Auburn. This loss would have knocked them way down the list. However, even with the victory, Alabama has looked weak in the past couple of weeks. Although an Alabama loss would have been great for the Bearcats, I still believe UC will be ranked higher than them, especially if UC looks strong against Houston and Alabama gets dominated by Georgia, both of which are likely.

Ohio State, previously ranked #2, will likely not be ranked in the top 4 after their stunning loss to Michigan. Ohio State is likely out of playoff contention.

Michigan will likely move to either #2 or #3 and will likely defeat Iowa in the Big 10 Championship. Michigan did what they needed to do: defeat Ohio State. Now, the playoffs seem likely for them.

Notre Dame is also ranked highly, but with their loss to UC earlier in the year, I highly doubt that Notre Dame would get in and the Bearcats would not. Although I do not have much faith in the committee, the little faith I do have left believes this much.

Finally, Oklahoma State, just came off a hot win versus Oklahoma. Again, it is tragic that Alabama came back versus Auburn, because Oklahoma State would certainly be ranked in the top four if not. This is what I am worried about. Hopefully, for the sake of everyone outside of the state of Alabama, the four teams that make it are Georgia, Cincinnati, Michigan, and Oklahoma State. That would be a nice and refreshing matchup. No Clemson, no Alabama, and although I love the Buckeyes, not OSU.

However, I fear that Alabama may get in even with a loss to Georgia. I do not have enough faith in the selection committee. Hopefully I am wrong because Alabama does not deserve a spot, at least in my book. I believe that Georgia and Michigan have secured a spot, barring an upset in the conference championships. So, you’ve got UC, Alabama, and Oklahoma State fighting for two spots. In a perfect world, Alabama is out. However, it may be that either Cincinnati or Oklahoma State gets the short end of the straw. UC has a perfect record, but Oklahoma has more “impressive” wins in the eyes of the committee.

Indeed, the Cincinnati Bearcats have been great this year and deserve a playoff spot. Their best course of action is to defeat Houston by a wide margin, prove their worth, and hope that the committee does not have too much pity on Alabama.