OHIO — The University of Cincinnati football is headed to the College Football Playoffs for the first time in school history.
The 13-member selection committee released its final Top 25 rankings of the season on Sunday and the Bearcats earned the No. 4 spot.
Cincinnati will play No. 1 Alabama in the Cotton Bowl while No. 2 Michigan will play No. 3 Georgia in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
The Bearcats (13-0) are the first team to break through college football’s glass ceiling and reach the CFP from a non-Power Five conference. Cincinnati won the American Athletic Conference and head into the postseason as the only unbeaten team in the country.
Coach Luke Fickell and the Bearcats made history with little debate. Playoff selection committee chairman Gary Barta said on ESPN there was strong consensus for Cincinnati at No. 4 ahead of No. 5 Notre Dame, which had only one loss — to the Bearcats in South Bend, Indiana, in early October. Ohio State finished sixth.
The rest of the committee’s final rankings and the matchups for the other four New Year’s Six bowls were to be announced later Sunday.
Cincinnati’s reward will be a matchup with the defending national champions in the Cotton Bowl. The Crimson Tide is in the playoff for the seventh time in the postseason format’s eight-year history after handing Georgia its first loss of the season in the Southeastern Conference title game Saturday.
Alabama (12-1) seemed a loss away from being eliminated from playoff contention heading into its game with Georgia. Instead, Bryce Young and the Tide lit up the Bulldogs’ vaunted defense to earn the top seed.
The Bearcats (13-0) buried Houston with a third-quarter surge on Saturday to become the CFP’s first true Cinderella.
Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty has won three playoff championships to go along with three BCS titles since 2009. Georgia (12-1) managed to stay in the field as the third seed, becoming the second team to lose its conference title game and make the playoff.
Notre Dame did the same thing last season, when it lost a rematch with Clemson in its one season playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, a move prompted by pandemic-altered schedules.
