The initial College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night, and to no one's surprise, a worthy Group of Five title contender was snubbed.
Cincinnati, which is ranked No. 2 in the latest AP top-25 poll, landed at No. 6 on the Playoff list, trailing SEC powers Georgia and Alabama, Big Ten fighters Michigan State and Ohio State, and Pac-12 mainstay Oregon. Although their ranking is the highest-ever for a Group of Five team, the undefeated Bearcats expected the CFP selection committee to place them inside the top-four.
"The AAC is having a bad season, that's hurting Cincinnati. Indiana is having a bad season, that's hurting Cincinnati," CBS Sports analyst Chip Patterson told The DA Show on Wednesday. "If this was one of those years -- and we've had them in the CFP era -- where we had multiple nine or 10-win teams at the end of the season in the AAC, then Cincinnati's reputation as the conference champion on Selection Sunday is going to carry far more weight.
"Indiana falling short and a lot of those teams in the middle of the AAC not playing to par are really hurting the Bearcats' strength of schedule. I don't know specifically which metric they use. There's a strength of schedule metric they have on ESPN.com, and since ESPN owns the playoff, I assume that's what they provide. And I just think that number is the one that stands out when you're like, 'This looks good, this looks good, woah, what is this?"
During ESPN's rankings show, committee chairman Gary Barta explained why Cincinnati wasn't inside the top-four, saying that, "looking at the big picture," they've only beaten one high-quality opponent. Of course, this is referring to No. 10 Notre Dame, which lost at home to the Bearcats back on Oct. 2.
AAC commissioner Mike Aresco also criticized the selection committee's list, calling it a "Power 5 invitational." Cincinnati happens to be the only AAC team ranked by the committee, as both SMU (7-1) and Houston (7-1) were left out. All three programs are ranked inside the AP top-25, however.
Cincinnati (8-0) will host Tulsa in a Week 10 matchup on Saturday afternoon. According to ESPN's new Playoff Predictor, the Bearcats have a 93-percent chance to reach the playoff if they win out and claim the AAC title. Right now, the 7-percent chance against them looms large.
The entire college football conversation between Patterson and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The DA Show on Twitter @DAonCBS and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.