For a third straight week, the Cincinnati Bearcats -- undefeated leaders in the looked-down-upon American conference -- were left outside the top-four by the College Football Playoff selection committee. They're still ranked No. 5.
And although the Bearcats have already made college football history as the first Group of Five team to be ranked fifth or higher in the CFP era, longtime play-by-play voice Tim Brando believes the system is fundamentally broken.
"Don't throw dirt on a schedule for Cincinnati. They'll never throw dirt on an SEC schedule," Brando told The DA Show on Wednesday. "Cincinnati should be No. 2. They should be No. 2. They're undefeated. What you do early in the season should matter. They play a very difficult schedule within their league. SMU is a good team, Houston finally got ranked.
"Why do you suppose it took this long to get any of their brethren from the American conference ranked? I'll tell you: because the committee wants to say that they don't have any wins over ranked opponents. That's why. When I see three-loss teams out of the Big Ten ranked and no Houston and no SMU, that's code for corruption."
Cincinnati, which is a perfect 10-0 and one of just three remaining unbeaten teams in college football, defeated South Florida, 45-28, in Tampa last week. Bearcats senior quarterback Desmond Ridder completed 31 of 39 passes for a season-high 304 yards with three total touchdowns, and broke the school record with this 79th touchdown pass early in the third quarter.
In order to the Bearcats to receive more acclaim by the selection committee, they'll likely need a convincing win against SMU (8-2) at home on Saturday. According to ESPN's new Playoff Predictor, Cincinnati has an 86-percent chance to reach the coveted playoff if they win out and claim the AAC title.
The entire college football conversation between Brando 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.