ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 1 Alabama’s dominant 27-6 win over No. 4 Cincinnati in Friday’s college football playoff semifinals was likely inevitable.
Not because the 13-1 Bearcats didn’t deserve to be the first Group of Five team in the College Football Playoffs. They did.
Related: What USF Football Can Learn From Cincinnati’s College Football Playoff Run
Instead, the one-sided result at the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium seemed inevitable as one-sided results have become a playoff tradition, like the sunset in the San Gabriel Mountains at the Rose Bowl or SEC fans saying everyone else hadn’t played against anyone.
Cincinnati became the youngest team to suffer a major loss in a college football playoff semifinal. [ MICHAEL AINSWORTH | AP ]
The first college football playoff game was Florida State’s 39-point loss to Oregon in the Rose Bowl in the 2014 season. Since then, the semifinals have been a series of blowouts, punctuated by occasional close matches.
The last time Alabama played in the Cotton Bowl (13-1) was Michigan State’s 38-0 demolition in the 2015 season. The Bearcats did better than these Spartans on Friday.
The last time Alabama played a playoff game at the AT&T Stadium was the rescheduled Rose Bowl last season. Only one touchdown in Notre Dame garbage time made the Irish defeat 17 points thinner than Cincinnati’s.
The Crimson Tide earned a trip to the 2016 season title game in Tampa by defeating Washington 24-7 in the Peach Bowl. The Tide led Kyler Murrays Sooners 28-0 through the first 17 minutes of the Orange Bowl two seasons later.
ACC or AAC. Big 12 or Pac-12. Big Ten or Independent. It does not matter.
It’s not about conference membership. It’s about the accumulation of talent. As long as the teams at the top land the most stars and develop well, results like the Cotton Bowl on Friday will repeat themselves.
The gap between superpowers (Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and Clemson for most years) and the next tier (Oklahoma, Notre Dame, the 2018-20 Gators) is so great.
Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder couldn’t do much against Alabama’s defense. [ MICHAEL AINSWORTH | AP ]
Cincinnati was very good. The Bearcats went undefeated into the postseason and won a double-digit victory in 5th place from Notre Dame. They had one of the most successful quarterbacks in college football history, Desmond Ridder, and at least half a dozen other players to be drafted by the NFL in 2022. It took a perfect storm of scheduling, super seniors, and luck to make this happen, but Cincinnati deserves breaking the glass ceiling of the Group of Five.
“I have no doubt they belong in the playoffs,” said Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban.
But there is a difference between being in the playoffs and being good enough to win a game or two. That difference was most evident on Friday along the scrimmage line as Alabama paved its way to victory.
The Tide had six sacks, including two from former five-star recruit Will Anderson, while two were allowed. Alabama hit passes, including two from former top 150 recruit Phidarian Mathis and another from former top 50 prospect Henry To’oTo’o.
Behind an offensive line that includes potential NFL first-round draft pick Evan Neal of Bradenton’s IMG Academy, Alabama averaged more than twice as many yards per carry (6.4-2.8).
“We knew the fight in the trenches was going to be a big deal,” said Bearcats coach Luke Fickell. “Somehow the game was won.”
Alabama running back Brian Robinson ran 204 yards on Cincinnati. [ JEFFREY MCWHORTER | AP ]
It was also won in the backcourt behind Brian Robinson’s Alabama Bowl record of 204 rushing yards. The Bearcats’ strong defense made it to the semifinals, allowing only 137 yards per game. Robinson had 134 at halftime.
Robinson’s offensive MVP performance is a sign of the difficult-to-reproduce depth that separates Alabama and the rest of the elites from everyone else. Robinson isn’t the best player on his offensive (that is Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Bryce Young) or the second best (recipient Jameson Williams). In his last three games, Robinson ran for 248 yards with no touchdowns.
But Robinson is a highly competitive former top 150 recruit who can break out in any game if the situation and matchup calls for it. Situation and matchup called for it on Friday, and Robinson responded with the game of his life to lead the Tide to their sixth national title game in eight playoff seasons.
Cincinnati couldn’t realistically do much about it. The Bearcats ran into a juggernaut. According to recruiting website 247Sports, Cincinnati has seven blue-chip recruits on its list. Alabama has 74.
“For us, who are from Cincinnati, from the American (Athletic) Conference,” said Ridder, “this is as good as we could want it to be.”
It’s the same thing virtually any other team outside of the blue blood can ask for.
Just come to the playoff. Because unilateral loss once you get there is likely inevitable.
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