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Luke Fickell and Cincinnati's fight for the 2021 College Football Playoff and beyond

CINCINNATI -- Luke Fickell isn't much for the stage, at least not the theatrical sort.

His stage growing up was the wrestling mat, where he won 106 straight matches at St. Francis DeSales High School in Columbus, Ohio. So forgive him if he's about style and frills the way the Wicked Witch of the West is about water.

The same goes for his unbeaten Cincinnati football team, which is doing its best to crash the College Football Playoff party this season in a system that's been called everything from exclusive to snooty to downright rigged.