Close wins against teams in the bottom half of the American standings has made things harder on Cincinnati but easier on the College Football Playoff selection committee, which can use games against Navy, Tulane and Tulsa as a defense for keeping the unbeaten Bearcats behind at least three one-loss teams from the Power Five.
But the Bearcats may still move up in Tuesday night's rankings, boosted in spite of the narrow win against the Golden Hurricane by Michigan State's loss to Purdue.
Where the Spartans are ranked on Tuesday evening will impact the landing spot for several teams outside of what should be an uncontroversial top four.