Categorizing any Group of Five program’s season as “Playoff or bust” would be a level of ambition unusual even for college football, but that may be the case for Cincinnati in 2021. The Bearcats have the luxuries of an impressive previous season, a player that will demand national attention and a few high-profile games to reestablish national credibility.
If a Group of Five team is ever going to break into the four-team Playoff, it will be Cincinnati in 2021, beginning the year already at No. 8 in the AP poll, a ranking without consequence but one that establishes some September narrative all the same.