On Friday afternoon, the Cincinnati Bearcats won't be playing merely on behalf of themselves. Instead, when the Bearcats run onto the field of the Jerry Dome for the College Football Playoff semifinal showdown with No. 1 Alabama (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App), they shouldn't do so beneath their own traditional black "C" flag. They should run out behind a New Year's parade's worth of banners with the logos of all the Bowl Championship Series and would-be CFP crashers who came before them.
Fly the black and gold of UCF, the blue and white of BYU, the blue and orange of Boise State and, heck, even that angry little Green Wave of Tulane.