The general public does not like the way the College Football Playoff committee’s first CFP rankings shook out, though Fly War Eagle can’t complain about the #13 ranking of Auburn football.
That said, Alabama is ranked too high, Oregon may also be too, and worst of all, Group of 5 powerhouse Cincinnati of the American Conference doesn’t look like it will get the slightest sliver of respect in the rankings when push comes to shove and the final four teams are named.
The Bearcats came in at #6 despite having a top 10 win on the road by double digits. Alabama’s highest-ranked win is against a two-loss Texas A&M when they were unranked in Week 6.
Needless to say, current UCF head coach and former Auburn football HC Gus Malzahn did not like this one bit and stood up for his AAC brethren to the north:
UCF coach Gus Malzahn is ticked Cincinnati started the CFP rankings No. 6. Cincy beat UCF 56-21 earlier this year. Malzahn to @YahooSports: “I’ve played UGA and Bama every year. I know exactly what it looks like. They’re right there. They’re a team that can win the whole thing.”
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 3, 2021
Malzahn is correct in knowing what a contender looks like, considering he played divisional games against the National Champions in four of the last six seasons.
That said, many gave him flack for his comments, ranging from being openly happy that he’s no longer on the Plains to even suggesting UCF needs to improve their recreational drug testing protocols.
Still, many agree with Malzahn, whose Knights were blown out by the Bearcats 56-21 in Week 7. It’ll be on Cincinnati to win out and claim their conference championship. Once they do that, we can revisit this conversation.
In the meantime, we’ll be watching Auburn try to do the same.