I hope they score 70 points against Washington Saturday! No way they will but a person can dream...

Alabama is usually ranked #1 in the country in high school recruiting, year after year.

The greater strength and maturity of upperclassmen can sometimes make a difference, so Alabama's early exits to the NFL can create a little more parity sometimes. But it's often not enough if the talent disparity is too great in the first place.

Their defense is pretty leaky. But thanks to the schedule, they have a really good chance to make their case with Iowa State, Baylor and Bedlam yet to go. If things work out then they will have a Big 12 championship game to go to.

They barely beat Kansas which has been awful all year.

Later on, they'll do whatever necessary to move Ohio State or Oklahoma in to replace Oregon.

... Cincinnati's initial ranking, but give me a break!

They were out-gained in yardage against the Indiana Hoosiers, for crying out loud, 376 to 328. Although Cincy indeed won that game, 38-24.

Ohio State beat Indiana 54-7, and had far more yards as well... 539 to 128. (And the Buckeyes removed their starters when the outcome was obvious.)

Cincinnati doesn't even recruit very well. It's not like they're always ranked in the top 10 in high school recruit talent rankings. They're usually lucky if they rank in the top 40!

If they indeed win-out with their weak schedule (except for one game against Norte Dame), I'll actually be pleased to see them get crushed in a semi-final playoff game.

Even Ohio State was crushed by Alabama last year, and the reason was obvious. Alabama had many more talented players at every position.

Everyone is impressed with Georgia’s defense but Cincinnati is right behind them in pass defense.

https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/stat/opponent-yards-per-pass-attempt

They had a high ranked pass defense by the Norte Dame game so it isn’t so much how how weak their opponents are but how good Cincinnati actually is.

I see Oregon in the top 4 who lost to a bad Stanford team and there is no way I put a 1 loss Alabama #2. The committee always screws mid majors but Cincinnati is especially getting screwed.

The chance they get put in the playoffs is, shall we say, slim at best?