The Alabama Crimson Tide have been announced as the number one team in the country heading into the College Football Playoffs. Michigan, Georgia, and Cincinnati are the other three teams who will be competing.
Alabama will take on the number four seed, Cincinnati Bearcats, who are the only undefeated team reaming this season. The Crimson Tide were able to win the SEC title after defeating Georgia 41-24. That was the most points that Georgia has given up all season as well as the most yards that their defense has given up all season. If Alabama was to lose the SEC title game, there was a chance that they wouldn't have even been in the final four, but since they took care of business, they have the one seed.
Cincinnati will not be an easy opponent for Alabama, but they might have gotten the easiest game out of the other opponents. Georgia was the number one team in the country for every week besides the final week of the season, and there was a chance that Michigan could have been the number one seed over Alabama. It made sense that they put Michigan at number two as the committee did not want two SEC teams facing off against each other once again after just competing in the SEC title.
Let's take a look at four bold predictions for Alabama as they will take on the number four Cincinnati Bearcats in the Cotton Bowl.
Alabama Cotton Bowl Predictions
4. Alabama gets hit in the mouth early
Nick Saban will not allow his team to come into the Cotton Bowl playing anything less than their best football. He's going to keep his kids in check all month leading up to this game and make sure that they do not take Cincinnati lightly.
There is no reason for Alabama to come out in this game flat, but they are going to do so. They're going to think that Cincinnati is a team that they can walk all over and that's just simply not the case. Cincinnati is here for a reason and they will show Alabama that they are a good team. If Alabama doesn't come prepared, they could lose this game.
Luckily for Alabama, Cincinnati won't be able to do a ton against their elite defense and Alabama will still have a small lead going into halftime. Nick Saban will be all over his players for the next month to make sure that they do not take this team lightly, but Alabama will not fully grasp that.
3. Bryce Young saves the day
All this kid has done in the past few weeks has shown that he wants to get his team into the College Football Playoffs. Bryce Young got his wish as he has carried this Alabama Crimson Tide team to an SEC title and multiple wins in the final weeks of the season.
He has been nothing short of sensational since the second he stepped on the football field for the Crimson Tide and he's going to do the same thing against Cincinnati. When going up against Georgia, who arguably has the best defense that college football has seen in the past decade, Bryce Young put up 421 yards and three touchdowns. If he can do that against this Georgia defense, he can do it against anybody, and that's what he's going to do against Cincinnati.
2. Huge second half gets them the win
Alabama is going to start off slow in the first half, but blow Cincinnati out after half-time. Nick Saban is going to rip into his guys if they don't have at least a two-touchdown lead, and they will not because Cincinnati is going to come out and punch them in the mouth.
Alabama will then take a huge lead in the second half behind Bryce Young as he throws for over 250 yards in the half with three touchdowns.
1. Alabama moves on to play Georgia in the National Championship
Alabama will get a repeat of the SEC title against an extremely talented Georgia team. There is a reason why Georgia was the number one team in the country for mostly every week up until the last week of the season. It is going to be a College Football National Championship for the ages and one that is going to be tough for Alabama to win. Beating Georgia twice in the same season seems like a difficult task, but you can never count out Nick Saban and his Crimson Tide.