The Cincinnati Bearcats have been announced as the number four team in the country and will take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Cotton Bowl during the College Football Playoffs semifinals.
Cincinnati is the only remaining undefeated team in college football and is the first non-power 5 team to ever make it to the College Football Playoffs. Many people did not believe that Cincinnati deserve to be in, but they beat some worthy opponents throughout the year and most certainly deserve a chance to play for a National Title. They have wins over Notre Dame, Houston, and some other worthy opponents. Alabama, just like always, is one of the best teams in the country after winning an SEC title and finishing 12-1 on the season.
The Bearcats are going to prove that they belong with the top teams in the country as they're going to face arguably the best college football program of all time. Alabama has been the best program for nearly the past decade and beating them, especially in this type of environment, will certainly not be an easy task.
Let's take a look at four bold predictions for Cincinnati-Alabama in the Cotton Bowl.
Cincinnati Cotton Bowl Predictions
4. They come out hot
If Cincinnati wants any chance to win this game, they're going to have to come out and punch Alabama in the mouth. That's exactly what they're going to do as Alabama isn't going to necessarily think that Cincinnati can't compete with them, but they will have their foot off the gas a bit more than they should. This is the perfect time for Cincinnati to take advantage, but Alabama's defense might slow them down enough to where Alabama still has a lead at halftime.
The only way that Cincinnati can win this game is if they come out firing on all cylinders and somehow shock Alabama by taking an early two-touchdown lead going into halftime. Even if they do have a 14-21-point lead at halftime, the game is far from over as Alabama can put up points on the board at will.
3. Alabama has a 3 point half time lead
Cincinnati is going to come out playing the best football that they have all season in the first half. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, Alabama is still going to be just too much as their defense is going to be able to still get stops. Bryce Young is not going to have a bad game as he still going to be able to put up some points on the board in the first half for his team. Alabama is going to go into halftime with only a three-point lead, but because Cincinnati couldn't take full advantage of Alabama's downplay, they will still be losing the game and end up getting beat badly in the second half.
2. They get hit hard in the second-half
If Nick Saban's Crimson Tide team comes out with anything less than perfection, they're going to hear about it at halftime. That's exactly what's going to happen as Alabama is going to come out and hit Cincinnati hard in the second half. There's a chance that Bryce Young is going to throw for over 300 yards in just the second half alone and help Alabama put over 50 points on the board against a tough Cincinnati team. Cincinnati features a high-level defense, but it's just going to be a little too much to stop the elite Alabama offense. Alabama is going to start slow, but wake up at half-time and do what they do best
1. Cincinnati loses its first game of the year
Cincinnati has proved throughout the year that they are a great football team. The only problem is that Alabama is just a different breed. The guys that they produce every single year always go on to have successful NFL careers and they are just not the typical college football players the rest of the country has. Whether it be because of their size, athleticism, or anything else, they are just different than the rest of the country.
Cincinnati is going to lose this game by two touchdowns or more but it's nothing to hang their heads over. They had a great season and accomplished more than anybody in the world ever thought that they could. Just getting into the playoffs is a great stepping stone for a program that looks to make some noise in the next few seasons. At the end of the day, Alabama is just a more talented team and that's going to help them get past Cincinnati.
Cincinnati should be extremely proud of the season that they had. Everything that they did this year was something that they could build on for the future and maybe in a few years, they can get the recruits to compete with a school like Alabama.
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