Upstarts Cincinnati, Michigan crashing CFP party with Alabama, Georgia

Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder and the breakthrough Bearcats aren’t caught up in what their unprecedented playoff appearance could mean for other non-Power 5 teams. This is their journey.

After a season-long debate about whether the outsider deserved a spot in the College Football Playoff — and being the only team to win every game along the way — the fourth-ranked Bearcats (13-0) get their shot in the CFP semifinal Cotton Bowl on Friday against top-ranked defending national champion Alabama.

“We’ve already had so much pressure on us throughout the entire season of marking off the checklist, so why add the pressure of every other non-Power 5 school that we have on our back?” Ridder said. “It’s really just been about us and will always continue to be about us.”

The SEC champion Crimson Tide (12-1) is the playoff standard bearer. This is Alabama’s seventh semifinal appearance in the eight seasons of the four-team CFP.

But the Tide most likely wouldn’t have made it back without Heisman Trophy winning-quarterback Bryce Young leading a tying, 97-yard TD drive late in the regular-season finale against Auburn that ended in an overtime win. The sophomore first-year starter then set an SEC championship game record with 421 yards passing in a 41-24 victory over Georgia, which was undefeated before then and plays Michigan at the Orange Bowl in the other CFP semifinal.

“It’s always challenging when you come off of winning a championship for players to have the same hunger, to have a sense of urgency to prove something,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who has six national titles the past 12 seasons. “But because we were young, I think it took this team a little longer to maybe respond on a consistent basis like we wanted them to.”

Ridder is among more than 30 Cincinnati seniors, many of whom decided to return for an extra year with coach Luke Fickell after the Bearcats went 9-1 last season with the only loss being 24-21 when Georgia kicked a last-second field goal in the New Year’s Six Peach Bowl.

Orange Bowl

Just about everything about this season has been a joyride for No. 2 Michigan, the first team to start unranked in the AP Top 25 and reach the College Football Playoff.

“We’re happy to be here but not just happy to be here,” coach Jim Harbaugh said.

Reaching the playoff in 2021 was always the expectation for No. 3 Georgia, and it seemed like a foregone conclusion by November as the Bulldogs rampaged through their schedule.

Not even a resounding loss to Alabama in the SEC title game could keep Georgia out. But instead of bounding into the Orange Bowl semifinal off huge victories like Michigan, the Bulldogs enter trying to re-establish the air of invincibility they carried much of the season.

“You lose some, and you just go on getting better,” Georgia All-America defensive tackle Jordan Davis said. “Obviously, we’re not going to be the same team from last game to this game with Michigan, but we just have to keep moving forward and worry about ourselves and just get ready for the game.”

Michigan (12-1), the winningest program in college football history, doesn’t fit the profile of an upstart, but few could have seen this breakthrough coming in year seven under Harbaugh.

There is a different vibe around Georgia.

Nobody doubted the Bulldogs would be a playoff contender this season. Led by a defense stacked with blue-chip recruits and future NFL Draft choices, they allowed less than a touchdown per game through a 12-0 start — and then lost 41-27 to Alabama.

Georgia has not won a national title since 1980.