IRVING, Texas - As college football's postseason evolved from disconnected bowls to the current four-team playoff, it never truly embraced the underdog the way basketball does each March.
The upstarts occasionally got a chance to play a blue blood in a big bowl game, but they never entered the postseason with a legitimate opportunity to win a national championship.
Well, college football finally has its first Cinderella team: Cincinnati has broken the glass ceiling.
The Bearcats will play Alabama in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Eve after being selected to the College Football Playoff on Sunday. Michigan will face Georgia in the Orange Bowl semifinal on Dec. 31, and the winners will play for the national championship on Jan. 10 in Indianapolis.
Fourth-seeded Cincinnati is the first team to reach the CFP from a Group of Five conference in the eight-year history of this postseason format; to this point, the only participants had been members of Power Five conferences and powerful independent Notre Dame. The Bearcats (13-0) won the American Athletic Conference and head into the postseason as the only unbeaten team remaining this season in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
"It's a historic day. It really is. In the world of sports, this is history," AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said. "This is something probably many, many people never thought they would see."
Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell downplayed the burden for the Bearcats to represent the little guy, saying they "just want to be us," but it's a major milestone nonetheless.
When the Bowl Championship Series started in 1998 - succeeding the Bowl Alliance, itself a replacement for the Bowl Coalition, all steps toward a true title game - Tulane went unbeaten in Conference USA and didn't even get a spot in one of the glitzy bowls. During his time as Tulane's president, Scott Cowen was among the first to attack the BCS as an exclusionary cartel.
Utah, coached by Urban Meyer at the time, went unbeaten as a member of the Mountain West Conference in 2004 and reached the Fiesta Bowl, but only got to play a so-so Pittsburgh team, meaning the Utes had no shot to finish No. 1.
Boise State created a brand out of being a potential BCS buster during its time in the Western Athletic Conference, winning a remarkable Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma in 2007. Texas Christian University was in the Mountain West when it won a Rose Bowl against Wisconsin in 2010.
Utah and TCU ended up getting scooped up by Power Five conferences. If you can't beat them, ask them to join you.
The birth of the playoff in the 2014 season doubled the number of teams that had a chance to win the national title from two to four, but it didn't seem to help the little guys.
The University of Central Florida won 25 straight games in 2017-18 and never did better than eighth in the selection committee's rankings. The Knights went so far as to declare themselves national champions after they were the only team in major college football to finish the 2017 season unbeaten.
Cincinnati set the foundation for this year's run by going unbeaten in the regular season last year before losing to Georgia on a late field goal in the Peach Bowl.
Aresco conceded this run has felt bittersweet at times for him. Cincinnati, along with AAC runner-up Houston as well as UCF, will be leaving the league for the Big 12 soon, part of the conference realignment carousel that started spinning this past summer when Oklahoma and Texas announced impending departures to the Southeastern Conference.
The Bearcats made history with little debate, though. Playoff selection committee chairman Gary Barta said there was strong consensus for Cincinnati at No. 4 ahead of No. 5 Notre Dame, which had only one loss - at home against the Bearcats in early October. Ohio State was sixth in the final CFP rankings.
"This will be a real challenge for us in every way, shape and form," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
The Bearcats might not have been so comfortably in the field had things gone differently at the Big 12 championship game Saturday. Oklahoma State, which was No. 5 in the CFP rankings going into the game, came up inches short of scoring a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute of its loss to Baylor.
Saban, who noted he played at Kent State in the Mid-American Conference, said Cincinnati's achievement is a positive development for the sport: "I absolutely think that everyone who participates in college football, Division I level, should feel like they have an opportunity to get in the playoff."
It is the third time two teams from the same conference are in the CFP and second time it has happened with the SEC. In the 2017 season, Alabama beat Georgia in overtime to win the national title.
As conference leaders consider expanding the playoff from four to 12 teams as soon as 2024, only two Power Five leagues will be represented this season: the SEC and Big Ten. The Atlantic Coast Conference missed out for the first time, the Big 12 was shut out for the second straight season and the Pac-12 will not have a team in the playoff for the sixth time.
The other big bowl games that make up the New Year's Six were also set: Michigan State (10-2) faces ACC champion Pitt (11-2) in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 30, while on New Year's Day, Notre Dame (11-1) takes on Oklahoma State (11-2) in the Fiesta Bowl, Pac-12 champion Utah (10-3) and Ohio State (10-2) meet in the Rose Bowl and Ole Miss (10-2) squares off with Baylor (11-2) in the Sugar Bowl.
Cincinnati's reward for making history is a matchup with the reigning national champions in Arlington, Texas, at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
The Tide are in the playoff for the seventh time after handing Georgia its first setback of the season in the SEC title game Saturday. Alabama (12-1) seemed to be a loss away from being eliminated from playoff contention heading into its game with Georgia. Instead, Bryce Young and the Tide lit up the Bulldogs' vaunted defense to earn the top seed.
Saban's Alabama dynasty has won three playoff championships to go along with three BCS titles since 2009.
Georgia (12-1) managed to stay in the field as the third seed, becoming the second team to lose its conference title game and make the playoff. Notre Dame did the same thing last season, when it lost a rematch with Clemson in its lone season playing in the ACC, a move prompted by pandemic-altered schedules.
The Bulldogs will be making their second CFP appearance when they meet second-seeded Michigan (12-1) in the Orange Bowl. Coach Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines are in the playoff for the first time after winning the Big Ten for the first time since 2004. Michigan, which went 2-4 last season, is the first team to make the playoff after being unranked in the preseason AP Top 25.
AP photo by Brynn Anderson / Alabama wide receiver Slade Bolden (18) celebrates during the second half of the SEC title game Saturday in Atlanta.BOWL SCHEDULE
Friday, Dec. 17
Bahamas Bowl at Nassau
Toledo (7-5) vs. Middle Tennessee State (6-6), noon (ESPN)
Cure Bowl at Orlando, Fla.
Northern Illinois (9-4) vs. Coastal Carolina (10-2), 6 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, Dec. 18
Boca Raton (Fla.) Bowl
Western Kentucky (8-5) vs. Appalachian State (10-3), 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Celebration Bowl at Atlanta
South Carolina State (6-5) vs. Jackson State (11-1), noon (ABC)
New Mexico Bowl at Albuquerque
Fresno State (9-3) vs. UTEP (7-5), 2:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Independence Bowl at Shreveport, La.
No. 12 BYU (10-2) vs. UAB (8-4), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
LendingTree Bowl at Mobile, Ala.
Eastern Michigan (7-5) vs. Liberty (7-5), 5:45 p.m. (ESPN)
L.A. Bowl at Inglewood, Calif.
Oregon State (7-5) vs. Utah State (10-3), 7:30 p.m. (ABC)
New Orleans Bowl
Louisiana-Lafayette (12-2) vs. Marshall (7-5), 9:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday, Dec. 20
Myrtle Beach Bowl at Conway, S.C.
Old Dominion (6-6) vs. Tulsa (6-6), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, Dec. 21
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at Boise
Kent State (7-6) vs. Wyoming (6-6), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Frisco (Texas) Bowl
UTSA (12-1) vs. San Diego State (11-2), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, Dec. 22
Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, Texas
Missouri (6-6) vs. Army (8-3), 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Thursday, Dec. 23
Frisco (Texas) Football Classic
Miami (7-5) vs. North Texas (6-6), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Gasparilla Bowl at Tampa, Fla.
UCF (8-4) vs. Florida (6-6), 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday, Dec. 24
Hawaii Bowl at Honolulu
Memphis (6-6) vs. Hawaii (6-7), 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, Dec. 25
Camellia Bowl at Montgomery, Ala.
Ball State (6-6) vs. Georgia State (7-5), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday, Dec. 27
Quick Lane Bowl at Detroit
Nevada (8-4) vs. Western Michigan (7-5), 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Military Bowl at Annapolis, Md.
Boston College (6-6) vs. East Carolina (7-5), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, Dec. 28
Birmingham (Ala.) Bowl
Houston (11-2) vs. Auburn (6-6), noon (ESPN)
Servpro First Responder Bowl at Dallas
Air Force (9-3) vs. Louisville (6-6), 3:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Liberty Bowl at Memphis
Mississippi State (7-5) vs. Texas Tech (6-6), 6:45 p.m. (ESPN)
Holiday Bowl at San Diego
UCLA (8-4) vs. NC State (9-3), 8 p.m. (FOX)
Guaranteed Rate Bowl at Phoenix
Minnesota (8-4) vs. West Virginia (6-6), 10:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, Dec. 29
Fenway Bowl at Boston
Virginia (6-6) vs. SMU (8-4), 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Pinstripe Bowl at New York
Virginia Tech (6-6) vs. Maryland (6-6), 2:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Cheez-It Bowl at Orlando, Fla.
Clemson (9-3) vs. Iowa State (7-5), 5:45 p.m. (ESPN)
Alamo Bowl at San Antonio
Oklahoma (10-2) vs. Oregon (10-3), 9:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Thursday, Dec. 30
Duke's Mayo Bowl at Charlotte, N.C.
South Carolina (6-6) vs. North Carolina (6-6), 11:30 a.m. (ESPN)
Music City Bowl at Nashville
Purdue (8-4) vs. Tennessee (7-5), 3 p.m. (ESPN)
Peach Bowl at Atlanta
Michigan State (10-2) vs. Pittsburgh (11-2), 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Las Vegas Bowl
Wisconsin (8-4) vs. Arizona State (8-4), 10:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday, Dec. 31
Gator Bowl at Jacksonville, Fla.
Wake Forest (10-3) vs. Texas A&M (8-4), 10 a.m. (ESPN)
Sun Bowl at El Paso, Texas
Washington State (7-5) vs. Miami (7-5), noon (CBS)
Arizona Bowl at Tucson
Central Michigan (8-4) vs. Boise State (7-5), 4:30 p.m.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINALS
Cotton Bowl Classic at Arlington, Texas
No. 1 Alabama (12-1) vs. No. 4 Cincinnati (13-0), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Orange Bowl at Miami Gardens, Fla.
No. 2 Michigan (12-1) vs. No. 3 Georgia (12-1), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, Jan. 1
Outback Bowl at Tampa, Fla.
Arkansas (8-4) vs. Penn State (7-5), noon (ESPN2)
Citrus Bowl at Orlando, Fla.
Iowa (10-3) vs. Kentucky (9-3), 1 p.m. (ABC)
Fiesta Bowl at Glendale, Ariz.
Notre Dame (11-1) vs. Oklahoma State (11-2), 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Rose Bowl at Pasadena, Calif.
Ohio State (10-2) vs. Utah (10-3), 5 p.m. (ESPN)
Sugar Bowl at New Orleans
Baylor (11-2) vs. Ole Miss (10-2), 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, Jan. 4
Texas Bowl at Houston
LSU (6-6) vs. Kansas State (7-5), 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday, Jan. 10
CPF National Championship Game at Indianapolis
Semifinal winners, 8 p.m. (ESPN)