ESPN Ranks 2021 UC Team A Top-30 College Football Playoff Squad

The Bearcats outpaced one team in this year's event.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Dec 14, 2022 8:38 AM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — ESPN's Bill Connelly released his full ranking of every College Football Playoff team since the format started in the 2014 season.

UC is one of 14 programs to make the four-team playoff, and Connelly ranked them 30th out of 36 teams.

"Even adjusting for strength of schedule, Luke Fickell's CFP debutants finished fifth in SP+. The Bearcats physically dominated a strong Notre Dame squad in 2021 and earned their playoff spot, and they hemmed in Bryce Young and the Alabama passing attack," Connelly said about the 27-6 loss to the Crimson Tide. "The problem: They got gashed by the Bama run game and, more importantly, couldn't even slightly protect quarterback Desmond Ridder."

The crowning season of Bearcats football is one fans will never forget and is being looked on fondly as time moves on.

2015 Michigan State, 2018 Notre Dame, 2019 Oklahoma, 2020 Notre Dame, 2022 TCU, and 2016 Ohio State were all ranked below the best team UC's ever produced.

Check out the full ranking here.

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