Kirk Herbstreit Believes Alabama vs. Cincinnati Will Be 'Competitive'

Cincinnati made college football history, becoming the first Group of Five program to make it to the College Football Playoff. For their efforts, they get to face top-seeded Alabama, the program with more Playoff experience than any other.

Semifinals haven't gone well for Alabama opponents. The Crimson Tide have made the field every year but 2019–'20, and are 5–1 in semifinal games. After losing to Ohio State in a 42–35 classic in 2014–'15, Alabama has five straight semifinal wins over Michigan State, Washington, Clemson, Oklahoma and Notre Dame by an average of 20.2 points.

That doesn't mean you can just write off Cincinnati on New Year's Eve, though. During an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit said that he wouldn't count out Luke Fickell's team. They played right with Georgia in the 2020–'21 Peach Bowl, falling 24–21, and will have the same chip on their shoulder that Alabama took into the SEC Championship.

“I think Cincinnati has a chance in this game because of the way they play defense,” Herbstreit told Patrick. “And I think if they played Georgia they'd probably have a little bit of a better chance just because of how explosive Bryce Young and Jameson Williams can be in the passing game. John Metchie, as you know, No. 8, he's out. He's torn his ACL. He was such a great complement to the vertical stretch of what Williams could do downfield. He was always underneath on slants, little outside routes, and just finding space. So you had to be worried about both of them, he was more yards after the catch.

“You take that away, Luke Fickell is a defensive-minded head coach. He has a veteran defense that went toe-to-toe with Georgia one year ago in their bowl game, and I think it gave them a lot of confidence coming into this year. I think people that couldn't name two players on Cincinnati's roster and think Cincinnati's going to get killed, I would be careful there. I just don't see that. I think Cincinnati—you know, Desmond Ridder, the quarterback, has been around, has played in a lot of big games. They've got a running back, Jerome Ford, who actually played big time football at Alabama before he transferred over.”

Herbstreit stopped well short of predicting an upset by the undefeated Bearcats, but he sees a competitive game on Dec. 31.

“They're going to show up, the shoe's on the other foot. Going back to Alabama always being complimented, ‘Oh, you're going to win by 20, no problem,’” Herbstreit said. “And Cincinnati's going to show up with an attitude. Cincinnati's going to show up feeling disrespected. And will it be enough? We'll see, but I see that game being competitive more than getting ugly.”

Only three of the 14 semifinal games in the history of the Playoff have been settled by a single score. Herbstreit seems to think this one has a shot.

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