IRVING, Texas – The Cincinnati Bearcats, who became the fourth American Athletic Conference team in five years to finish the regular season undefeated, continued to make history Sunday as they were selected to the 2021 College Football Playoff, highlighting a group of seven teams from The American in bowl games.
Cincinnati (13-0), which will enter Bowl Season as the only unbeaten team in FBS, will face Alabama (12-1) in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff Dec. 31 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Cincinnati was ranked No. 4 in the final CFP rankings, while Alabama moved to No. 1 after the Crimson Tide claimed the Southeastern Conference title Saturday. The Cincinnati-Alabama winner will face the winner of No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Georgia for the CFP National Championship in Indianapolis.
While Cincinnati made history as the first American Athletic Conference team to reach the College Football Playoff, the Bearcats become the seventh team in the nine-year history of The American to play in a New Year’s Six bowl. The Bearcats make their second consecutive New Year’s Six appearance after they faced Georgia in last year’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Cincinnati also made back-to-back New Year’s Six bowl appearances in 2009 (Orange Bowl) and 2010 (Sugar Bowl) as members of the Big East Conference.
Cincinnati will make its 20th bowl appearance in program history and will face Alabama for the first time since the 1990 season.
The CFP semifinal matchup between Cincinnati and Alabama is one of three bowl games between The American and the SEC in Bowl Season. The American will have two bowl games against Atlantic Coast Conference teams and one each against the Mountain West and Conference USA.
Houston (11-2), which fell to Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game Saturday, was No. 20 in the final College Football Playoff rankings of the season. The Cougars will head to the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl for the first time, where they will face Auburn (6-6) Dec. 28 at the new Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. The Cougars will have made 27 previous bowl appearances, including a 36-7 win against Auburn in the 1969 Bluebonnet Bowl.
UCF (8-4) will make the short road trip across Interstate 4 to play in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, where the Knights will face Florida (6-6) Dec. 23 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. UCF will make its 13th bowl appearance and its second trip to the Gasparilla Bowl.
East Carolina (7-5) returns to Bowl Season for the first time since 2014 as the Pirates head to the Military Bowl presented by Peraton Dec. 27. East Carolina will face Boston College (6-6) for the first time when the teams meet at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
SMU (8-4) will play in the inaugural Wasabi Fenway Bowl Dec. 29 at Fenway Park in Boston as the Mustangs face Virginia (6-6). SMU will play in a bowl game for the 19th time in program history and will take part in the first Division I bowl game to be held in New England.
Memphis (6-6) will head to the opposite corner of the United States as the Tigers face Hawaii in the EasyPost Hawaii Bowl at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex in Honolulu. The Christmas Eve matchup will be the first meeting between the Tigers and Warriors as Memphis makes its eighth consecutive bowl appearance and its 12th bowl bid overall.
Tulsa (6-6), which won its final three games of the regular season to gain bowl eligibility, will begin The American’s Bowl Season with a Dec. 20 matchup against Old Dominion in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. The Golden Hurricane will make its 23rd bowl appearance in program history and will face the Monarchs at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TEAMS IN BOWL SEASON
Myrtle Beach Bowl | Dec. 20
Brooks Stadium | Conway, S.C.
Tulsa (6-6) vs. Old Dominion (6-6), 2:30 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN
Series: First meeting
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | Dec. 23
Raymond James Stadium | Tampa, Fla.
UCF (8-4) vs. Florida (6-6), 7 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN
Series: Florida leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 9, 2006 (Florida, 42-0)
EasyPost Hawaii Bowl | Dec. 24
Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex | Honolulu, Hawaii
Memphis (6-6) vs. Hawaii (6-7), 8 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN
Series: First meeting
Military Bowl presented by Peraton | Dec. 27
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium | Annapolis, Md.
East Carolina (7-5) vs. Boston College (6-6), 2:30 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN
Series: First meeting
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl | Dec. 28
Protective Stadium | Birmingham, Ala.
Houston (11-2) vs. Auburn (6-6), Noon ET
Television: ESPN
Series: Auburn leads, 5-1
Last Meeting: Oct. 27, 1973 (Auburn, 7-0)
Wasabi Fenway Bowl | Dec. 29
Fenway Park | Boston, Mass.
SMU (8-4) vs. Virginia (6-6), 11 a.m. ET
Television: ESPN
Series: First meeting
College Football Playoff Semifinal
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic | Dec. 31
AT&T Stadium | Arlington, Texas
Cincinnati (13-0) vs. Alabama (12-1), 3:30 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN
Series: Alabama leads, 5-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 17, 1990 (Alabama, 45-7)