"For us, most importantly, and we said it last week, it's about winning," Fickell said. "We're not going to try to live up to what somebody else expects of us and how we do things. We all would like some things (to be) a little bit better. But the reality is, it's a hard-fought game with lots of shifts in momentum and a lot of things that went on this week that our guys had to handle. I thought they did a good job of it."
After ESPN broadcast its 'College GameDay' show for the first time from the UC campus on Saturday, Bearcats starting running back Jerome Ford (884 rushing yards, 16 total touchdowns this season) suffered a game-ending injury in the second quarter. Cincinnati was outgained 297-116 on the ground by the Golden Hurricane, who dropped to 3-6 (2-3) on the year.
But the defending AAC champion Bearcats still managed to escape with their 25th straight home win and 12th straight victory against an AAC opponent.
The problem for the Bearcats is Barta made it abundantly clear last week that the committee has no respect for the AAC. Although Cincinnati is the highest-ranked Group of Five team in the history of the CFP rankings, UC was the only team from the American to earn a spot in the committee's first rankings despite SMU and Houston both entering last week at 7-1.
Both SMU and Navy lost Saturday, only supporting the committee's belief that the AAC is a subpar conference. But at least Navy lost to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish entered at No. 10 in the committee's first rankings last week. At 8-1, Notre Dame's only loss this season remains their 24-13 defeat to Cincinnati on Oct. 2 in South Bend.
Losses by No. 3 Michigan State and No. 9 Wake Forest trimmed the list of unbeaten teams in the Power Five to just two: No. 1 Georgia (9-0) and No. 8 Oklahoma (9-0). Add in Cincinnati and the University of Texas at San Antonio (9-0), and there are only four undefeated teams remaining in the FBS. UTSA was not included in the committee's rankings last week.
Tuesday night will mark the release of the second of the committee's six rankings, as the 13 members decide the four teams that will participate in this season's College Football Playoff. The playoff will begin Dec. 31 with one semifinal matchup at the Cotton Bowl and the other at the Orange Bowl. The CFP National Championship Game will take place Jan. 10, 2022, in Indianapolis.
But Fickell and the Bearcats aren't worrying about any of that right now.
"We have no control," Fickell said. "Let's let it be. Let's do what we can do, control what we can control and let the chips fall where they may. If you guys continue to win, then at some point in time at the end of the year, we'll be up there pounding the table. If it ain't good enough, it ain't good enough. We can do nothing about that. It is what it is.
"There's a lot of ball to be played. That's the great thing about college football. There's always going to be some type of controversy. If we happen to be a part of the controversy, we happen to be a part of the controversy. It'll keep publicizing our program and keep putting a chip on our shoulder and we'll keep finding ways to continue to grow."
Cincinnati will look to stay unbeaten Friday night at South Florida (2-7, 1-4). Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPN2 .
