Opinion: Why the College Football Playoff needed Alabama as much as it needed Cincinnati

Imagine the biblical story of David without Goliath. It doesn’t hold up.

Without Goliath, David is just a boy firing a rock from a slingshot. Nothing special about that. A rabble-rouser, even.

David needed Goliath. The presence of a giant adversary and the bravery David showed to defeat him elevated David from shepherd to hero to king.

Similarly, the story of the 2021 Cincinnati football team needs Alabama. Let’s see what this pesky underdog is made of, shall we?

No. 4 Cincinnati (13-0) will become the first team from a Group of Five conference to appear in the College Football Playoff semifinals when the Bearcats play No. 1 Alabama (12-1) in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Dallas.

Nick Saban offered a playful grin Sunday evening when asked if it was good for college football that this year’s playoff features a pair of first-time qualifiers in Cincinnati and No. 2 Michigan.

“Good for who?” Saban quipped.

Saban acknowledged that sharing the balance of success is good for the sport and for fans, but he’s not apologizing that Alabama is making its seventh appearance in eight iterations of the four-team playoff.

In other words, Cincinnati is welcome to challenge for the throne, but it will have to get past the mighty fist of college football’s fiercest giant.

The Bearcats should relish that opportunity, and every Group of Five school should be thrilled that not only is Cincinnati getting a playoff shot, but that its shot comes against Alabama.

Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said his team doesn’t consider itself to be “carrying some flag” for past smaller-conference teams that didn’t receive this chance.

Like it or not, though, these Bearcats are taking up the fight for the little guys that came before them — teams like Tulane, Marshall, Utah, Boise State, TCU and UCF — and, more importantly, for the Group of Five teams that are to come.

A Cincinnati triumph over this giant on the Jerry Jones-supplied big stage would give credibility to future Group of Five teams’ playoff quest.

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The playoff selection committee isn’t supposed to make its annual selections based on what happened in years past. Nevertheless, human nature says that, at least on a subconscious level, what Cincinnati does with this opportunity will influence how Group of Five playoff candidates are considered in the future.

That’s especially the case because of the opponent.

A Cincinnati win against a New Year’s Six bowl qualifier like Oklahoma State or Ole Miss wouldn’t carry the same weight as beating Alabama in the playoff.

The 1980 U.S. hockey team, 1985 Villanova basketball and Buster Douglas entered sporting lore not just because they delivered upsets, but because of the giants they slayed — the USSR; blue blood North Carolina and defending champion Georgetown; and Mike Tyson.

Cincinnati will bring more than slingshot and five pebbles from a creek bed into this battle. Desmond Ridder is an accomplished, veteran quarterback. Cornerbacks Ahmad Gardner and Coby Bryant are bona fide standouts.

But the Bearcats’ task is monumental: an opponent loaded with five-star talent and a coach with seven national championship rings.

That only makes for better theater.

College football sorely needed variety in a four-team playoff system that had grown stale, but this playoff needed Alabama, too.

This playoff has a Goliath. That provides a chance to learn whether Cincinnati is a worthy David.

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Alabama vs. Cincinnati is perfect for College Football Playoff