The initial reaction for just about anyone who saw the reveal of the season's first College Football Rankings last night seems to be consistent: Cincinnati was given the shaft.

The Bearcats, despite an 8-0 record, road wins at Notre Dame and Indiana and a No. 2 ranking in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls, were deemed not worthy by the CFP committee. That's the message sent following Cincinnati's No. 6 ranking. Not only that, but SMU (7-1) and Houston (7-1), both ranked in those media polls, didn't even crack the CFP poll. Instead, three-loss Mississippi State was given a No. 17 ranking.

Last month, many were caught up in the moment from the Bearcats' impressive 24-13 win at Notre Dame. There was widespread belief that Cincinnati could finally be the non-power five team to break into the playoff and it now had the ammunition from its win over the Fighting Irish.

Contrary to most of that line of thought, including those hyped up among the Bearcats' faithful, I wrote that I believed the win put them closer to attaining a CFP spot, but that it wouldn't be enough, including national perception, which would be reflected by the CFP committee.

It wasn't that I didn't believe Cincinnati was good enough. This is one of the best teams I've ever covered and watched at the college level. Senior quarterback Desmond Ridder has progressively worked to this point and this season, his decision-making has put him into the top tier of college football quarterbacks and in the conversation to be an NFL first-round draft pick. It's why I don't mind telling you I put him on my ballot to be a finalist for the Maxwell Award.

The weapons Ridder has on offense are the best, collectively, that he's had during his career. And defensively, the Bearcats have been stingy, relentless and locked in, with Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner as their face.

I wrote the column I did because I didn't believe the CFP committee would let Cincinnati join the adult Thanksgiving table. Instead, the Bearcats are like the teenager stuck at the kids table with all the other kids at least five years younger.

I believed the CFP committee would find an excuse not to let Cincinnati join. It would point to the American Athletic Conference as being inferior. It would say the Bearcats didn't defeat anyone else notable aside from Notre Dame. Excuses, excuses and more excuses.

I'm not sure what more Cincinnati could have and can do. Schedules are made so far in advance, it's impossible to know if you're scheduling a top five team or a program headed the other direction. Teams like Oklahoma already have non-conference games scheduled for 2036, Nebraska and Alabama for 2035 and Michigan for 2034. Those are all games, mind you, against fellow power-five teams.

The Bearcats will likely have to not only win, but win convincingly the rest of the season and hope teams around it lose. They also need SMU and Houston to win out, until Cincinnati plays both of them. That would give the Bearcats a little bit more of an argument.

Simply, however, it seems Cincinnati won't get the credit it needs until it joins the Big 12 in three years. And while there are more quality teams, is Kansas this season any different than say, Navy? Is TCU right now any better than UCF?

Perception is everything. It doesn't matter if you win, if no one thinks you won convincingly enough. The CFP committee proved that yet again.

It's not right. It's yet another example of the massive difference between the haves and have nots. It's not good for college football and it's a far cry from the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, when the little guy has a chance (and does) to win.

The prognosis the rest of the season for the Bearcats is anything but a guarantee, as others ranked above and just below them will have to lose. That's possible, and as Lloyd Christmas of Dumb & Dumber said, "So, you're telling me there's a chance."

But it's clear that no matter what Cincinnati does the next two seasons and the rest of this one, the national perception, including the powers that be, say 'that's not good enough.'