It all comes down to this for #4 Cincinnati as a win in the 2021 AAC Championship game betting matchup against #21 Houston gets them to 13-0. Not only that, a second straight undefeated season is going to make it really hard for the college football playoff selection committee to bypass the Bearcats for a berth in the ‘final four.’
Obviously Houston would love to play the spoiler here even though a potential berth in the CFP would open the door for other schools not in the Power 5 conferences to play for a national championship in the future. The Cougars don’t care though, they’ve rattled off 11 straight wins and are looking for their 2nd win in the AAC Championship game. The Bearcats are -10.5 favorites in this spot.
Houston Can Make Some Noise Here
The Cougars have to have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder as +10.5 underdogs coming into 2021 AAC championship game betting. UH can’t get any love on the national level even on an 11-game win streak with Cincinnati getting all the hubbub about a possible chance at a CFP berth.
The Cougars can certainly make some noise with a win, and they have the firepower to do so as their 38.8 pgg scoring average is 10th in the country. UH does most of their damage through the air as Clayton Tune has thrown for over 3,000 yards this year with 26 TD and 8 INT. Alton McCaskill (844 yards) and Ta’Zhawn (492 yards) hold their own in the ground game as well.
The only problem with Houston ranking 3rd in the AAC in scoring (38.8) and passing yards (272.4 ypg) is that the Bearcats score more (39.6) and are also the best defense in the country against the pass (161.5). The Cougars’ strengths offensively play into Cincinnati’s strengths defensively.
Just Another Game for the Bearcats?
It would be easy for a team to start to feel the pressure a bit with everything riding on Saturday’s game for the Bearcats. You get the feeling that’s just not the case for Luke Fickell’s team in this matchup though. First of all it’s their third straight berth in the AAC Championship Game so they’ve been here before and it’s also not a neutral site game like a lot of other conference – the AAC lets the higher seed host.
Another calming presence for the Bearcats is Senior QB Desmond Ridder, who is just the 5th QB in college football history to win 40 games (43-5). Ridder has completed 69.2% of his passes at home this season and comes into the Houston matchup with an even 3,000 yards to go along with 27 TD passes and 8 INT. He also has 342 yards rushing with 6 INTs.
2021 AAC Championship Game Betting
It’s hard not to like Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon, even giving -10.5 points considering they are at home. SMU was supposed to be a challenge for the Bearcats in week 12, but all Cincinnati did is stomp on them 48-14 also as -14 point favorites. Cincinnati held high-powered SMU QB Tanner Mordecai to a mere 66 yards passing while Ridder threw for 274 yards and 3 TD while also running for a score.
Cincinnati 38 – Houston 21
Free Pick: Cincinnati -10.5
