American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco called the College Football Playoff selection committee's decision to drop the University of Cincinnati football team to No. 8 in its latest rankings "indefensible."
The 13-member selection committee on Tuesday elected to replace the 8-0 Bearcats with 8-2 Iowa State at No. 7. UC had sat at No. 7 in the previous three playoff rankings.
No team outside of the Power Five conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC) and independent Notre Dame has received a top-four ranking to be eligible for the playoff since the format was introduced in 2014.