The AAC does not have the luxury of an automatic bid for a New Year’s Six bowl. However, the conference has a de facto gateway into one of the sport’s prestigious postseason games because AAC member programs have qualified in five consecutive seasons. Cincinnati has registered two consecutive New Year’s Six bids, and the Bearcats remained on track for a third-straight one Saturday after a road trip to a windy setting in Dallas.
Cincinnati authoritatively defeated SMU by an aggregate score of 90-27 in 2020 and 2021, and the Bearcats continued their stranglehold on the series, albeit in closer fashion.