Alabama LB Ahead Of Matchup Vs. Cincinnati: "I Feel Like We're The Underdog"
In a matchup between perennial resident of the College Football Playoff (Alabama) and the Group of Five's first team to crack the proverbial glass ceiling (Cincinnati), it's easy to tell who the underdog is.
Alabama.
You probably weren't expecting that, right? After all, how could a team that's won six of the past 12 national championships be an underdog? Everyone's still asking the question after Alabama sophomore linebacker Will Anderson Jr. declared as such on Monday, via 247Sports' Dean Straka.
"I feel like we're the underdog in this game," Anderson Jr. said. "All year, we've been disrespected."
If you've ever wondered why head coach Nick Saban makes the kind of money he does, it's this right here. What an ability to have as a coach to be able to convince a team consisting of the best college athletes in the country that they're the underdog.
As a reminder, the No. 1 Crimson Tide (12-1) are a 13.5-point favorite over the No. 4 Bearcats (13-0) on Friday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. And that's without the services of junior receiver John Metchie III, who is out with a torn ACL.
Alabama was quite literally the underdog on Dec. 4 in the SEC Championship game vs. Georgia, something Saban used as a motivating tool in the 41-24 victory.
"You guys gave us a lot of really positive rat poison," Saban said after the game. "The rat poison that you usually give us is usually fatal. But the rat poison that you put out there this week was yummy."
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