In his article about the possibility of a FSU-USF bowl game he makes this insightful observation about the viability of the ACC wanting to play Cincinnati or USF:
"Moreover, the AAC has a history of wanting its best teams each year to play Power Five schools in bowl contests, meaning the league likely would be far more interested in, say, a Cincinnati-FSU matchup. But the conference also has a history of working with its bowl and TV partners to forge the best matchups. "
Were some of our conference mates promoted to P5 status without telling us?