Lambda-CDM treats the cosmic microwave background as the cooled remnant of a hot, dense, nearly-uniform early universe created by the Big Bang and subsequently stretched by inflation. However, the CMB exhibits numerous anomalies and features that deviate from the predictions of a simple, symmetric inflationary model: unexpected power asymmetries, phase correlations, alignment of low-multipole moments, cold spots, and departures from perfect Gaussianity. The model cannot easily explain why the CMB exhibits these specific deviations or why certain symmetries are broken in particular directions. Additionally, the assumption of a perfectly isotropic initial state followed by inflation seems to require fine-tuning to produce the observed pattern of anomalies rather than explaining them as natural consequences (Planck Collaboration 2018; Wehus & Eriksen 2021). SCT must account for why the CMB has the observed temperature distribution, isotropy (approximate), anomalies, and polarization properties without invoking inflation or ad hoc initial conditions.