The College Football Playoff National Championship will be played next Monday, but the nation’s one true champion is already wearing its crown. It’s on the internet. It has to be true.
The screenshot above comes from UCFKnights.com, the official website of the University of Central Florida’s athletics department, and proclaims UCF national champions as “The Only 2017 Undefeated Champion.” They plan to celebrate their title this weekend with a parade.
Part of their claim is absolute fact. UCF was the only FBS team to survive the entire season without a loss. As for the first part, it’s not quite as laughable as you might think.
There is a legitimate case to be made that they should have taken the no. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff. Following the Peach Bowl win over Auburn, they now have a win over a team that beat both of next Monday’s finalists.
Instead, the Knights were left out of the playoff field by a committee that clearly never had any intention of even considering them. Unbeaten UCF placed 12th in the final Playoff rankings, behind a three-loss Auburn team, a Miami team on a two-game losing streak, and just one spot ahead of a Stanford team with four losses.
If the Playoff Committee had any foresight, this would have been a perfect year to place a non-Power 5 team in the field. There was not a clear-cut no. 4 seed, and they’re going to have to do it at some point or risk either litigation or the “Group of 5” simply splitting off into a separate division.
Putting UCF in this year would have solved that. It also would have prevented the national title game from turning into an intra-conference snoozefest that may largely get ignored outside of the ‘Beetus Belt.
The case for UCF went beyond just charity and self-interest. Scott Frost’s team entered Selection Sunday with a resume that included a win over the #15 team in the S&P+ rankings (USF), and a pair of wins over the #20 team (Memphis). UCF won by 7 in the AAC championship game and 27 back in September. Alabama’s best regular season wins by S&P+ were over #21 LSU, #24 Fresno State, and #28 Mississippi State. No division title, no conference championship.
Instead, the commitee gave Alabama its customary auto-bid, and then watched as the Knights beat the team that just beat the Tide. How’s that for “passing the eye test?”
It’s easy to say that everyone “knows” that UCF would have gotten crushed by Clemson in the Sugar Bowl. Everyone “knew” that Miami was going to beat Ohio State in 2002, just like they “knew” Alabama was going to do the same in 2014. The Tide were considered “unbeatable” in 2016, which was true right up until the moment they got beaten.
It’s college football. Sometimes an FCS team beats a preseason no. 5 in Ann Arbor. Sometimes the Iron Bowl gets settled on a Kick-Six. Sometimes a MAC team wins in Ann Arbor. Heck, Ohio State tight ends caught seven touchdowns this season. Anything is possible.
UCF absolutely could have gotten crushed by Clemson. The Knights’ defense was somewhere between “not great” and “Nebraska” this year, and Clemson’s defensive line very likely would have overwhelmed the UCF offense. But they earned a chance to find out, and weren’t given it.
Early next Tuesday morning, one team is going to be holding a trophy up in the air in Atlanta. That team will have two wins over top-4 teams in the last week, and own the best resume in the nation. They will be the national champions. UCF won’t.
But if you’re a school that is clearly never going to get a shot to show that you belong on that field, why not stick your finger in the Playoff Committee’s eye when you have the opportunity?
Good for UCF. Sell your t-shirts and hats and celebrate your season. And don’t worry. It’s not like Alabama fans can get mad about a school inventing national championships.