Local writers chime in on the "National Champs"

[Triple B]

Tom Jones weighs in .... Some painful truths in there:

Think UCF deserves national title consideration? Think again

Nice, but not great

Enough about UCF.

The Knights had a really nice season, but let’s not get carried away. They don’t deserve national championship consideration and their season is not a reason to expand the playoff system. Four teams is plenty.

First off, they play in second-tier conference with second-tier competition. There’s a big difference between going perfect in a conference like the AAC and going undefeated in a conference such as the SEC or Big Ten. UCF’s biggest regular-season victories were against USF and Memphis — a couple of other AAC teams who fattened up on weak competition in a small conference. In other words, UCF’s resume wasn’t good enough.

Then, in the bowl game — a game that UCF cared about more than any game in program history — they beat a half-disinterested Auburn team that didn’t even want to be in the Peach Bowl. And before we declare that such a great victory, should I remind you that Auburn ended up losing four games and was like the third-best team in SEC?

Am I saying that a team not in a Power 5 conference can’t ever win a national championship? Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.

UCF had a nice little season. Nothing more than that.

[Triple B]

Our little buddy Baker, not quite as snarky ...

Like it or not, strength of schedule an issue for Group of Five teams

After staying relatively quiet about a system stacked against it, UCF started to speak out about the College Football Playoff after capping off its perfect season with a Peach Bowl victory.

"Only thing we can do is keep winning games, and I don’t think we have any more games left to win," standout linebacker and Lakewood High alumnus Shaquem Griffin told reporters after a New Year’s Day win over Auburn. "I guess to the (selection) committee, it’s just what more can we do?"

Nothing. And that’s the problem.

While the four-team CFP is an improvement over the two-team BCS, it puts Group of Five teams at an almost insurmountable disadvantage. As a result, the Knights — the first Division I-A team to finish undefeated since 2013 Florida State — won’t win a national championship. They won’t earn a split title with the winner of Monday’s Alabama-Georgia game, either, no matter how hard UCF fans and administrators lobby for it.

Aside from a perfect record, the Knights’ best argument centers on four-loss Auburn. The Knights beat the Tigers 34-27. Georgia and ’Bama lost to Auburn by double digits, so UCF has a transitive win over both College Football Playoff finalists.

Too bad it’s not that simple.

Georgia avenged its loss to Auburn by beating the Tigers in the SEC title game, at the same neutral site (Mercedes-Benz Stadium) that hosted the Peach Bowl. UCF won by seven and was outgained 421-411; Georgia won by 17 and amassed 192 more yards than the Tigers.

Losses matter in the College Football Playoff era — just ask Ohio State — but wins matter, too.

"UCF is an excellent team," CFP executive director Bill Hancock told ESPN on Tuesday, "but you still have to take into account who each team played and defeated during the regular season."

That’s where UCF’s case begins to crack.

The Knights beat only one team ranked in the top 30 nationally in the Sagarin ratings’ analytics: Auburn. ’Bama beat four, including three (Clemson, LSU and Florida State) by double digits. Georgia’s resume had three top-10 wins plus No. 17 Mississippi State.

UCF’s average opponent was ranked No. 81 by Sagarin. That’s significantly worse than Georgia (50) and ’Bama (58).

Even UCF’s non-conference schedule lagged behind ’Bama and Georgia, thanks to bad luck.

The Knights scheduled two Power Five opponents. One (Maryland) had an injury epidemic and finished 4-8; the other (Georgia Tech) was canceled because of Hurricane Irma. ’Bama, meanwhile, beat FSU and 10-win Fresno State, while Georgia knocked off 10-3 Notre Dame and crushed the rival Yellow Jackets, both on the road.

While the Peach Bowl bolstered UCF’s case, the rest of the bowl season hurt it. The Knights’ next-best opponent (Memphis) lost in its home stadium to 8-5 Iowa State. UCF’s third-best foe, USF, needed a last-gasp touchdown to beat 6-7 Texas Tech in Birmingham.

None of this is meant to take away from UCF’s season. It’s extremely hard to go undefeated, in any sport, at any level. Scott Frost backed up his national coach of the year honors by remarkably balancing his new job at Nebraska with beating the SEC West champions.

This isn’t meant to blame UCF, either. Griffin and the Knights can only play who’s on their schedule — and upgrading that is a major challenge, as big-name Power Five teams seem reluctant to play the Group of Five’s best.

Maybe UCF’s season and another SEC vs. SEC championship game will be enough to change the system. Expanding the playoff to eight and guaranteeing a spot for the best Group of Five champion will eliminate any future debate and help the next UCF.

But until that happens, there’s nothing Griffin and his teammates can do.

Except enjoy the best season in school history.

[Bull Matrix]

Both are elitist and will never accept schools outside of P5. One is Penn St and other Indiana alumns so of course their will support the Big10 idea of 4 teams max for playoff. Their commish Delaney didn’t even want that. Big 10 elitist can pound sand 

[Rocky Style]

The bummer is that CFB used to be one of my favorite things.

[JTrue]

1 hour ago, Rocky Style said:

The bummer is that CFB used to be one of my favorite things.

Meh. Cabo Frio is a decent airport, at best.

[El_Toro_86]

4 hours ago, Bull Daly said:

Both are elitist and will never accept schools outside of P5. One is Penn St and other Indiana alumns so of course their will support the Big10 idea of 4 teams max for playoff. Their commish Delaney didn’t even want that. Big 10 elitist can pound sand 

Actually I believe Tom jones is a USF alum.

Go figure 

[Bull Matrix]

20 minutes ago, El_Toro_86 said:

Actually I believe Tom jones is a USF alum.

Go figure 

He is a big Penn St fan. That is where he is from. Well at least that is what he has said 

[JTrue]

9 minutes ago, Bull Daly said:

He is a big Penn St fan. That is where he is from. Well at least that is what he has said 

He told me he went to USF. 

[Bull Matrix]

4 minutes ago, JTrue said:

He told me he went to USF. 

He must have lied to one of us lol. 

[El_Toro_86]

14 minutes ago, Bull Daly said:

He must have lied to one of us lol. 

He may be from Pennsyvania, but I'm 99% sure he graduated from USF in '86 with a degree in English.  Can't remember where I saw it, but I thought to myself that douche was on campus the same time I was.