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UCF Golden Knights (2017 National Champs....sort of)

I have no disagreements with you on either Alabama's lack of worthiness to make the playoff or that UCF should have been given a shot. I'm just saying that they and their conference are willing participants in the current system and to now scream "national championship" when they're clearly not going to be the NC under that system is ridiculous.
They are not participants. They are paycheck subservients, and they have bragging rights. If they choose to celebrate a title instead, I say let them. If folks want to tease them, fine, but it better not be anyone from the protected conference that got owned head to head.

Also Auburn did this same thing when they were left out of the NC hunt.
 
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They are not participants. They are paycheck subservients, and they have bragging rights. If they choose to celebrate a title instead, I say let them. If folks want to tease them, fine, but it better not be anyone from the protected conference that got owned head to head.

Also Auburn did this same thing when they were left out of the NC hunt.
They are not participants and they should not be participants. Never.

Every so often (UCF this year, Boise State, Marshall, Hawaii, etc. in the past) some non-P5 team has a great year and all the CFB trolls come out of their little holes and start crowing about the "little guy" not getting a "fair shot" at a national championship in the "rigged system" designed to "line the pockets" of some nefarious organization (NCAA or ESPN or the Illuminati or whatever).

Well, there's a reason that the little guys don't get a fair shot ... and that reason is because they're little. If the little guys played a big boy schedule in a big boy league they'd never be considered for a national championship because they'd be Vanderbilt or Northwestern or Duke (without the outstanding academics, of course). No way UCF (or Boise or Marshall or Hawaii or whatever flavor of the season) plays a Power5 schedule and goes undefeated (or close enough to undefeated) to merit consideration for a playoff berth.

In other words, the little guys don't get a "fair shot" because they have an "unfair advantage", namely playing a regular season schedule filled with opponents who would be "soft" competition for the Ohio States and Alabamas and Clemsons of the world. Imagine if Alabama had a non-conference schedule of SMU, UConn, and East Carolina, and then threw in Austin Peay as their "gimme" game. We'd laugh at that juggernaut, but that's who UCF plays every single week. At least Alabama's soft regular season schedule this year included nine Power5 opponents (8 SEC + Florida State), while UCF had exactly zero (their game against Georgia Tech was canceled due to hurricanes and not re-scheduled).

Now if UCF someday schedules Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska (or similar Power5 teams) for their non-conference slate, and if they beat four such worthy opponents and still go undefeated in their rinky-dink conference, then maybe they'd be in the discussion for a national championship. But until that day comes (shortly after Hell freezes over), they can sit on their couches and watch the real national championship game. Which is right where they belong.
 
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Actually, the Wilson computer ratings were recognized only during the BCS era, not anymore. Wilson's computer rating was not recognized alone, but as part of a composite score that would not rank UCF among the top 5. Also, Wilson 2017 is not final. UCF are tied for first with Georgia. Georgia wins, they lose that claim too.

UCF is a solid top 15 team that played a schedule strength equivalent to playing the average AAC or MWC team. Auburn was the first team that they faced in Sagarin's top 30. Only Memphis was ranked in the top 40 by Sagarin. The Buckeyes faced 3 teams in the top 10, 7 in the top 30, and 8 in the top 40.

UCF can be proud of a year in which they went undefeated against a weak schedule featuring 9 teams outside the top 50 and 5 teams outside the top 100 before beating an over-rated 3-loss SEC team in a bowl game. Nothing else.

- They went undefeated.
- Bama's schedule was impressive ? No, they played nobody and finished 2nd in their Division; 3rd in Conference.
- You can't possibly say they don't belong on the same field as Georgia given they beat the 1 team that beat both...
- Attempt to devalue the Auburn win all you want, but it proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it'd be a game against Bama and Georgia.
- Unfortunately we'll never know, because a Committee behind closed doors decided to put in a name brand with their own cupcake schedule, that lost to the only decent team they played all year, and couldn't even win their own Division... instead of an undefeated Conference Champion.
- That puts us right back into the pre-BCS mythical NC situation.
- They have as much right to claim it as anyone else this year.
 
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They are not participants and they should not be participants. Never.

Every so often (UCF this year, Boise State, Marshall, Hawaii, etc. in the past) some non-P5 team has a great year and all the CFB trolls come out of their little holes and start crowing about the "little guy" not getting a "fair shot" at a national championship in the "rigged system" designed to "line the pockets" of some nefarious organization (NCAA or ESPN or the Illuminati or whatever).

Well, there's a reason that the little guys don't get a fair shot ... and that reason is because they're little. If the little guys played a big boy schedule in a big boy league they'd never be considered for a national championship because they'd be Vanderbilt or Northwestern or Duke (without the outstanding academics, of course). No way UCF (or Boise or Marshall or Hawaii or whatever flavor of the season) plays a Power5 schedule and goes undefeated (or close enough to undefeated) to merit consideration for a playoff berth.

In other words, the little guys don't get a "fair shot" because they have an "unfair advantage", namely playing a regular season schedule filled with opponents who would be "soft" competition for the Ohio States and Alabamas and Clemsons of the world. Imagine if Alabama had a non-conference schedule of SMU, UConn, and East Carolina, and then threw in Austin Peay as their "gimme" game. We'd laugh at that juggernaut, but that's who UCF plays every single week. At least Alabama's soft regular season schedule this year included nine Power5 opponents (8 SEC + Florida State), while UCF had exactly zero (their game against Georgia Tech was canceled due to hurricanes and not re-scheduled).

Now if UCF someday schedules Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska (or similar Power5 teams) for their non-conference slate, and if they beat four such worthy opponents and still go undefeated in their rinky-dink conference, then maybe they'd be in the discussion for a national championship. But until that day comes (shortly after Hell freezes over), they can sit on their couches and watch the real national championship game. Which is right where they belong.

In chaotic years such as this, they absolutely should be part of the system. 2014, 2015, 2016 ... there's no good argument for a Mid Major. And none were good enough anyway.
This year? They should absolutely go above a 3rd place team... with likely the weakest schedule in CFP thus far.
UCF could absolutely go undefeated with Bama's schedule this year. Who was going to beat them? Miss St? FSU? Apparently not Auburn...
 
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They are not participants and they should not be participants. Never.

Every so often (UCF this year, Boise State, Marshall, Hawaii, etc. in the past) some non-P5 team has a great year and all the CFB trolls come out of their little holes and start crowing about the "little guy" not getting a "fair shot" at a national championship in the "rigged system" designed to "line the pockets" of some nefarious organization (NCAA or ESPN or the Illuminati or whatever).

Well, there's a reason that the little guys don't get a fair shot ... and that reason is because they're little. If the little guys played a big boy schedule in a big boy league they'd never be considered for a national championship because they'd be Vanderbilt or Northwestern or Duke (without the outstanding academics, of course). No way UCF (or Boise or Marshall or Hawaii or whatever flavor of the season) plays a Power5 schedule and goes undefeated (or close enough to undefeated) to merit consideration for a playoff berth.
I strongly agree with this most years. Not in 2017.
In other words, the little guys don't get a "fair shot" because they have an "unfair advantage", namely playing a regular season schedule filled with opponents who would be "soft" competition for the Ohio States and Alabamas and Clemsons of the world. Imagine if Alabama had a non-conference schedule of SMU, UConn, and East Carolina, and then threw in Austin Peay as their "gimme" game. We'd laugh at that juggernaut, but that's who UCF plays every single week.
Bama's non conference wasn't much (if at all better) than SMU, Uconn, ECU & Austin Pea.

FSU? Lost 9 games like UConn. Now this was an attempt at a top shelf game on Bama & FSU's part, and Bama helped by breaking Francois, but they finished pretty badly nonetheless. Their coach had also checked out.

CSU? Lost 7 games like SMU.

Mercer? Much worse. They played Austin Peay in 2016 and lost by 7 pts.

Fresno State was the lone exception at 10-4. ECU has been way down lately but was a 3-5 loss team about 4-5 years ago.
Now if UCF someday schedules Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska (or similar Power5 teams) for their non-conference slate, and if they beat four such worthy opponents and still go undefeated in their rinky-dink conference, then maybe they'd be in the discussion for a national championship. But until that day comes (shortly after Hell freezes over), they can sit on their couches and watch the real national championship game. Which is right where they belong.
How about if they schedule Auburn, Mississippi State, LSU & Tennessee?
At least Alabama's soft regular season schedule this year included nine Power5 opponents (8 SEC + Florida State), while UCF had exactly zero (their game against Georgia Tech was canceled due to hurricanes and not re-scheduled).
It sounds impressive when you say Power 5, until you look at those teams:

10-4 Auburn (lost bowl)

9-4 LSU (lost)
9-4 Mississippi St (lost)
7-6 Texas A&M (lost)

6-6 Ole Miss*
5-7 Vanderbilt*
4-8 Arkansas*
4-8 Tennessee*
3-9 Florida State*

* - not invited to a bowl

They only played one "top" team, which lost 4 games and it's bowl game against the supposedly unworthy mid-major. They beat 2 not awful teams that both finished with 4 losses (and a bowl loss), as well as one other barely above .500 team that also lost its bowl game.


I fully agree that the playing fields are not level most years, but Bama played an absolute trash schedule and lost their only challenging game. If there was ever a time to find out what would happen, it was this year.



Clemson's DL is pretty nasty, but their QB is also pretty terrible. That would have been an interesting matchup.
 
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I strongly agree with this most years. Not in 2017.
The trolling on this topic is so damned predictable. And it's the same tired argument every time some "little guy" makes some noise on the big stage.

Central Florida's schedule was a joke. Ohio State plays that schedule and the Buckeyes win every game by 40+ points. And every CFB commentator in America calls that schedule soft. And rightly so, because it is soft.

Ohio State played five marquee programs during the regular season - Oklahoma, Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, and Wisconsin - and won four of those games en route to an 11-2 record and a Big Ten Championship. With that résumé, Ohio State was "clearly inferior" to Alabama and didn't make the playoffs. But UCF should've been in the playoffs after beating a bunch of nobodies? Memphis was their big win? Nope. Cinderella need not apply.

Allowing teams with crap résumés into the playoffs cheapens the process and encourages the big boys to water down their schedules. Neither is good for college football.

Over the past six seasons, Ohio State has a record of 48-4 (.923) in Big Ten play, yet has had only two chances to win a national championship (2014 and 2016). Every other year Ohio State has been left out of the mix. And that is a much bigger problem for college football than figuring out how to deal with some third-rate team fluking their way into a perfect record against a Charmin soft schedule.

If you defenders of the little guy want a solution, here's one for you: Take all the non-P5 schools and put them in a separate division. Call it FBS-2 or something. Let them play for their own national championship, so every year some school that nobody cares about can put a shiny little trophy in their tiny little trophy case.
 
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The trolling on this topic is so damned predictable. And it's the same tired argument every time some "little guy" makes some noise on the big stage.

Central Florida's schedule was a joke. Ohio State plays that schedule and the Buckeyes win every game by 40+ points. And every CFB commentator in America calls that schedule soft. And rightly so, because it is soft.

Ohio State played five marquee programs during the regular season - Oklahoma, Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, and Wisconsin - and won four of those games en route to an 11-2 record and a Big Ten Championship. With that résumé, Ohio State was "clearly inferior" to Alabama and didn't make the playoffs. But UCF should've been in the playoffs after beating a bunch of nobodies? Memphis was their big win? Nope. Cinderella need not apply.

Allowing teams with crap résumés into the playoffs cheapens the process and encourages the big boys to water down their schedules. Neither is good for college football.

Over the past six seasons, Ohio State has a record of 48-4 (.923) in Big Ten play, yet has had only two chances to win a national championship (2014 and 2016). Every other year Ohio State has been left out of the mix. And that is a much bigger problem for college football than figuring out how to deal with some third-rate team fluking their way into a perfect record against a Charmin soft schedule.

If you defenders of the little guy want a solution, here's one for you: Take all the non-P5 schools and put them in a separate division. Call it FBS-2 or something. Let them play for their own national championship, so every year some school that nobody cares about can put a shiny little trophy in their tiny little trophy case.

Bama plays their schedule and still loses to Auburn [shrugs]
We're not comparing Ohio State... Ohio State didn't take the 4th spot into CFP... a 3rd place team with a schedule just as weak as UCF did.
 
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UCF would probably choose to join a P5 conference if one offered. There is a fundamental problem with the FBS that half of the field is automatically considered inferior and given no shot at ever competing for a NC. If they divided FBS into 2 divisions, would p5 teams be penalized for playing the non p5 teams in the new division?
 
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Every so often (UCF this year, Boise State, Marshall, Hawaii, etc. in the past) some non-P5 team has a great year and all the CFB trolls come out of their little holes and start crowing about the "little guy" not getting a "fair shot" at a national championship in the "rigged system" designed to "line the pockets" of some nefarious organization (NCAA or ESPN or the Illuminati or whatever).
Hawaii is a great example. I remember all the locals here pounding their chest on how they were the best team in the country after going 12-0 in the regular season with Colt Brennan at QB, only to get ape-raped by 2-loss Georgia 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl in a game that wasn't as close as the final score would suggest.
 
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The trolling on this topic is so damned predictable. And it's the same tired argument every time some "little guy" makes some noise on the big stage.

Central Florida's schedule was a joke. Ohio State plays that schedule and the Buckeyes win every game by 40+ points. And every CFB commentator in America calls that schedule soft. And rightly so, because it is soft.

Ohio State played five marquee programs during the regular season - Oklahoma, Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, and Wisconsin - and won four of those games en route to an 11-2 record and a Big Ten Championship. With that résumé, Ohio State was "clearly inferior" to Alabama and didn't make the playoffs. But UCF should've been in the playoffs after beating a bunch of nobodies? Memphis was their big win? Nope. Cinderella need not apply.

Allowing teams with crap résumés into the playoffs cheapens the process and encourages the big boys to water down their schedules. Neither is good for college football.

Over the past six seasons, Ohio State has a record of 48-4 (.923) in Big Ten play, yet has had only two chances to win a national championship (2014 and 2016). Every other year Ohio State has been left out of the mix. And that is a much bigger problem for college football than figuring out how to deal with some third-rate team fluking their way into a perfect record against a Charmin soft schedule.

If you defenders of the little guy want a solution, here's one for you: Take all the non-P5 schools and put them in a separate division. Call it FBS-2 or something. Let them play for their own national championship, so every year some school that nobody cares about can put a shiny little trophy in their tiny little trophy case.
predictable? Can you find some posts from me touting Boise State? Because you won't, which is why I said I strongly agree most years. Or you could keep quoting me while yelling at some unknown cartoon punching bag that makes you really angry.

I don't think a team like UCF 2017 has any business participating in any of the other playoffs and the champs would murder them along with many of the non winning participants. This one had no worthy fourth team from the power 5. Absolutely none. The fact that Alabama was favored from the minute they picked the teams is not relevant. Osu would have been favored in 2015. They didn't deserve to go either.


I don't recall comparing osu to ucf even once, but naturally you started rattling off their schedule details because theirs isn't embarrassing. Would you like to acknowledge even an ounce of my long breakdown of Alabama's garbage schedule and resume?
 
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Hawaii is a great example. I remember all the locals here pounding their chest on how they were the best team in the country after going 12-0 in the regular season with Colt Brennan at QB, only to get ape-raped by 2-loss Georgia 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl in a game that wasn't as close as the final score would suggest.

And yet they are the only G5 team that ever lost a BCS bowl.
 
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