Everyone will admit the University of Central Florida had a great year of football in 2017, and one that culminated in it being undefeated and witnessing its biggest star (Shaquem Griffin) get selected in the NFL Draft.
The Knights defeated Auburn University in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and hopped into the top-25 rankings yet the decision to proclaim itself as last year’s national champion of college football is nothing short of gullible. Regardless of what Scott Frost did –taking a winless program to being undefeated in three seasons — when was the last time people considered Central Florida relevant?
It has never been that on a consistent basis and although 2013 (12-1) was a special time, Blake Bortles is thought of as being a suspect quarterback at best in the National Football League with Jacksonville.
Since the initial work of parades, championship rings, banners, billboards, license plates, etc… was done to commemorate the Knights, multiple news outlets and a six-time national championship head coach have provided insight on the situation. While college football analysts like Danny Kanell is in support of UCF, Alabama’s Nick Saban had other things on his mind.
“If you honor and respect the system that we have, (despite) some of the imperfections that you understand that the system has, then you wouldn’t do something out of respect for the system that we have,” Saban told George Schroeder of USA TODAY.
“I guess anybody has the prerogative to claim anything. But self-proclaimed is not the same as actually earning it. And there’s probably a significant number of people who don’t respect people who make self-proclaimed sort of accolades for themselves.”
Upon making this statement, Kanell went on an attack of Saban via Twitter – posting some thoughts that Saban has shared in the past on should teams be rewarded with a College Football Playoff appearance despite not winning their conference.
Not sure how you can say you "earned" a national title when you didn't win your conference and were GIFTED an invitation to the CFB Invitational. But yes…congrats on being the best of those invited four teams. #rolldamntide
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) May 16, 2018
Throwing shade at a university who ran the table and beat the best team in the SEC seems petty. Calling them out for "self-proclaimed" titles is downright hypocritical considering half your school's titles are self proclaimed.
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) May 16, 2018
Even with his comments, Kanell certainly saw what occurred in 2015 when Ohio State did not win the Big Ten but still was selected for the CFP. Also, all five of Saban’s titles at Alabama were won on the field. For the ones that may be “self-proclaimed,” they are before his time at the program and Saban is not held responsible for those.
Frost, who now coaches Nebraska, understands Central Florida’s reason behind what it did but still was not in agreement with its decision.
“I completely get behind their argument,” Frost says via Schoreder of USA TODAY.
“I do think it was almost criminal how low they kept UCF in the rankings, and I think it was intentional. But at the end of the day, the playoff system is that the national champion is the team that wins the playoff.”
Frost would continue with “All I’ll say is if we had stayed there, I would have had a hard time getting behind it,” he says. “I think it was smart by them, because it has kept UCF in the media and in the conversation. But you know, like our rings, I kind of wish my ring just said ‘Undefeated Season’ and ‘Peach Bowl Champion.’”
With Kanell spitting none sense and Frost not behind the rings from the start, it makes Saban’s statement feel like a “case closed” sort of ordeal. Give the Knights credit for wanting to be a part of college football’s discussion table, however, scheduling tougher opponents or moving to difference conference (a more competitive one) is the only way the CFP committee will take them seriously moving forward. Just the fact of Texas cancelling its matchup with Central Florida to schedule Alabama instead, adds more insult to injury for the school as a whole.
The Knights will face three teams next season that won 10 or more games – Memphis, Florida Atlantic and South Florida – and could very well dropped all three. Should that happen, one can rule out all hope of it getting into the playoff.
Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
