College Football’s 5th Quarter: 5 National Championship Game narratives

5. Why not Central Florida?

Central Florida didn’t make the cut because, while 12-0 at the time, they had a terrible strength of schedule. The final four teams in the College Football Playoff were ranked Nos. 2, 4, 6 and 7 per TeamRankings.com; while the Knights strength of schedule was in the 50s.

Central Florida’s showcase games were against the Maryland Terps, Memphis Tigers and in-state rivals the South Florida Bulls. Their rankings per Bill C’s S&P+ analytics were 114th, 20th and 15th, which isn’t bad, but they didn’t play Houston (36th) and the Georgia Tech game was cancelled. 

Related Story: UCF Football: 2017 Season Review

It seems as though the playoff committee is trying to find even match-ups who could split a series while we’re all aware that UCF couldn’t beat Alabama nine out of 10 times on a neutral site. Allegedly, that’s what has to go into determination for the College Football Playoff. The committee is claiming they want the best four teams, not a team that upset Auburn in the Peach Bowl once or Baylor in the Fiesta 5 years ago.

My personal opinion on why Central Florida didn’t make the cut is a lack of star power. UCF’s horrible showing of fan support at the 2014 Fiesta Bowl has to have hurt them in the eyes of the committee.

The CFP can’t afford to have empty seats at their showcase games, especially out at the Rose Bowl which is an even further trip from Orlando, Fla. UCF’s fan base is just not a big enough market to sell out the Rose Bowl or Sugar Bowl,  and then again for the Championship game. This is a money business and the Alabama machine sells more tickets, and ad buys than UCF.