UCF Football: Scott Frost isn’t buying the title hype

UCF football can claim all of the national titles they want, but there former head coach isn’t completely sold on the Knights fanfare.

Outside of central Florida, there aren’t very many folks that truly believe that UCF deserves to make the claim that they deserved the national title. UCF can claim many things. One, they went from a 0-12 perennial laughingstock to a 13-0 powerhouse. Two, they definitively won the Peach Bowl. Three, they deserve kudos for an undefeated season. Those are some great accomplishments, and UCF fans and alumni have every reason to be proud of what their team has done.

But let’s face facts. One bowl game and winning out in a second-tier division doesn’t give you the right to claim that you are the “real” national champions. I’m tired of saying it, and I’m sure that everyone outside of Orlando is ready to hear the end of it.

The furor came to a head when Scott Frost, former coach of the UCF Knights, came forward to state that he thinks the claims are a bit silly, too. Frost performed nothing short of a miracle at that school, and he should be proud of the team’s 2017 season, but the school might have taken things a bit too far in his view. Frost stated,

"All I’ll say is if we had stayed there, I would have had a hard time getting behind it, 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.’"

The current system may not be fair, but it is the best system we have to judge which teams are the best in the country. If UCF wants to take their claim to the football field and take on Georgia or Alabama, then fine. More power to ’em. However, as I observed in this post, that game would not have ended well for the Knights.

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Strength of schedule is a massive factor in the CFP, and UCF just didn’t have it. Is it fair? Maybe not; but it keeps upstart teams from sneaking into the CFP and then getting embarrassed on the gridiron. If UCF has another couple years like 2017, and if the AAC continues on its rise, we can have another chat about the Knights in the national title conversation. Until then, enough is enough.