UCF Football: It’s time for Knights to break into College Football Playoff

3. Conference affiliation is not supposed to be an automatic disqualifier

As the case of the SEC putting two teams into the College Football Playoff proved last year, there is no minimum or maximum allowance for allowing teams into the semifinals. And with Notre Dame in the running this year, affiliation with a Power Five conference is proving further that it is not a prerequisite for playoff consideration.

The committee has also proven that whether or not a team wins a Power Five championship is of little consequence for selecting the four best teams into the College Football Playoff. That was true when Ohio State got in ahead of a Big Ten-winning Penn State team that also beat the Buckeyes head-to-head in the regular season in 2016, and it was true as well when Alabama got in without winning the SEC West in 2017.

Statistically, few other teams offer the level of offensive excitement that UCF brings to the table. Nobody can boast anything coming close to the winning streak on which the Knights are currently enjoying. If the goal is to select the best four teams on the field, the eyeball test reveals a team that consistently takes on all comers and finds a way to win.

That is still the ultimate goal of college football. Put a different label on the Knights and they would undoubtedly be in the College Football Playoff. It is time to end the stigma against Group of Five teams and acknowledge that good football can be and is played by schools outside the Power Five.

The time to give the Knights their opportunity is overdue. This year the committee has a chance to offer a powerful statement that excellence is rewarded no matter where the exemplary team might play their football, and that the FBS is still a single subdivision.