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The 2017/2018 UCF Knights Football team was the only undefeated team in college football. They felt like they were slighted by the College Football Playoffs selection committee and by the rankings all year long.
Both the school and the fans believe that UCF were *the real* National Champions last year, and the university unleashed a comical campaign to back it up. You can buy UCF National Champions license plates in the state of Florida. The school outfitted the campus police cars with ‘National Champions’ wraps around the paint. UCF even gave the players National Championship rings which caused Alabama players (the *real* National Champions) to troll the UCF players on Twitter.
In the latest chapter of this faux National Championship saga, former UCF Head Coach Scott Frost actually spoke out against the school’s claim to a National Championship. He 100% believes his players deserved a shot at the REAL natty, but he recognizes that it’s the College Football Playoffs and that alone which determines the National Champion:
“I completely get behind their argument,” Frost told USA Today Sports. “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.”
“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.'” (via)
If the coach who led UCF to an undefeated season isn’t even claiming his own National Championship then that sort of puts a damper on the overall claim, doesn’t it?
For the longest time, I thought UCF was just trolling with the claim of a National Championship but then it got real when they released the commemorative license plates and gave players rings. That’s when the joke went too far. So it’s nice to see head coach Scott Frost finally speak out against this farce.
(h/t ESPN)