If Alabama wins title, so does UCF
I have an important question for you: Do you think Alabama can defend its national championship on Monday when it plays Georgia in the College Football Playoff title game?
Alabama? Defending national champion? You read that right.
Before you declare me one of those misguided folks who thinks the Earth is flat and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” was a good movie, let me get a few things straight. I believe the Earth is as round as
bald head and “Last Jedi” was a
“Star Wars” film. And, seriously, Alabama is the defending college football national champion.
Don’t take my word for it. Check the Dunkel Index, one of more than 40 polls, rankings and formulas recognized by the NCAA in its list of “national champion major selections.”
We all know that Clemson beat Alabama 35-31 in the playoff title game in Tampa last year, but according to Dunkel, “the Crimson Tide still finished with the top rating in the 2016 Dunkel Index, while the Tigers moved past Ohio State into second.”
Now, let’s fast-forward to this season and the undefeated UCF Knights. Athletics director
was the first to declare the 13-0 Knights national champions following their Peach Bowl win over Auburn.
Despite White being a marketing genius — he has focused a big national spotlight on UCF during the week everyone was expected to be talking about Alabama vs. Georgia — none of the official NCAA “national champion major selections” have ranked UCF No. 1 to end the season. Not yet, at least.
The Colley Matrix, run by Dr. currently has Georgia ranked No. 1 and UCF ranked No. 2. If Alabama wins on Monday night, UCF would finish the season No. 1 in the Colley Matrix, with Alabama No. 2, Wisconsin No. 3 and Georgia No. 4.
The Wolfe rankings, by UCLA professor Dr.
had UCF ranked No. 1 after the conference championship games had been played. Georgia was No. 2, Clemson No. 3, Oklahoma was No. 4 and Alabama was No. 6. Wolfe’s COMMENTARY rankings have not been updated since then, but UCF could finish as No. 1 there, too.
If Colley, Wolfe or any of the other NCAA recognized “national champion major selections” have UCF ranked No. 1 after Monday night, the Knights’ “national champions” claim will earn an important level of legitimacy. The same legitimacy that Alabama and other longtime Power 5 schools have used to claim national championships during their storied histories.
See, UCF is becoming more like a Power 5 school every day.
ESPN is bringing all of its toys for the playoff championship game on Monday. It will have more than 110 cameras inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and among those will be “two never-beforeused camera angles for a national championship game.”
There will be a First-and-10 marker cam, which is literally a camera inside the first-down marker held on the sideline. It made its debut during the Sugar Bowl and will provide viewers a look at the line to gain.
The other new gimmick is a Dual SkyCam System using a second SkyCam, positioned higher than the traditional SkyCam and “providing viewers two different vantage points from, typically, behind-theoffense.”
Overall, there will be 20 different ways to view the game: the main game coverage on ESPN, and alternate productions on 10 additional ESPN platforms: ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPN Goal Line, SEC Network, ESPN Deportes, plus multiple options online at ESPN3.com or on the ESPN app.
Former UCF coach and new Nebraska coach
will be a guest on ESPN’s “College GameDay” starting at 3 p.m. on Monday, and he’ll also appear on the pre-game “Championship Drive,” which starts at 6 p.m.
UCF’s win over Auburn in the 50th Peach Bowl was popular on TV. The bowl announced Friday that the game had 8.3 million viewers, making it the second-most watched Peach Bowl of all time, and the most-watched nonCollege Football Playoff Semifinal Peach Bowl in the New Year’s Six era. Peach Bowl viewership was up 49 percent from the 2015 season game between Houston and FSU, and 67 percent from the 2014 season game between TCU and Ole Miss.