UCF welcomes new attention
GameDay’s appearance on UCF campus as big as the game.
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, an outspoken critic of the UCF’s dubious strength of schedule, expects to be greeted with unflattering “fathead” signs and other forms of lampoonery on Saturday when College GameDay visits Orlando for the first time.
“I would expect nothing less than thousands of those fathead pictures,” Herbstreit said and laughed during a teleconference Thursday to publicize GameDay’s appearance on UCF’s campus as a lead-in to Saturday night’s monumental American Athletic Conference showdown between No. 11 UCF and No. 24 Cincinnati. “I find the energy (of UCF fans) is what college football is all about. I think it’s smart of them to be loyal and support their team. Anybody who gets in the way of not believing in what they believe in, you’re gonna get it and I understand that.”
Herbstreit stressed during the teleconference that he is not a UCF critic; he is simply a critic of UCF’s strength of schedule. His job is to analyze and give opinions on college football and, understandably, his opinions haven’t set well
“I don’t have any personal vendetta against UCF ... I don’t blame UCF fans for being upset that people aren’t giving them a chance (to make the playoff semifinals).” —Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN college football analyst
with UCF fans.
“I’ve been doing this 23 years and you can’t always say everything to make everybody happy,” Herbstreit said. “I don’t have any personal vendetta against UCF. … I watch a lot of film and watch games every week, and I have to have opinions. Sometimes people like your opinions and sometimes they don’t.
“This is college football. It’s a subjective world we live in. It creates a lot of excitement and a lot of energy and a lot of anger and hostility, and I totally get it. I don’t blame UCF fans for being upset that people aren’t giving them a chance (to make the playoff semifinals). If UCF fans weren’t that way, I’d be even more concerned. I’m looking forward to coming down there and feeling the energy they will provide.”
Herbstreit did not back off of his criticism of UCF’s schedule although he acknowledged that it’s not easy for UCF athletics director Danny White to schedule games against marquee Power 5 opponents. Still, Herbstreit said that if the Knights want to be taken more seriously by national analysts and the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, then White must find innovative ways to upgrade the schedule.
“You have to be creative and figure out ways (to play a tougher schedule),” Herbstreit said. “A lot of neutral site games are scheduled a year in advance. I would guess that the folks who put those games together would love to have UCF — because of the attention their brand has created with the 22-game winning streak, beating Auburn last year in a bowl game and the exciting style of football. If they could put — for argument’s sake — an LSU-UCF game on in early September at Jerry Jones Stadium, I’ve got to think there would be a lot of excitement for that.
“UCF is locked into the AAC (American Athletic Conference) and the reality is it’s challenging to have enough (big games) in your conference to warrant getting up into the top four. The only way you can do that is you have to try to think outside the box and come up with unique ways to prop up your schedule. Whether it’s scheduling a neutral site game or cancelling a game you already have because there is an opportunity to pick up a big-time Power 5 program, you’ve got to do that. I’m not saying it’s easy.”
Of course, this wouldn’t even be an issue if the playoffs expanded from four to eight teams and opened up a spot for a Group of 5 team that goes unbeaten.
“When we first started the playoff back in 2014, I was very excited that we got out of two and went to four,” Herbstreit said. “At that time, I really wanted college football to stay at four because I didn’t want it to become like college basketball (a diluted regular season in which many fans don’t pay attention until the NCAA Tournament starts).
“But now — after watching the playoff in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and seeing the same old brands and same old teams – I’d love to see it go to eight. If you open it up to eight, it not only allows the best team from the Group of 5, it allows some other teams in as well. I think it would create more energy and more excitement and maybe get us away from these same three or four teams that we seem to be seeing every year.”
At least Kirk Herbstreit and Danny White agree on something. Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on FM 96.9 and AM 740.