Leaders not exploring expansion despite UCF protests
AMELIA ISLAND — If UCF and its fans thought last season’s perceived slight at the hands of the College Football Playoff selection committee would result in change, that didn’t happen.
Bill Hancock, executive director of the playoff, said he doesn’t get the feeling from the management group, which consists of the 10 conference commissioners and Notre Dame, that they want to make changes to the current four-team model.
“I don’t sense a groundswell to do anything different either in the selection protocol or to expand the event,” Hancock said during ACC spring meetings being held this week in Florida. “It’s enormously popular and people are coming to realize that the playoff and the regular season are tied together and they do acknowledge that we have the best regular season in sports. And folks just think why would we want to jeopardize the regular season by changing the postseason?”
Hancock said the 13 members of the selection committee met in early March to look at everything they had done last season and while the group discussed many things, UCF was not one of the big topics.
“There wasn’t much talk about it,” Hancock said. “UCF’s schedule didn’t give them the opportunity to show what they could do against the very best teams and that’s what it came down to. They had a wonderful season and I’m very happy for [UCF athletics director] Danny [White] and their coaches and their
After UCF defeated Auburn in the Peach Bowl and posted the only 13-0 record during the 2017 season, White declared the Knights national champions. He hasn’t backed off the claim, hosting victory parades, presenting the Knights with national championship rings, selling championship clothing to fans and unveiling championship signs at Spectrum Stadium.
White has said he wanted to celebrate the Knights’ season and highlight their athletes.” unfair exclusion from playoff semifinals.
Alabama, meanwhile, won the College Football Playoff championship and held its own national title celebrations. Tide players and fans were irked by UCF’s national championship claim and took jabs at the Knights during the offseason.
While there has been extensive national discussion of UCF’s title celebration, it has been a quiet offseason one for the playoff group.
“The takeaway was it’s been a very good four years,” Hancock said of the the offseason so far. “Every year the commissioners look at every aspect of the playoff and they just came away thinking we don’t need to make any changes.
“Don’t fix it if broke.”
It’s a move that may not be a popular one among some fans, but Hancock understands.
“We expect that people will have comments about the playoff because college football is so popular and generates so much passion. I welcome the comments,” he added. it ain’t