National champion? It’s Central Florida

This isn’t a protest vote. It’s not a shot across the bow at the College Football Playoff or a call for an expanded playoff.

But even after watching Alabama beat Georgia 26-23 in overtime on Monday night, Central Florida is my No. 1 team.

I went back and forth with this since the Knights beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 1.

In the end, it boiled down to a principle I’ve used since the start of the season.

I used it when Oklahoma beat Ohio State and then subsequently fell to Iowa State and I kept the Sooners ahead of the Buckeyes. I failed to apply it for one week, bone-headedly moving Notre Dame behind USC for a week before correcting it a week later.

But UCF beat Auburn. Auburn beat Georgia and Alabama. UCF didn’t lose.

Therefore, the Knights have my No. 1 vote.

I debated internally well into the second half of Monday’s game, reaching out to a few colleagues and friends.

But it kept coming back to this — this is how I voted throughout the regular season. Why would I change now?

Do I think UCF would go undefeated against the schedule that Georgia or Alabama or Oklahoma or Clemson played? No.

Would I have voted UCF No. 1 had it played Ohio State or Wisconsin or any team other than Auburn in the bowl game? Frankly, no.

But they played Auburn, beat them, and here we are.

Georgia’s win over Auburn in the SEC Championship Game gave me pause. It would’ve given me cover to vote Georgia No. 1 with its win. But in the end I felt that was a cop-out.

So UCF it is, even if I was put-off by much of their national championship celebrations before any national championships were declared.