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UCF Commentary- Bob Ballou, CBS Austin


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Bob Ballou of CBS Austin

 

On Monday Central Florida upset Auburn 34-27 to win the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. The Knights and Scott Frost did everything the right way this year - won all their games, handled Frost's move to Nebraska with class - all of it was awesome to watch.

The aftermath of their win is getting uglier by the day though. Let's start with a simple fact. You cannot compare wins by using the transitive property of equality. That needs to stop. Just because UCF beat Auburn, who beat Alabama and Georgia, does not mean UCF is better than the entire SEC.

It also is a little over the top for Central Florida to declare itself national champions, although in fairness, the school is going to pay its coaches their national championship bonus. Even so, the team did not go to the playoff and did not win the national championship.

This, however, is not to entirely knock UCF for its stance because its stance is part of a much bigger issue. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told ESPNs Heather Dinich that he's not looking to expand the playoff, but more ridiculously - told her UCF was treated **fairly** because the Knights likely wouldn't be undefeated had they played in a power five conference. Said Bowlsby, “They have some big games, but they don't have an Iowa State who can beat Oklahoma.” By the way Iowa State lost five games, four to unranked teams.

I absolutely hate this reasoning. Hate it. Commissioner Bowlsby, with all due respect, you don't know that it's likely they'd be undefeated. No one knows that, and it's why the NCAA's system is flawed. Prove that Scott Frost didn't just assemble the best staff in the country coupled with the best recruits in the country. Prove that. You can't. There is quite literally no way to prove that UCF wasn't the best team in the country this year and that's a huge problem.

In case you're wondering about little ol' Central Florida in its little ol' conference, the school is the biggest in the state of Florida, besting Florida itself by more than 9000 students. Florida State is 5th. That school – UCF - can't produce the best team in the country?

Are we 100 percent sure Central Florida's players aren't as good as those in the power five? If you believe the recruiting rankings in the last five years, the Knights were as low as 79 and at its peak – 55th. Take that into consideration, 13-0 must have just been an absolute miracle.

There are years that the non-power five conference team might just be the best in the nation, yet we'll never get the chance to find out. How is that a fair system? '04Utah, '06 Boise, '08 Utah, '09 Boise and 2010 TCU all deserved to know if their undefeated seasons were good enough to match the big boys. 2017 UCF did too.

And just so you know the arrogance with which UCF - and every other non power-five program must face - Bowlsby added this gem at the end, “If TCU and UCF played 10 times, I defy anybody to convince me UCF would win the majority of the games. Of course, I've only been looking at it for 35 years.”

That's why all of this is a total sham for UCF - and any team like them.

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He's an arrogant ass..afraid some school will upset the status quo of big money college football and The Big 12 will fall from grace. Hey...FYI the kingdom the power 5 built has slowly begun to fall. Money and greed that's what the power 5 represent....IMHO!

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Keep picking the scab until their ego let's us in. They (P5 and the powers that be) want to prove that we are nobodies to be true, but the only way to prove it is to let it happen. And like @FAU Connoisseur stated, once they do, it will be much closer to being even than people will realize. Recruits will then know without a doubt they can 1) Win real championships anywhere and 2) Be seen on the biggest stage not named "opportunity games" or "body bag" games. 

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3 hours ago, Wag Tag said:

Yea and poor Boise can't beat OU or Pac10 teams. What a bunch of crap. When are the G5's realize they will never get a shot unless they expand the play off system. It is rigged DUMMY!

This is in no way shape or form a "playoff system." It's still decided on by the poles and a committee. What a joke.

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4 hours ago, Wag Tag said:

Yea and poor Boise can't beat OU or Pac10 teams. What a bunch of crap. When are the G5's realize they will never get a shot unless they expand the play off system. It is rigged DUMMY!

It ain't changing to be more inclusive anytime soon. As a matter of fact, it will get even MORE exclusive in the years ahead when the Big XII goes away, which will be no later than 2025 when its GOR expires and the haves of that conference move on to greener pastures and the have-nots follow the same path as those old Big East teams that now call the AAC (non-P5) home.

The question becomes what conferences will still be allowed to play the Power Leagues in OOC play or a bowl game. My guess is that the combination of AAC, MWC, and Big XII leftovers will still get to play them. It won't surprise me to see some higher end G5s go old school and become independent in football, to be like BYU, a quasi-power team that can still play OOC games and get to dream of being "included" in the big playoff dream. Its not hard to imagine a UH, Boise, UCF, USF, TCU, Baylor, etc...go to being independent so that they can get those games against the Power teams and pray they can get admitted into a playoff if they had an undefeated season.

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1 hour ago, untjim1995 said:

It ain't changing to be more inclusive anytime soon. As a matter of fact, it will get even MORE exclusive in the years ahead when the Big XII goes away, which will be no later than 2025 when its GOR expires and the haves of that conference move on to greener pastures and the have-nots follow the same path as those old Big East teams that now call the AAC (non-P5) home.

The question becomes what conferences will still be allowed to play the Power Leagues in OOC play or a bowl game. My guess is that the combination of AAC, MWC, and Big XII leftovers will still get to play them. It won't surprise me to see some higher end G5s go old school and become independent in football, to be like BYU, a quasi-power team that can still play OOC games and get to dream of being "included" in the big playoff dream. Its not hard to imagine a UH, Boise, UCF, USF, TCU, Baylor, etc...go to being independent so that they can get those games against the Power teams and pray they can get admitted into a playoff if they had an undefeated season.

Why G5 needs a playoff. MWC C-USA Mac maybe Sun Belt 

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2 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

It ain't changing to be more inclusive anytime soon. As a matter of fact, it will get even MORE exclusive in the years ahead when the Big XII goes away, which will be no later than 2025 when its GOR expires and the haves of that conference move on to greener pastures and the have-nots follow the same path as those old Big East teams that now call the AAC (non-P5) home.

The question becomes what conferences will still be allowed to play the Power Leagues in OOC play or a bowl game. My guess is that the combination of AAC, MWC, and Big XII leftovers will still get to play them. It won't surprise me to see some higher end G5s go old school and become independent in football, to be like BYU, a quasi-power team that can still play OOC games and get to dream of being "included" in the big playoff dream. Its not hard to imagine a UH, Boise, UCF, USF, TCU, Baylor, etc...go to being independent so that they can get those games against the Power teams and pray they can get admitted into a playoff if they had an undefeated season.

If they go from 4 to 8, like many people are advocating for, a team like UCF in 2017 does not get left out. I know you like saying the same things over and over. But nothing you say will convince me that UCF would not have been the 7th or 8th team regardless of their final CFB playoff ranking this year. They would've been in, simple as that. Just like TCU would've been in 2010, Boise in 2006, Utah in 2004, etc. etc. etc. 

 

But I do agree with going Independent. Go play 6 road "body bag" games every year. Those chips will start to stack up by themselves. And the course of having 6 of your games televised on real national television every year. I mean, why not?!?! 

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31 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

If they go from 4 to 8, like many people are advocating for, a team like UCF in 2017 does not get left out.

Count me skeptical.  It would improve their chances, but noting comments like Bowlsby's and those from the committee, I think they still would have been excluded.  They were, after all, still ranked #12 before the bowl game.

 

25 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

This would be conceding. This would be bad. 

Agreed.  We need a seat at the table.  And what just happened with UCF needs to keep happening every year with "G5" teams until we do.

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Maybe a private group can put together a group of investors to fund a real college football playoff. Everyone has equal opportunity to get in. If they said this in the media and stated they are the real national champs how would the public feel? Invite teams that were “slighted” by the committee like OSU.  I bet the nation would get behind this and force the money grubbing assholes to change their stance. 

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On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 4:37 PM, Ben Gooding said:

If they go from 4 to 8, like many people are advocating for, a team like UCF in 2017 does not get left out. I know you like saying the same things over and over. But nothing you say will convince me that UCF would not have been the 7th or 8th team regardless of their final CFB playoff ranking this year. They would've been in, simple as that. Just like TCU would've been in 2010, Boise in 2006, Utah in 2004, etc. etc. etc. 

 

But I do agree with going Independent. Go play 6 road "body bag" games every year. Those chips will start to stack up by themselves. And the course of having 6 of your games televised on real national television every year. I mean, why not?!?! 

I agree that if they had 8 spots, UCF would've been invited. I just don't think they are going to 8 anytime soon. I think they'll go to 6, so that the champs of each P5 will get in, as well as ND or a wild card. 

The only way the Big 12 stays alive is if this playoff gets expanded to include each power conference. Otherwise, its still the Dead-Man-Walking Conference, waiting for 2025 to get here and have its GOR expire, giving UT, OU, KU, and any other decent pieces a place to land. The others will become just like the old Big East but no AAC left-behinds, like UConn, Cincy, UCF, and USF, teams that used to be in club, but got kicked out because their league fell apart around them and other pieces found homes while they couldn't.

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UCF just finished 6th in the AP poll—even though they are the only unbeaten FBS team. It’s almost as if the entire national media is in the Power Leagues back pocket...oh wait, that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell y’all for years. 

This wont end well because it isn’t supposed to end well for the G5’s. They have no power in legislatures, media, or in the NCAA. They are useful parts for the Power Leagues until they decide to pull that rug back further in the next culling, which will be within the next 7 years when the Big XII dies off.

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7 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

UCF just finished 6th in the AP poll—even though they are the only unbeaten FBS team. It’s almost as if the entire national media is in the Power Leagues back pocket...oh wait, that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell y’all for years. 

And if you read any of my earlier posts on this matter, I would say NCAA top management and sports enforcers are on the Power Leagues payroll too.  I suspect a lot of collusion going on.

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2 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

And if you read any of my earlier posts on this matter, I would say NCAA top management and sports enforcers are on the Power Leagues payroll too.  I suspect a lot of collusion going on.

Yep, you are one of a few that seems to get it around here.

Its ok to realize we started too late in caring even at a half-ass level regarding sports here by about 30 years or more. Had we not given up and dropped to I-aa and stayed there for 12 freaking years, then we are in the AAC or MWC at a minimum today. But we didn’t. And the collection of SBCUSA teams we are aligned with are mostly in the same spot we are. It is what it is. Apogee had to get built so we could have a football program that could play at this level. Paying what we do for a coaching staff is in line with our peers at the lower G5 level. But neither of those aspects of investment by UNT is moving us into another level anytime soon, it is just allowing us to stay where we are and not fall back behind again. Had this been done in the 80s or 90s, things would be different today. But decades of apathy and ignoring the needs of the program allowed budgets to trump winning. And without winning, you aren’t getting any fan or media attention that garners interest from conferences above ours. It is what it is...

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Well said untjim1995.

to add insult to injury, my older brother, an avid Longhorn fan and graduate of UT, watched the FCS Championship.  North Dakota State vs James Madison.  He commented to me that UNT should consider playing at that level.  Good football and we could compete.

I calmly, very calmly, told him that UNT has no intentions of dropping down to the FCS level.  Except for the Championship Game, no one knows that FCS exists.  I went on to tell him about our drop down from the 1A level to 1AA, and the damage that it did to our once proud football program.  All for a lousy 10,000 extra seats in Fouts.  Which we added 10 years too late.  We are what we are.  Hopefully we can continue to be successful at the G5 level and not resort back to our losing ways.  For that to happen, UNT needs  to keep the pedal down to fundraising and facilities improvement.  And hiring the best coaches we can.

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7 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

Well said untjim1995.

to add insult to injury, my older brother, an avid Longhorn fan and graduate of UT, watched the FCS Championship.  North Dakota State vs James Madison.  He commented to me that UNT should consider playing at that level.  Good football and we could compete.

I calmly, very calmly, told him that UNT has no intentions of dropping down to the FCS level.  Except for the Championship Game, no one knows that FCS exists.  I went on to tell him about our drop down from the 1A level to 1AA, and the damage that it did to our once proud football program.  All for a lousy 10,000 extra seats in Fouts.  Which we added 10 years too late.  We are what we are.  Hopefully we can continue to be successful at the G5 level and not resort back to our losing ways.  For that to happen, UNT needs  to keep the pedal down to fundraising and facilities improvement.  And hiring the best coaches we can.

Tell him that based on recent history, maybe UT should consider dropping down to the FCS level.  

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20 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

Tell him that based on recent history, maybe UT should consider dropping down to the FCS level.  

Ha!  I gave you the "Thanks" trophy.  I'll tell him that, though they are already part of the "money minting" P5 machine.

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