Re:
jmdirt said:
Clean up on isle 10...I just puked from hearing WAAAAAY too many talking heads spewing about strength of schedule (sheeple rhetoric). Two things there: division one is division one, otherwise make more divisions, and if strength of schedule is anything other than a tie breaker the NCAA should be setting schedules not the schools. The NFC North is crap this year so they shouldn't have a team in the playoffs right?
I get it, UCF likely (we don't now for sure) couldn't survive a season in the SEC, but its also a crap hole argument: they can't recruit the top prospects because they know that they won't get the big bowls, and so they don't get the top prospects...
UCF beat the peaches out of Auburn in Jan. BSU (of course others too) showed several times that they can at least thump the "big" boys once a year.
Honestly...do you really think UCF is as good as the current top 4? C'mon...look at that top 4: Bama is leaps & bounds above everyone else; two back to back shutouts of an SEC opponent with one of those being LSU (first time in Bama history this has been done), playing with a hurt QB and a team that experts are saying is Saban's BEST ever. I really think "The Citadel" should forfeit this week's game against Bama. Lol. Clemson is destroying opponents right & left and has the top freshman QB recruit (Lawrence) playing like a Senior. ND is getting it done both offensively & defensively and knocked off Michigan earlier in the year. And this is looking like one of the better Michigan teams in recent history with a top 10 offense & defense and a 42-7 drubbing of Penn St. How is UCF suppose to compete with that? Like I said earlier, I don't see them getting in under any scarnio. If they had 8 teams in the playoffs...maybe, but not under the current system.
The problem with UCF is the AAC they play in (btw, UCF is highest non-power 5 team to ever be ranked this high). Though the AAC is ranked as the best non-power 5 conference in this year's conference power rankings, the teams in the conference are not in the same caliber as the SEC, BIG-10, BIG-12, etc. And UCF isn't exactly hammering many teams in their own conference either with some fairly close games. Two weeks ago I watched a Thursday night game where UCF struggled to beat a bad Temple team in a high-scoring affair...not impressed. Plus, UCF's non-conference schedule is terrible playing the likes of S. Carolina "State," UCONN, & Pitt (they had N. Carolina also scheduled, which was cancelled due to the hurricane). Since teams have some control on non-conference scheduling, why doesn't UCF try to put something together with Florida? Or Miami? Or Florida St? Maybe try and work something out with Georgia, LSU or even an independent like ND? They're not going to impress anybody playing UCONN & SCSU (they didn't play anybody in last year's non-conference schedule either). And they also can't wait for a bowl matchup to thump a "big" boy.
I think if you put UCF in the SEC for this season you'd be looking at a .500 team realistically, much like S.Carolina at 4-4 conference play thus far. I think they're much better than Vandy & Missouri but I don't see them knocking off the likes of Bama, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Miss St.,etc.
I agree that UCF can't get the top recruits, but neither can dozens of other schools. If look at the top 10 recruiting classes every year, it's always the same schools; Bama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio St. Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn St. USC, Oregon, etc. Nothing but 4 & 5-star recruits on both sides of the ball for these teams. Heck, Bama's starting QB (Tagovailoa) is a 4-star, the backup (Hurts) is a 4-star and the 3rd stringer (Jones) is a 4-star. So, Saban has 3 4-star QBs on scholarship - unheard of! And his defense is nothing but 4 & 5-stars with most going to play on Sundays. Contrast that with most teams that are lucky to get a few 4-stars and maybe a rare 5-star kid. It's the case of the "have's & have not's." And how Leach is winning big over there at WSU with all 3-star recruits is beyond belief. The guy is some kind of a genius.
So, it's my understanding that 1-5 control their own destiny and 6-10 will need a lot of help, and if UCF runs the table they will probably play one of the losers of the SEC, BIG-12 or BIG-10 championship game in a New Year’s Six Bowl .
https://athlonsports.com/college-football/college-football-2018-conference-power-rankings