The first CFP standings will be released tonight, and ESPN's Paul Finebaum said the CFP Selection Committee would begin "to lose all credibility" if UCF is ranked in the top 10. Finebaum during his weekly appearance on Birmingham's WJOX-FM said, "I want to see if the committee listens to the noise, plays the political correctness game, and ranks UCF ahead of a school like Kentucky, who has done something this year." He added, "UCF shouldn’t be in the top 10, and they shouldn’t be anywhere near the top 10. The only thing UCF has going for them is a grandstanding athletic director" -- Danny White -- who "just can’t keep his mouth shut, but also can’t schedule a decent opponent." He added UCF's fan base "is delusional.” UCF is 7-0 this season and has won 20 straight games since the start of the '17 season (“The Roundtable,” WJOX-FM, 10/29).
ROOT FOR THE UNDERDOG: In Jacksonville, Gene Frenette writes all the "Power 5 elitists should actually want" UCF to "go undefeated again." They should "rejoice in UCF’s screaming protests on social media about being excluded" from the CFP. Frenette: "For those of you desperately wanting a CFP system expanded to eight teams, for everybody to have greater access to the national championship and the pot of gold that comes with it, you should embrace the Knights and all their verbosity." Maybe if UCF "stays perfect and CFP power brokers have to keep putting up" with all of UCF's complaints, it will "fix a stupid and broken college football model." It is hard to be in favor of "making college football players play more games than the insane amount already scheduled, but something must be done to give Group of 5 teams at least a long shot chance of winning a national title." White said, “It’s not good for the sport not to be settled on the field. So while we have the platform, we’re going to continue to advocate for expansion of the playoff.” Frenette notes UCF critics "routinely point to its schedule as the big culprit for not getting a better CFP ranking, but many forget schedules are made years in advance." White: “It comes across as disingenuous to criticize us for our schedule. They know people don’t want to play us. A lot of (Power 5) teams struggle to get to six wins and a bowl game, so they don’t want to play us in non-conference" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 10/30).
