Orlando's Hometown National Champions

[Jernigan 1508]

Congrats to the UCF Knights for their 2017 National Championship!  13-0, what a season.

[sunshine 436]

What a mickey mouse idea to declare themselve National Champ

[Jernigan 1508]

Ironically the playoff was developed to prevent this from happening (used to happen all the time with no playoff).

Oops.

[dcluley98 1023]

Dear Alabama and Georgia. . . 

 

Edited January 6 by dcluley98

[spenser1058 1657]

It's official! If Bobby says it's so, that's all there is to it:

 

[aent 258]

5 hours ago, Jernigan said:

Ironically the playoff was developed to prevent this from happening (used to happen all the time with no playoff).

Oops.

The BCS with the BCS National Championship game was supposed to prevent it from happening during its era too, USC said otherwise.

[Jernigan 1508]

It's a pretty simple concept...have a playoff that every team has an opportunity to make.   If it's not possible, the division needs to split.   I'm confident UCF would end up on the right side of that split.

[HankStrong 743]

Went down to the block party last night and it was extremely busy.  People everywhere. 

I parked at Sand Lake and took the SunRail down, mostly just to ride the train, but also because traffic was a nightmare.  It was quick and painless and roundtrip was $3.75 instead of paying for a garage parking spot.  It just took a few minutes to get there.  The time schedule could have been much better is my only real complaint.

[Boomer136 224]

Give Alabama some props, they are the best of the losers. A Trumpism might be called for here: I like my winners not to be losers...

[spenser1058 1657]

It's official! (Well, at least at the Bounce House.)

UCF unveils National Champions banner before the Spring Game:

https://es.pn/2vz1YAC

From ESPN

Charge On!

Edited April 21 by spenser1058

[spenser1058 1657]

Could the Knights be even UCFaster under Josh Heupel than they were with Coach Frost?

Bianchi thinks so. The kids might be alright.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/open-mike/os-sp-ucf-spring-game-mike-bianchi-0422-story,amp.html

From the Sentinel

[Dale 1066]

Kudos to UCF for its #13 finish last year. Best UCF team ever ...

http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

*runs away*

[spenser1058 1657]

30 minutes ago, Dale said:

Kudos to UCF for its #13 finish last year. Best UCF team ever ...

http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

*runs away*

What I love is how the media keeps running with this and even more that the Alabama freakin' Crimson Tide is obsessed with it (you'd think if it didn't matter we'd be beneath their notice.)

In any event, a directional school no one outside Florida ever heard of (except some computer science types) is now known to just about any college football fan. As great as Coach Frost was, Danny White is the true genius.

Edited April 25 by spenser1058

[popsiclebrandon 433]

Yeah DW has more than earned his keep. Losing him would be way worse than losing Frost.

[spenser1058 1657]

Four Knights to the NFL in this year's draft (best performance since 2003.) Charge On!

[spenser1058 1657]

A really good look at what's in store for the Knights in the first year with Coach Heup. Note the columnist argues UCF HAD to get obnoxious about the national champions riff in order to ever move the P5 forward to inclusiveness. We're not the first G5 team to be jobbed in the process and sadly we won't be the last.

https://www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/college-football/2018/4/30/17292266/ucf-football-2018-preview-schedule-roster

From SB Nation

[HankStrong 743]

21 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Four Knights to the NFL in this year's draft (best performance since 2003.) Charge On!

Three more were picked up by teams after the draft as undrafted free agents:

1. Jordan Franks TE to Cincinnati Bengals
2. Jamiyus Pittman DT to Miami Dolphins
3. Aaron Evans OL to Philadelphia Eagles

The four that were drafted:

1. Mike Hughes DB to Minnesota Vikings (FIRST ROUND!)
2. Tre'Quan Smith WR to New Orleans Saints (3rd round)
3. Jordan Akins TE to Houston Texans (3rd round)
4. America's sweetheart Shaquem Griffin to Seattle Seahawks (5th round)

 

[HankStrong 743]

As a sidenote:

In addition to showing he had skills on the field, Mr. Griffin shined to the press and the league with his humility and heart.  It's a feel-good story because the guy has one hand, but it's not very convincing if he wasn't quite good on the field.  Him actually being better than the overwhelming number of his college contemporaries, but doing it with one hand made for a huge story.  I'm sure it would be more pity than praise if he wasn't legitimately good. ( AAC defensive player of the year, Peach Bowl defensive MVP, CLASS award winner, and 2nd team All-American, etc.)

He has been rewarded with sponsorships from at least 5 major companies.

[spenser1058 1657]

Charge On! It really is amazing how awesome Shaquem is. I'm also thankful MacKenzie so far hasn't gone Hollywood like Johnny Football and so many others.

[spenser1058 1657]

ESPN has this look at how new head coaches are doing this spring.  What's interesting is that all the teams mentioned are P5... except UCF.

Danny White's ploy is putting us in conversations we never would have been a part of before.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/23367022/checking-first-year-coaches?platform=amp

[spenser1058 1657]

UCF moves up four to #18 in ESPN's "Way Too Early Top 25."

https://es.pn/2I3lYQM

Charge On, Knights!

[spenser1058 1657]

$30 million upgrade to athletic facilities on the way:

http://footballscoop.com/news/check-massive-facility-upgrade-ucf-works/

From footballscoop.com

[spenser1058 1657]

Here's an interesting thought from Matt Baker at the St. Pete Times about creative ways to improve the strength of schedule in college football to increase the likelihood of an appearance by a G5 team in the CFP. It's only incremental, but so long as the P5 teams control the machinery, we'll have to do what we can from the margins.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/usf-bulls/2018/06/07/how-two-radical-basketball-scheduling-ideas-could-help-usf-ucf-football/

[spenser1058 1657]

A fun look at how the UCF/UNC Chapel Hill matchup might go from SB Nation.

Bottom line:  Knights 55 Heels 37

CHARGE ON!

https://www.tarheelblog.com/2018/6/22/17484058/unc-football-opponent-preview-ucf-golden-knights-tar-heels#comments

[spenser1058 1657]

USA Today ranks  McKenzie Milton the #2 QB in college football. CHARGE ON, Kenz!

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/735112002