So you’re saying there’s a chance? Well, yes, there is as a matter of fact.
In a statement that is sure to get the hopes of Central Florida fans up everywhere, College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock confirmed that even the currently undefeated Knights will have a shot at making the final four at the end of the season if they continue to keep winning on the field.
“Yes, there is a path,” Hancock told the Associated Press on Thursday. “UCF got full consideration from the committee last year. I believe the committee at the end of the season had ranked UCF higher than the sports writers and the coaches had. So they got every consideration and they had a wonderful season.”
Of course, getting left out of the playoff was actually probably beneficial for the school last year considering they went undefeated and dubiously claimed a national title in the process. It remains an uphill battle for the team to elbow out the Alabama’s, Clemson’s and Georgia’s of the world when the selection committee meets and decides on their weekly rankings but for a team with the nation’s longest winning streak (currently at 16 games), at least there’s an acknowledgment that the team won’t be an afterthought in the way many fans of the program though they were in 2017.
First things first for UCF though: keep winning. With a game against North Carolina cancelled due to Hurricane Florence, Saturday’s upcoming game against Pitt remains the Knights’ only opportunity to play a Power Five foe this season and you can bet the committee will be keeping tabs on that game closely even if the Panthers aren’t the biggest of tests on the upcoming slate for the team.