Since finishing the 2017 season undefeated and winning a share of the national championship, UCF and its fans have been clamoring that they want ‘Bama. As it turns out, such an idea was actually kicked around.
According to a report from the Tuscaloosa News, Florida Citrus Sports (FCS), the organizers of the annual Camping World Kickoff Game, contacted UCF officials about the possibility of kicking off the 2018 season against Alabama. The contact was made between UCF’s win in the Peach Bowl that wrapped up its unbeaten season and Alabama claiming the College Football Playoff a week later.
The biggest issue, by far, was the fact that Alabama was already scheduled to square off with Louisville in the Camping World Kickoff Game while UCF was set to face UConn. The Orlando Sentinel writes that "[t]he Knights were open to taking over the Cardinals spot, but such a move would have required finding a new season-opening opponent for Louisville and possibly paying the [U of L] its [$2.75] million Camping World Kickoff game payout.”
According to the News, no one from Alabama was contacted about a potential change, with UA athletic director Greg Byrne stating that “the first I heard of it was when The Tuscaloosa News asked me a couple of days ago.”
“Florida Citrus Sports is in the business of creating compelling college football matchups, and in early January, in between UCF’s victory over Auburn in the Peach Bowl and Alabama’s [College Football Playoff] Championship Game victory over Georgia, the idea of having the Knights face the Crimson Tide at Camping World Stadium was briefly socialized, a statement from the FCS to the Sentinel read.
It’s hard to argue that Alabama-UCF wouldn’t have been more compelling let alone the better game as the Crimson Tide rolled over the Cardinals in a 51-14 win that wasn’t as close as the final score may have indicated. UCF, meanwhile, routed UConn 56-17.
Alabama is currently ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings, while UCF is 11th, the highest-ranked of any Group of Five team. The Knights are also rising the nation’s longest winning streak at 22 straight.