The funny thing is I'm not rationalizing. The NCAA does no such thing. You linked to some UCF Black and Gold fans items that gave you a snapshot with a BS story. That glimpse you see of UCF on whatever page he says is under the heading "Final National Poll Leaders" which means exactly as I said, the NCAA recognizes the Colley Matrix had them at the top. The two section headings "National Poll Champions in Bowl Games" and "Consensus National Champions " both list Alabama and do not mention UCF at all. You should look straight at the source material and not rely on a fan boy site.
First things first: I acknowledge that the widely-recognized system in place in 2017 selected Alabama as the national champions without allowing undefeated UCF to play...
which is precisely the point. We just saw the top 4 seeds in the playoff all lose their first game. The idea that upsets happen in college basketball literally every year (which is
the primary draw of the NCAA Tournament!) but would somehow be impossible in college football is just ludicrous. Blue blood teams like Alabama have been protected for decades, and that protection is at an end.
Now, as to the substance of your response: the "Final National Poll Leaders" ARE the
national champions. That's precisely what a "national championship" is in FBS! Winning the College Football Playoff, or the BCS Championship before it, does not
make you a "national champion;" the pollsters
voting for you after you win it does. And UCF is not listed as a "consensus national champion" because they weren't a
consensus champion, nor did they claim to be.
The NCAA record book recognizes Colley as a "National Champion Major Selector" and states, "The criteria for being included in this historical list of poll selectors is that the poll be national in scope, either through distribution in newspaper, television, radio and/or computer online. The list includes both former selectors, who were instrumental in the sport of college football, and selectors who were among the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) selectors." Colley was one of the polls used in BCS rankings. UCF was the "Final National Poll Leader" for Colley, and therefore were the national champions according to one of the official polls recognized by the NCAA. That is simply fact.
Now, if you want to say that Colley
doesn't really count... fine! I agree that the powers in control of the shitty system that was in place
declared that an undefeated team can simply be presumed to be worse than
the mighty SEC teams who would never lose to inferior opponents.
Just be glad that the same system isn't in place in the NFL, because if it was, New England would have an undefeated championship under their belt.
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