(01-04-2018 11:32 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 11:18 AM)Gamecock Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 10:38 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Arguably a good parallel to UCF this year is 2008 Utah. Like UCF, Utah went unbeaten in a non-AQ league, and at the end of the bowls they were the only unbeaten team in the country. Utah was ranked #6 in the pre-bowl AP and BCS rankings, and then proceeded to beat 12-1, #4 Alabama, the SEC runner-up, in the Sugar Bowl.

In the final post-bowl AP Poll, Utah finished #2 behind BCS champion Florida, and got 16 out of 64 first-place votes, 25% of them.

How do you think UCF does in the final AP Poll, better or worse than Utah did?

Final Ranking?

Number of first place votes?

I think UCF finishes number 2 and gets a handful of protest first place votes, especially if the winner is Alabama.

Why "especially if the winner is Alabama"? Both lost only to Auburn (Georgia losing worse than Bama). Wouldn't it be the other way around?

Alabama fatigue

Another season for comparison: 1975.

Arizona State won the WAC that season and was #7 in the final pre-bowl poll. ASU then beat pre-bowl #6 Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl, and ASU was the only undefeated I-A team after the bowls.

Ohio State was undefeated and #1 before the bowls, but lost the Rose Bowl to UCLA. Texas A&M was undefeated and #2 in the last pre-bowl poll, but lost both a late regular season game and their bowl game.

Oklahoma was #3 in the final pre-bowl AP poll and beat pre-bowl #5 Michigan in the Orange Bowl to finish 11-1.

OU was voted #1 in the post-bowl poll and received 54.5 first-place votes. Arizona State was voted #2 and received 5 first-place votes. http://collegepollarchive.com/football/a...pollid=451

Worse. Utah finish with 4 opponents they defeated that were in the top 25 final poll.
Pre-Bowl ranks: #4 Alabama, #11 TCU, #17 BYU & #24 Oregon St.
After bowl: #6 Alabama, #7 TCU, #18 Oregon St, #25 BYU.

UCF will only have Auburn as a top 25 ranked team in the final poll and only 1 team in the top 25 before the bowls.

I do think they will get some first place votes. Even Boise St did after they beat Oklahoma and were the only undefeated team in FBS.

Memphis and USF were ranked by the coaches before the bowls.

(01-04-2018 06:56 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Another season for comparison: 1975.

Arizona State won the WAC that season and was #7 in the final pre-bowl poll. ASU then beat pre-bowl #6 Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl, and ASU was the only undefeated I-A team after the bowls.

Ohio State was undefeated and #1 before the bowls, but lost the Rose Bowl to UCLA. Texas A&M was undefeated and #2 in the last pre-bowl poll, but lost both a late regular season game and their bowl game.

Oklahoma was #3 in the final pre-bowl AP poll and beat pre-bowl #5 Michigan in the Orange Bowl to finish 11-1.

OU was voted #1 in the post-bowl poll and received 54.5 first-place votes. Arizona State was voted #2 and received 5 first-place votes. http://collegepollarchive.com/football/a...pollid=451

I remember watching that 1975 Fiesta Bowl win by ASU over Nebraska. It was a big deal that year, a major upset and was the first time most of us had heard of Coach Kush. Kush and ASU captured a lot of media attention with the win, a real David and Goliath story.

At the time, it seemed to herald ASU as a soon-to-be Power program, but in retrospect its real legacy was that it brought the fledgling Fiesta Bowl to national attention.

Mike Haynes, the all-time great NFL cornerback, played for that ASU team.

(01-05-2018 06:25 AM)CougarRed Wrote:  Memphis and USF were ranked by the coaches before the bowls.

And in the AP poll as well. USF will surely finish ranked in the final AP poll, Memphis lost their bowl game so it will be iffy, I think they cling to the #24 or #25 position.

The other poster is correct about one thing - Utah beat a more impressive opponent in their bowl game, and more impressively. Alabama was 12-1 going in to the 2008 Sugar Bowl, their only loss being to champ Florida in a close SEC title game, and at #4 would have made the playoffs had they been held that year. Utah beat Alabama 31-17 and dominated the game, out-gaining them by 150 yards, and they never trailed.

Auburn 2017 in contrast was a 9-3 team and the UCF game went down to the wire.

They brought awareness before just like UCF this year. Boise State, TCU and Utah all argued that they should be in the BCS Championship game and be a national championship. Only 2 of the teams got a promotion to a P5 conference. TCU and Utah. The issue is schools like Boise State, Hawaii, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Houston, Memphis, Southern Mississippi, UCF, USF, East Carolina, Cincinnati, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green Toledo, Western Michigan, NDSU, Eastern Washington and now lately, UTSA are P5 caliber teams or close to being a P5 caliber teams. You could add Jacksonville State and James Madison to the list along with Northern Iowa. Even though the P5 spends so much money into their programs, the top G5 and top FCS schools have caught up to them in talent to the P5 schools on a lot less money and with over looked players.