The 2017 National Championship is Still Hilarious

Let’s talk about the time UCF declared themselves national champions.

For those who don’t remember: UCF went 13-0 in 2017. Undefeated. Beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl. But they weren’t selected for the College Football Playoff because they were in the AAC and the committee didn’t respect them.

So UCF said “fine, we’ll make our own national championship.” They literally put up a banner. They made rings. They had a celebration. The whole thing.

And you know what? I kind of respect the hell out of it.

Was it technically legitimate? No. They didn’t win any recognized national championship. The College Football Playoff existed and they weren’t in it.

But was it a power move? Absolutely.

UCF was making a point about the system. They went undefeated. They beat an SEC team convincingly. They did everything in their power to prove they belonged. And the committee said “no thanks, we’re going with a one-loss team instead.”

The self-declared championship was UCF saying “if you’re not going to give us a chance, we’re going to take it ourselves.” It was petty. It was controversial. It was also kind of brilliant marketing.

Jake’s note: I was 100% on UCF’s side during the whole thing. Go undefeated. Beat an SEC team. Get told you’re not good enough anyway. What else are you supposed to do? They made the best of an unfair situation.

The controversy helped push for playoff expansion. Seriously. The whole debate about “what do you do with an undefeated Group of Five team” became a major talking point. UCF’s trolling contributed to the eventual 12-team playoff format.

Now UCF is in the Big 12. They’re playing Power Four football. They don’t need to claim championships — they can actually compete for real ones.

But I hope they never take down that banner. I hope it hangs in Orlando forever. A reminder of the time a program refused to be ignored.

2017 National Champions (according to UCF). Long may they reign.

— Mike