NCAA officially recognizes UCF football’s national championship claim

UCF’s 2017 college football national title claim is no longer a statement from the Florida university or it’s fan base.

The Knights are now in the NCAA record book as co-national champions with Alabama for the 2017 season. Colley Matrix ranked UCF as the national champions for the 2017 season in its final poll.

UCF was the only unbeaten team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A. The Knights were left out of the college football playoff, and settled for an appearance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against SEC foe Auburn.

UCF defeated Auburn, which was the only team last year to hand Georgia and Alabama a loss prior to the College Football Playoffs national championship game.

Alabama beat Georgia in overtime to win the national title.

On the strength of their signature win, the Knights claimed the national title. Athletic director Danny White and former head coach Scott Frost joined in the claim. UCF put national title banners at its home stadium, held a championship parade at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and had championship rings made.

Frost left UCF to become head coach at Nebraska and defended UCF and also backed off of the national title claims at various points in the offseason.

Alabama players threw shade at UCF players with social media posts showcasing their championship rings, and even Alabama coach Nick Saban discussed the title claims UCF made during the offseason.

Now, on page 115 of the NCAA’s record book, UCF’s claim is an official note in history.

The Colley Matrix rankings also had Alabama (2016), Notre Dame (2012) and Oklahoma State (2011) has co-national champions recognized in the NCAA record book. Only Alabama in 2016 came during the CFP era.

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This story was originally published August 27, 2018 at 1:34 PM.