Players amused by Central Florida's claim to national title

ATLANTA — Players and coaches for both Georgia and Alabama got a kick out of the University of Central Florida claiming to be national champions after completing an undefeated season with a win against Auburn in the Peach Bowl. The general response has been, "The championship game will be played here in Atlanta at 8 p.m. Monday night.

Of course, the controversy of the Knights being left out has lent itself again to a call for an expanded playoff. Even though the current College Football Playoff contract runs through 2025, there remains a faction that believes the playoff field should include eight teams – the five Power 5 conference champions and three at-large participants, which might include a school the size of UCF.

Detractors say that would mean too many games for the players. They are, after all, supposed to be “student-athletes.”

Georgia’s Davin Bellamy agrees. “Man, this is Week 15,” the senior outside linebacker said. “I don’t know if I could do another one. I don’t know if I could do another week.”

Bellamy doesn’t have a problem with UCF making its claim, either.

“That’s good for their program,” he said. “Didn’t they lose like every game a couple years ago? Good for them.”

Cox Media Group