Clear path for UCF to reach AAC championship game — and the Cotton Bowl
The odds that UCF reaches the American Athletic Conference championship took a major hit Saturday when the Knights lost 17-14 to Navy inside FBC Mortgage Stadium.
Although hosting the title game is now out of the picture for UCF, traveling on the road for the conference championship on Dec. 3 isn’t.
And it’s likely the winner of the AAC title game will earn a spot in the Cotton Bowl as the highest-ranked Group of Five team in the country. Outside the AAC, there were no other teams in any other Group of Five conference ranked Tuesday by the College Football Playoff committee.
The Knights, previously at No. 20 before losing to Navy, only fell two spots in the CFP Top 25 rankings.
With the Knights being 22nd, the loser of Tulane-Cincinnati is essentially taken out of the equation because UCF would be the highest CFP-ranked team to win in the final week of the regular season if it takes care of business in the regular-season finale.
“Still two really good wins over Tulane and over Cincinnati. The defense has been strong,” Playoff chair Boo Corrigan said about UCF after Tuesday’s rankings were announced. “The 17-14 loss to Navy where Navy controlled the ball, it’s a different type of game that you’re playing in that respect. They’ve had a really good season. Coach [Gus] Malzahn has done a really good job. Clearly, there’s a lot of respect from the committee for UCF to drop two spots.”
The result against the Midshipmen may have briefly knocked UCF out of first place in the league to make its path more difficult, but the Knights still have control.
Entering the final week of the regular season, there are four teams that can still reach the conference championship:
Cincinnati (9-2, 6-1 AAC)
Tulane (9-2, 6-1)
UCF (8-3, 5-2)
Houston (7-4, 5-2)
Here’s who these teams face this week along with broadcast information:
Cincinnati vs. Tulane — Friday, noon, ABC
UCF vs. USF (1-10, 0-7) — Saturday, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Houston vs. Tulsa (4-7, 2-5) — Saturday, 7:30, ESPNU
The winner of Tulane-Cincinnati will host the title game. Beat USF and UCF will visit the Green Wave in New Orleans a second time or travel to the Bearcats for the first time.
UCF and the loser of Tulane-Cincinnati would be in a two-way tie, but the Knights having the head-to-head advantage over both would be the difference.
Cincinnati rose one spot to No. 24 in the CFP rankings while Tulane moved up two spots to No. 19.
“We’re going to put [the loss to Navy] behind us and we’ll do everything to win a conference championship,” Malzahn said.
Email Jason Beede at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @therealBeede. Matt Murschel contributed to this story.
