ESPN drops unbeatens UCF and USF from playoff contention. A two-loss team is alive.

UCF and USF are still unbeaten.

In the Knights’ case, they’re riding the nation’s longest active winning streak at 20 games and have reached No. 10 in the Associated Press poll.

Yet, none of that matters in ESPN’s latest college football eliminator, which lists 15 teams with a chance at the College Football Playoff.

Those 15 teams include two-loss Texas A&M, but not undefeated UCF or USF from the American Athletic Conference.

All 15 teams represent Power 5 conferences, with six, including Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Kentucky and the aforementioned Texas A&M, residing in the Southeastern Conference.

ESPN wrote the following for UCF and USF under the “Better Luck Next Year” grouping:

“Let’s be real, despite a nation-leading 20 straight wins, it’s not happening,” ESPN wrote about UCF. “The Knights play just one Power 5 opponent this season. Memphis, the team they beat 31-30 in Week 7, lost Saturday by 32 at Missouri. The list goes on. Take aim at another New Year’s Six bowl.”

On USF, ESPN wrote: “Same conference, same story. The Bulls actually boast two Power 5 wins, but neither will do a thing to impress the committee. A Nov. 23 home date with UCF looms again as massive, but USF might not escape unscathed from Houston this week.”

There’s already been a back-and-forth between UCF and ESPN when college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit blasted the Knights on College GameDay this past Saturday. That led to UCF athletic director Danny White to write a letter he shared via social media addressing Herbstreit’s comments.

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This story was originally published October 24, 2018 at 3:34 PM.