Here’s why recent history suggests UCF has no shot at the College Football Playoff

A week filled with optimism was tagged with a familiar reality for holders of the nation’s longest active winning streak in college football.

UCF, for all the buzz surrounding the Knights getting ESPN’s College GameDay to broadcast from its Orlando, Florida campus this week and have its showdown with Cincinnati in the ABC prime time slot, improved one spot to No. 11 in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings.

It’s the highest ranking for a Group of Five program in the CFP era.

The top 10 went unchanged.

The reality check isn’t a good sign for UCF fans clamoring for an invite to the playoff, provided the Knights close the season unbeaten.

If history is a guide, then UCF has no shot at the playoff. No team has made it to the CFP when ranked outside the top 10 this late in the season.

A lot of dominoes need to fall for the Knights to get their crack at this season’s national title, even though history says otherwise.

Michigan State was ranked No. 9 before jumping into the top four during the final three CFP rankings in 2015. That’s the lowest a team has been ranked at this point in the season that still qualified for the playoff.

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