<P> Following an undefeated season in the American Athletic Conference and their victory over the Auburn Tigers in the 2018 Peach Bowl, the UCF Knights claimed the national championship by virtue of being the only undefeated team in the FBS level of college football . UCF held a victory parade at Disney World and hung a national championship banner at their stadium to celebrate this achievement . The school also paid national championship bonuses to all of its assistant coaches, many of whom left UCF after the Peach Bowl to follow head coach Scott Frost to his new head coaching job at Nebraska; Frost himself (who coached UCF in the game) did not receive such a bonus because he had already been paid all of the bonuses allowed by his UCF contract . </P> <P> The selection committee ranked UCF 12th at the end of the regular season, below a number of two - loss teams from the Power Five conferences, which left them out of the CFP . The AP Poll ranked Alabama No. 1 in its final poll, receiving 57 first - place votes, while UCF was ranked No. 6 and received four first - place votes--the first time in the CFP era that the AP poll did not have a unanimous No. 1 team . Additionally, the Knights finished the 2017 football season as the No. 1 team in the Colley Bias Free Matrix Rankings . The Colley Matrix is recognized by the NCAA in its list of "national champion major selections ." </P>

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