Utah was UCF before UCF. Now they are an also ran in the PAC-12. Boise St had a nice run. BYU. My point is UCF is on top of the G5 world right now, but they will not stay there.
UCF is in the southeast US. That is everything to college football!!!
Look at UCF's TV ratings the
entire decade, not just 2 years.
Everyone brings up 2015, but
forgets 2013. And
even in the '00s, UCF had 30K+ at home games, once the OCS was built. That's
twice as many as Miami gets at home during their so-so years. And Miami has long admitted they slipped to #4 in the state, behind UCF, no longer just in attendance, but in TV viewership, by a wide margin -- well before 2017-2018.
It's why writers at the NY Times, USA Today and others were not just clammoring for the Big East to add UCF by 2009, but said the Big East was stupid to take USF all-sports when UCF was willing to take a football-only invite just a half-dozen years earlier.
The P5 conferences know this. They are looking at what does UCF add to our conference when playing p5 teams consistently with a 5 year span with something like 10-2, 9-3, 8-4, 9-3, 7-5?
But what about 3 NY bowls in 6 years -- with 2 wins over #5-7 ranked opponents -- and beating 3 out of their last 5 AP Top 10 teams?
Even UCF is approaching Boise's in-conference win record this decade. Everyone needs to look at 2015 as fluke, and not forget 2013. But no, UCF hasn't been in FBS forever or did great things in its first decade-plus of FBS.
But considering UCF is the youngest program to win a BCS game, or CFP game, and done both, and was less than half as old as #2, UCF is here to stay. Especially being in the southeast US.
That's why one of UCF's biggest markets is Birmingham, AL, even before UCF beat Auburn. It has a huge following for a G5. Everyone keeps ignoring the money.
And ESPN isn't giving out any more when it's losing on some of its current contracts. That's the only reason UCF isn't in the Big XII, it was just a decade too late.