AAC Media Day 2: Aresco fully endorses UCF's National Championship

Mike Aresco is now on board with UCF's National Championship.

Speaking Tuesday at the American Athletic Conference Media Days in Rhode Island, the commissioner embraced the Knights' claim to a title.

"I salute the UCF Knights on their great undefeated season, and on the national championship that they have a right to claim," Aresco said during his State of the League address. "They finished No. 1 in the Colley Computer Index, and many schools over the years, including Alabama, have claimed national championships based on such metrics. We congratulate the Alabama Crimson Tide and Nick Saban on their CFP title and we respect the CFP process, we are part of it. But that does not mean that we cannot celebrate our UCF Knights. They have become a national brand and have helped our conference become a national brand.

"And in congratulating UCF, I am reminded that Scott Frost showed great class in coaching the team in its Peach Bowl win over Auburn. He brought honor to the coaching profession and helped make the 2017 UCF season one his players and UCF fans will never forget.

"Let's also not forget, as I have said before, that this is not an issue of War and Peace. UCF and its fans and followers around the country can enjoy this. But a larger point can also be made, that this UCF team deserved a shot at the national championship and could have won it. Our best teams, which were New Year’s Bowl winners, UCF in 2014 and 2017, and Houston in 2015, could have beaten anyone in the country. The same can be said of some of our other strong teams.

"I fervently hope that UCF’s 2017 performance, and the performances of so many of our teams over our five-year history, convinces the CFP Selection Committee to take a closer look and to evaluate us differently. Our league is very good, very underrated despite our success, and there is no question that the G5 tag has had a lot to do with it."

Aresco railed against UCF's low rankings by the College Football Playoff Committee, which slotted the Knights No. 12 in the final poll released after the conference championship games.

"Houston's ranking in 2015, UCF’s ranking in 2017: neither made sense, and each team proved that in their respective New Year’s Day Bowl wins," Aresco said. "We do not want a glass, or grass if you will, ceiling in college football, as it is terribly unfair to our terrific players and coaches."

While Aresco voiced some displeasure regarding UCF's rankings last year, he tried to distance himself from National Championship claims in early interviews. In the aftermath of Danny White's on-field "National Champs!" proclamation and the ensuing social media campaign, Aresco said this to a radio station on Jan. 4:

"They're having some fun," Aresco said of UCF. "Obviously they're very proud of their accomplishment. It's interesting. In the old days, they could well have ended up as national champion being the only undefeated team and having a win against Auburn. The way the old days where. There's a process in place now. There's a protocol that we're part of and we'll respect that. You have to respect that. Whoever wins Monday will be the national champion in the playoff system and we'll respect that. I think again, in the hearts and minds of UCF and our conference, of course they'll always be champions. There's nothing wrong with that and we can have a little fun with it... We want to let others talk about whether UCF should have been in the playoff or not. That's a legitimate talking point. But in the end, the championship is going to be decided on Monday. I applaud UCF for the pride they're taking in their accomplishment, no question about that."

Aresco's sentiment seemed to shift in the following months. Appearing with Marc Daniels on The Beat of Sports, Aresco responded to a question about some being "bothered" by UCF's National Championship campaign.

"The National Championship claim? Not at all. I think they had some fun with it. Also, Colley, the index, had UCF as No. 1. People that make claims about No. 1 over the years. Danny is very aggressive. I thought it was really good marketing. You don't want to overdo it, but on the other hand I thought in the end they had a lot of fun, and they did have a claim. As you know Marc, 30 years ago they would have been National Champions. Remember BYU? They had a better claim. BYU in 1984, UCF played Auburn in this bowl game, one of the top teams in the country. BYU in 1984 I think played Michigan which may have been a 6-5 team in those days. Give credit to BYU. They had a great season. What UCF did this year, beating Auburn the way they did, and going through our conference was pretty impressive.

"By the way, I have no doubt in my mind that they could have defeated any team in that final four. No doubt in my mind."

Aresco, using the platform like he did today, leaves no doubt: UCF has every right to be considered a National Champion.

To no surprise, UCF is projected to be the team to beat in the American this season. The Knights garnered 19 of a possible 30 votes to repeat as league champions, and 25 out of 30 votes to win the East Division. A rematch with Memphis in the league championship game is the consensus as the Tigers also garnered similar numbers on the West side.

UCF travels to Memphis on Oct. 13.

The American Digital Network welcomed league coaches and players during their Tuesday morning live show with Josh Heupel and McKenzie Milton catching up with Andy Gresh and Hali Oughton.

Milton says the coaching change will allow him to grow as a player.

"Coach (Heupel) is a great teacher," Milton said. "I get to learn under two of the best offensive minds in the country now, one being Coach Frost and one being Coach Heup. They both have different philosophies, but both have been successful. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and we'll score a lot of points."

Given UCF's success last season, Heupel recognizes they have to hit the ground running.

"In taking over this program, it's going to be year one for us as players and a staff against UConn but we can't play like it's a year one," Heupel said. "In helping the transition and the buy-in with our players, we sat down with them and tried to get an idea of what's important for them inside the program. And also offensively and defensively, what are some ways that we as a staff on both sides of the ball can share in the learning experience so that we can progress as fast as possible. I felt on both sides of the ball, by the time we got to spring football, our players had a pretty good grasp of what we were doing."

What makes Milton a special player?

"I've worked with two Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks and Drew Lock at Missouri is a projected top-five pick," Heupel said. "This guy is special. He has all the winning attributes that all great players have, especially quarterbacks. He's highly competitive. He's cool, calm and collected when you meet him, but he's highly competitive. I think his ability to make plays when the play call that's designed isn't there is something that is extremely unique and special."

Milton says pocket presence was an offseason focus.

"Playing from the pocket and being sound with my feet, making sure my eyes are in the right spot at all times, manipulating safeties," Milton said. "I think that's a big thing we focused on from spring ball to the offseason and I think it's going to show in our play. Just being better from the pocket... Just being the best quarterback I can be inside the pocket is going to be huge."

While much of the media discussion still centers around UCF's perfect season in 2017, Milton stressed that as players they've already turned the page.

"We've been looking forward to Aug. 30 for a long time, but we've got to take care of camp first," Milton said. "We've got to get a lot better in camp. We've got to take it day by day. I think when Aug. 30 rolls around we're going to be ready to rock."

Oughton asked Heupel about his expectations for UCF in year one.

"The thing that we stressed and talked about with our players when we got there in January, the challenge before us as a staff and players, is really to make our program better every single day," Heupel said. "We have high goals and aspirations for the season. Those things really don't change year to year, but for us it's really focusing on the daily tasks."

Ending the session, Heupel was asked why Milton is deserving of Heisman consideration this season.

"He's deserving of being in the conversation certainly because of what he did last year," Heupel said. "But he's smart, he's competitive, he's athletic, he makes the 10 other guys around him better, he's a winner. I think what he's able to do when things break down is as special as anyone in the country."