In 1998, Tulane went unbeaten.
Tommy Bowden coached that team (Rich Rod was an assistant btw).
Bowden later said that he had not hankered for number one in the new BCS set-up (that was the first year) because he had coached in the SEC (in fact, he was one of those rare guys who coached at BOTH Alabama AND Auburn). He said it was a great accomplishment and fun year, but it was NOT RIGHT and he would not have felt good politicking for votes because, "I coached in the SEC, and I know how hard it is to go undefeated." His point was that yes, Tulane had a great year, but they didn't even deserve consideration as national champions. He left before the bowl game to go to Clemson.
Last year, Scott Frost - who won the 97 national title at Nebraska as starting QB - coached UCF to an unbeaten season. You will notice he has sort of registered his disagreement with their national title claim.
When the coaches of the teams themselves don't even agree with it, you really need to just shut up.
I lived through BYU winning the national title in 1984, and the outrage at the time was huge. But BYU - unlike UCF - did not game the system to try and avoid opponents. They were fortuitous beneficiaries of a unique circumstance. Sort of like Virginia in 1990, who cycled to the top through unusual developments, BYU benefited. (History lesson coming).
Here's what happened (in short):
Miami knocked off #1 Auburn and moved to #1
Unranked BYU (who ended 1983 at #7) shocked #3 Pitt and jumped to 13
Michigan knocked off #1 Miami, putting Nebraska on top
Nebraska lost to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, moving Texas to 1
Texas intentionally played for a tie against Oklahoma, moving Washington to #1
Washington lost to USC
Two Cinderella independents - BYU and S Carolina - split the "upset vote" that collapsed towards BYU when SCAR lost to Navy
One-loss Nebraska stayed ahead of BYU and then promptly lost to OU
BYU moved to the top and after the regular season EVERY team except Washington had TWO blemishes on their records (OU had a tie and a loss)
BYU beat Michigan, not a good team but a BIG NAME.......the same Michigan that beat Miami
BYU went into the bowl unbeaten and number one and came out the same. It was hard to justify knocking them down after the fact.
However.......BYU was NOT gaming the system, either. BYU played Georgia in Athens in Herschel Walker's last year IN SEPTEMBER (in the heat) and damn near beat them.
But BYU is also proof of what having to play tough games does. In 1985, their first three games were against BC, UCLA, and Washington. They DID win 2 of 3 and get some national respect. They rose to number seven in the country.
And then they lost to 0-6 UTEP on the road....a UTEP with two weeks to prepare against a team that NOW had faced an earlier grind.
And THAT is why UCF is a sick joke who deserves no credit or mention. Even in the case of BYU, once they had to play more than one tough game, they lost to an also-ran. You know....like UCF nearly lost to Memphis.