Mike Aresco (11/28/2022) College Football Pregame Quote, 11/28/2022

I want to congratulate Tulane and UCF for reaching the championship, and Tulane hosting the game for the first time. Eight of our 11 teams have played for our conference championship in the past eight years. That just shows how deep this conference is. We have talked about the Power 6, and it has been real all along. We have a shot to play on New Year’s Day for the eighth time in 10 years ‚Äì it is not guaranteed, but we have a good shot based on where our teams have stood in the CFP rankings. Six teams have hosted our championship game over the years.

We are also extremely pleased to have our championship game on ABC for the eighth consecutive year. Think about that – ten years ago, no one would have would have predicted that we would have our championship game on ABC eight consecutive years. That is pretty remarkable. It has been a fixture on Championship Saturday and produced some of the most exciting games in recent history, and also tremendous ratings.

I want to congratulate Tulane coach Willie Fritz for finishing atop the regular season standings. From 2-10 to 10-2, – I have used the word ‘remarkable’ once or twice, but it fits again. I also want to congratulate UCF coach Gus Malzahn. We knew it would just be a matter of time before Gus had UCF back in the championship game; to do it in Year 2 is quite an accomplishment.

We have seen the rankings all season. We have had as many as three teams in the top 25 ‚Äì that is pretty typical for us, and that validates what we saw along at our in our conference. Our teams expect to compete at the highest level. We competed last year for a national championship; this year, we’re competing again for a New Year’s Six bowl. Our game is one of five championship games that has two ranked teams – the ACC Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 are the others, so we are right there with them as we’ve been in the past.

I think we are well positioned to play in the Cotton Bowl. I don’t want to jinx anything, but this would be seven years out of nine in the CFP era and eight out of 10 overall since our conference was reinvented. And we have had multiple teams contribute to that success. I think this is going to continue. I would mention that UTSA and North Texas are going to play in the Conference USA championship game; both of those teams come into the conference next year

One final thing worth noting is that Houston is now ranked No. 1 in men’s basketball in this week’s AP poll, and that is the first time we’ve had a No. 1 team in the AP.

On the impact of Tulane’s appearing in the championship game in light of next year’s realignment

It is encouraging because as I said, we have had a lot of teams in this conference compete pretty seriously over the years. The focus was on the three teams leaving, but let’s not forget that Temple had great years under Matt Rhule in this conference. We had great seasons out of Memphis – that Memphis-UCF rivalry was incredible for a number of years. The USF-UCF game on Black Friday several years ago might have been one of the best college football games ever played. We have had all these teams step up, so the fact that we now have Tulane in the championship game is great. It does show the depth of the conference

We have had committed administrators. Hat’s off to (athletic director) Troy Dannen at Tulane and also to Terry Mohajir and before him Danny White at UCF. And (UCF president) Alexander Cartwright and (Tulane president) Mike Fitts are two presidents who have really committed to this league. And I think we are going to get a commitment from the new members as well. So I hope the DNA continues because it’s been real; people have competed at the highest level. We are excited about what the future might hold for this conference even though it’s going to be to be different, there’s no argument there.