UCF's championship claims die on the field at Fiesta Bowl

There will be no self-proclaimed national championship for Central Florida this year. Just some jokes at the Knights' expense. LSU snapped UCF's 25-game winning streak with a 40-32 victory at the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday, spoiling the small-conference school's bid for more recognition. Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow dissected the Knights' secondary for 394 yards and four touchdowns to end UCF's nation-best 25-game winning streak. Coming from the mighty Southeastern Conference, LSU was eager to put the American Athletic Conference champs in their place. The seventh-ranked Knights entered as one of only three remaining unbeaten teams. The others are No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson, who meet for the national title next Monday. Yet UCF was never in serious consideration for a spot in the four-team playoff and was eighth in the college football committee's final rankings after playing a relatively weak schedule. Its biggest win came against then-No. 19 Cincinnati in November, but mostly UCF beat up on AAC opponents that don't stack up with the nation's top teams. Knights fans loudly claimed the system was unfair, but UCF's defense was anything but title worthy against the Tigers.