While UCF has dubbed itself the national champs of 2017, Florida Atlantic is going by a little bit of a different distinction: The Alabama of Florida.

That's right.

FAU senior cornerback Herb Miller made that declaration over the weekend to the Palm Beach Post.

"All of a sudden, FAU is the Alabama of Florida," Miller said. "Everybody wants to come here now."

The Owls finished 11-3 last season under former Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. It was the first winning season since 2008.

Alabama, meanwhile, has advanced to the College Football Playoff in every year of the format's existence. The Tide has won five national title since 2009.

"You look around, everybody is talking about FAU," Miller explained. "They all want to come to FAU but two years ago, nobody wanted to come here. Everybody looked at me crazy like, 'Why you want to go here?' It's good to see us get the program turned around."

Kiffin made a difference in a hurry in Boca Raton.

Kiffin's first season resulted in two more wins than the Owls had gotten in the previous three seasons combined.

Kiffin, however, is insisting that the success of last year won't help at all this year.

"Just like 3-9 had nothing to do with going 11-3, 11-3 is going to have nothing to do with this season," Kiffin told the AP. "Every season is a season of its own. That's why every team in America doesn't improve every year, because every team's new."

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.