Florida coach Jim McElwain joins Russillo & Kanell to describe how it feels to be ranked No. 8 in the CFP rankings and what he expects from the Gators in the upcoming weeks. (1:25)

You’d think they weren’t one of the biggest brands in college football. The birthplace of Gatorade. The former home of Steve Spurrier and Tim Tebow. One of the top-10 highest-earning programs in the country.

They’re the Florida Gators, they’re 9-1 with an eye on the SEC championship game, and no one seems to be talking about them. No one outside of Gainesville seems to care.

If you’ve listened to the endless debate regarding the College Football Playoff, then you’ve surely become engaged in one of its most interesting sub-topics: Who is the one-loss team outside of the top four that’s poised to crash the party?

In no particular order, you’ll hear about Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU and the Big 12’s back-loaded schedule, someone will bring up Michigan State and Saturday’s big game against Ohio State, and even a few ACC fans will ask, “Why not North Carolina?”

They’re all arguments that should take place. But why are so few people bringing up Florida, despite their No. 8 ranking? We’re hearing more about Stanford’s chances of sneaking back in only a few days after the Cardinal sustained their second loss of the season. It doesn’t add up.

Florida quarterback Treon Harris scrambling in the win over South Carolina. AP Photo/Rainier Erhardt

Of course, there’s an easy answer: everyone simply assumes Florida will lose to Alabama in the SEC title game and get knocked out. And that belief is not without merit, since Alabama is playing possibly the best football of anyone in the country the past two months. But is it really such a problem to let it play out?

The numbers -- you know, actual evidence as opposed to gut feelings and predictions -- favor Florida in many ways. The Gators have the fourth-highest strength of record, ahead of one-loss and No. 4-ranked Notre Dame, and also ahead of No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Iowa and No. 6 Oklahoma. Their opponents’ combined winning percentage is a healthy 54.5 percent, and their average strength of schedule is 19th nationally -- eight spots ahead of Notre Dame, and more than 25 spots ahead of Iowa, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU and North Carolina.

If Florida finds a way to beat No. 14 Florida State in its regular-season finale, then expect both the Gators' SOS and SOR to go up.

And as far as losses go, Florida’s is fairly strong -- a seven-point defeat on the road at LSU, which was ranked No. 6 at the time and is currently No. 15 with a 7-2 record. Oklahoma, Michigan State and North Carolina, meanwhile, lost to teams currently below .500.

It may not always be pretty, but even without starting quarterback Will Grier, Florida keeps on winning. The Gators rank fifth nationally in defensive efficiency and third among CFP top-10 teams.

The problem for Florida is that they’re being compared to Alabama, not to the rest of the one-loss teams still in contention.

Which brings up a part of this debate that oddly hasn’t come up on a large scale yet: What if the SEC didn’t have a conference championship game? And how much will it hurt the league's chances of getting a second team in the Playoff? You have to imagine there are a few Florida fans out there right now secretly wishing they didn’t have to travel to Atlanta.

Because it won’t matter if the Gators win out during the regular season and beat FSU, boasting a compelling résumé for a one-loss team. If they go on to lose to Alabama in the conference championship game, they're done. That second loss will doom them, while teams in the Big 12 and quasi-independent Notre Dame don’t have to tackle a 13th game.

But what if Florida plays well and loses in overtime to Alabama? Should a potential quality loss like that really hurt them more compared to a team that didn’t even have to play a conference championship game? Is that fair?

While it might be a better setup than the old BCS formula, the College Football Playoff still leaves a lot of questions unanswered. The lack of uniformity in scheduling is a major issue the selection committee has to tackle at some point.

It makes for great debate among fans and media. The question, though, is why that debate isn't being centered around Florida right now?