No sport relies on opinion when it comes to crowning a champion quite like college football. That's been the case historically, it's still the case currently and it probably will be the case until the end of time.

So why is anyone bothered that Central Florida, as the only undefeated FBS team this season, has declared itself the 2017 national champion? Who does it hurt if the Knights hang a banner, stage a parade and pay their coaches national championship bonuses as a parting gift on their way to Nebraska?

It doesn't hurt Alabama or Georgia. The team that wins Monday night in Mercedes-Benz Stadium will claim its own spoils. It'll be declared the official champion under the rules of the current system - a system that sadly gives a Group of Five school such as UCF virtually no chance - but make no mistake.

If Alabama wins, opinion will have played a critical role in the process.

Alabama is playing in the National Championship Game, in large part, because of opinion. In the opinion of the 13 people on the selection committee, the SEC West runner-up Crimson Tide deserved the fourth and final playoff spot ahead of Big Ten champion Ohio State.

Alabama is playing to win its fifth national championship in the last nine years, in large part, because of opinion. In 2011, although the computers in the final BCS standings put Big 12 champ Oklahoma State ahead of SEC West runner-up Alabama, the voters in the two opinion polls in the formula favored the Tide over the Cowboys.

Fun fact. Go back to the 1992 season when the SEC became the first of the current Power 5 leagues to stage a conference championship game. Since then, only one team has won a national championship without winning a conference championship first.

Alabama did it by beating 2011 SEC champ LSU in a rematch, and it has a chance to do it again Monday night by beating 2017 SEC champ Georgia. Opinions played a vital role each time. No program in the last quarter century has relied more on the kindness of strangers - or done a better job of making the most of it - than Alabama.

Crimson Tide fans should be the last ones to complain about Central Florida's bravado. It's become a favorite game of Alabama's rivals to poke fun at its history of counting national titles no matter how suspect any of those titles may be.

But here's the thing bold UCF AD Danny White and his fan base should understand. Alabama doesn't claim a single national title among its 16 that some outside organization didn't bestow upon it. That includes the laughable 1941 title awarded by the Houlgate system despite that team's 9-2 record and third-place SEC finish.

Come to think of it, where did Alabama finish in the SEC this season? Third, behind SEC East champion Georgia and SEC West champ Auburn. That won't stop the Crimson Tide from lifting the national championship trophy if it wins Monday night.

Nor should it. Alabama would have earned its championship, and nothing Central Florida does to toot its own horn will change that.

The best thing about UCF's self-gratification is the hope that debate on the subject becomes part of an ongoing push to open this closed shop. Power 5 elitists will say there's no way the Knights, in an eight-team playoff, could've beaten, say, Auburn, Georgia and Alabama in consecutive games.

Maybe not, but this UCF team did something Alabama didn't by beating Auburn. A lot of us didn't think that Peach Bowl upset was possible, and a lot of us were wrong. Sure, it was under different circumstances than the Iron Bowl, but deciding things on the field always beats deciding them in a back room.

So unless and until the FBS playoff becomes truly available to all FBS members, fly your flag, UCF. Why should your opinion matter less than that of 13 people in a back room?