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AAC commish rips CFP committee for perceived disrespect

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco lashed out against the College football Playoff committee Wednesday after his teams were ranked lower than he expected in the latest poll.

"I just don't think our league is garnering the respect it deserves, period," he told Heather Dinich of ESPN. "I feel strongly about it. The evidence is in."

The AAC is the highest-profile Group of 5 conference, but the strength of its teams' schedules continue to be problematic in the eyes of the CFP committee.

The AAC was represented twice in the CFP rankings Tuesday night, with undefeated UCF coming in at No. 15 and one-loss Memphis getting slotted in at No. 20.

The commissioner said UCF "isn't getting a fair shake," and questioned why it was placed below three-loss Mississippi State. He added that the Knights should be "somewhere in the top 10."

South Florida, which also has only one loss, wasn't ranked at all, even though the Bulls obtained a spot in both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll.

"What is USF supposed to do?" Aresco said. "Their schedule is their schedule and they've dominated it. ... The fact that they're not ranked really, really troubles me because they are ranked in all the other polls. It really troubles me. They are a very good team. You've got Charlie strong coaching them. They lost one game to a good Houston team with 11 seconds left in heartbreaking fashion. What are you going to do?"

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