Clemson, and Oklahoma. Otherwise, people would just argue they don't play those teams week in, week out.

And no, strength of schedule doesn't matter. It only matters if the "playoff" is a popularity contest. If the playoff were a real playoff (like in every other sport known to man), they would prove themselves in the actual playoffs if their schedule were a bit light. But who you play has zero bearing on how good you are.

Case in point, replace UCF with the New England Patriots. Would they beat Alabama? Absolutely. Would they make the playoff with UCF's schedule? No. They might have won the AP poll though so I'll give you that.

Using strength of schedule as a measure of playoff worthiness is only good for at-large teams. Everyone else "earns" it by what they actually did on the field by winning their conference.

College football has the most idiotic system for declaring a champion in the history of sport. There is no defense of the system that holds water. It's only defended by fans of the schools on the inside and the fat executives that hoard all of the benefits.