UCF Is Hitting Its Toughest Stretch of Conference Play
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The next three weeks are crucial to the UCF Knights' bowl hopes, as they will face three ranked teams starting on Saturday.
UCF will play the No. 20 Houston Cougars, the No. 19 Oklahoma State Cowboys and the No. 10 BYU Cougars. The team will have a two-game road trip in Houston and Oklahoma before returning to Orlando to host BYU.
This stretch is "make it or break it" for the Knights. They have an abysmal 7-20 conference record since joining the Big 12, excluding their home opener win over the TCU Horned Frogs last Saturday.
Gus Malzahn, the previous coach, and coach Scott Frost have thrived in non-conference play, posting an 11-1 record. Early dominance puts UCF in a good position to earn a bowl bid, needing three or four wins out of nine Big 12 games.
UCF defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats, upset then-No. 15 Oklahoma State and Houston to book its ticket to the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 2023.
That was the last time the program made a bowl game. The Knights went 4-14 over the next two seasons and lost nine games by double digits.
They've gotten off to a good start this season, sitting at 3-1 with an early conference victory, but it can go downhill quickly against these ranked opponents.
Houston and Oklahoma State are the most difficult, given UCF's 10-game road losing streak since 2024.
The Knights lost their first Space Game to the Cougars in heartbreaking fashion. Former quarterback Davi Belfort led the team into Cougars territory and threw the game-sealing interception, snapping an undefeated streak.
The Cowboys have had a massive turnaround, going from the worst Big 12 program last season to a top-25 team. They added North Texas quarterback transfer Drew Mestemaker; he's thrown for 1,271 yards and 11 touchdowns, and led the team to an upset win over the then-No. 5 Oregon Ducks.
BYU has cemented itself as a Big 12 powerhouse under coach Kalani Sitake alongside Texas Tech and Utah. The program lost to Texas Tech in the conference championship game.
UCF's bowl hopes rested on upsetting BYU on the road last season. The Knights opened the game with a 14-0 lead before being outscored 41-7 from the second quarter onward.
Frost's squad must upset one of these programs to alleviate late-season pressure and win three of the final five games.
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