[ad_1]
UCF is heading to a bowl game for the eighth straight season; that much is certain, following Saturday’s 27-13 victory against Houston. The Knights finished 6-6, including a 3-6 mark in its first run through the Big 12.
The location and date for that bowl, however, remains a mystery for another week. And based on the projections of several major media outlets, there is a wide range of potential outcomes.
UCF could gain an extra home game, or travel several hundred miles on either side of Christmas. Projected opponents include a blood rival, a top-25 relative FBS newcomer and a couple of Power Five bluebloods.
Let’s examine the possibilities for UCF, based on projections published from USA Today, ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, 247Sports, Yahoo! Sports, Sporting News, the Action Network and Athlon Sports.
247Sports/Athlon Sports: Gasparilla Bowl vs. South Florida
Let’s first address the elephant in the room.
With both UCF and USF achieving bowl eligibility Saturday, and with this making logistical and marketing sense, another War on I-4 could happen. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it will at the end of the day.
It would be a role reversal for UCF compared to its 2021 Gasparilla Bowl trip, where it knocked off an in-state Power Five rival in Florida. South Florida made big strides under first-year coach Alex Golesh, a former Knights assistant under Josh Heupel, and dual-threat quarterback Byrum Brown posed huge problems for the Knights’ defense last November as the Bulls climbed out of a 28-0 hole and took UCF to the wire.
Action Network: Gasparilla Bowl vs. James Madison
It’s far more likely UCF will seek to play a bowl game in Tampa than it will to play USF — especially on the Bulls’ home field. Tampa is a 90ish-minute drive and the Dec. 22 scheduling allows fans to attend and get home in plenty of time to celebrate Christmas.
James Madison was one of three benefactors with a shortage of six-win teams; the Dukes, in the second year of their FBS transition and thus not bowl eligible, had two prior appeals for bowl eligibility denied by the NCAA. But due to only 79 of the 82 slots being automatically filled by eligible teams that went 6-6 and better, James Madison and Jacksonville State will go bowling for the first time. At 5-7, Minnesota will fill the final spot.
The Dukes, representing the Sun Belt Conference, opened the season with 10 straight wins, peaked at the No. 18 spot in The Associated Press Top 25 and have the No. 1 run defense in college football, allowing just 61.5 yards per game.
USA Today: Gasparilla Bowl vs. Syracuse
Continuing the UCF-to-Tampa trend, here’s a matchup against a fellow 6-6 Power Five team, albeit one that recently fired its head coach.
Dino Babers lost his job with one game to go, but the Orange held on to beat Wake Forest on Saturday with a game-sealing interception at the goal line. Syracuse is bowl-eligible for the second straight season, a program first since 2012-13.
USA Today bowl projections:Michigan back in College Football Playoff field after beating Ohio State
The Athletic reported Monday night that Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown is the favorite to land the Syracuse job. As for the current squad, LeQuint Allen is one of the Orange’s top offensive weapons, totaling 1,062 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: First Responder Bowl vs. Syracuse
UCF headed to Dallas — Arlington, technically — before the season for its first taste of the Big 12’s media days and, in Schlabach’s estimation, could wrap up 2023 there as well.
This game takes place the day after Christmas, never an ideal scenario for traveling fan support, on the campus of former American Athletic Conference rival SMU. West Virginia was the last Big 12 team to appear in this contest in 2017, then known as the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
Fox Sports: Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Miami
This is, objectively, the most fun choice in the entire list, although the Big 12 does not have a traditional affiliation with the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. It’s usually an ACC program clashing against a representative of either the SEC or the Big 10 — such as last year’s matchup pitting N.C. State against Maryland.
However, there’s a lot to like if this is a possibility. Charlotte is a readily available daily flight from Orlando, and in-state Power Five rival Miami makes for a desirable opponent. Hurricanes center Matt Lee, defensive back Davonte Brown and running backs coach Tim Harris Jr. were Knights just a single season ago.
Then there’s a time-honored tradition — since Duke’s became the sponsor in 2020, anyway — of dousing the victorious head coach with a gigantic jar of mayonnaise. Gus Malzahn bathing in mayo would make for a heck of a way to round off an historic season.
Yahoo! Sports: Music City Bowl vs. Wisconsin
Here is another potentially appealing destination with a bowl alliance caveat. The Music City Bowl is usually reserved for the SEC and Big 10.
This is also the latest bowl game on the list, kicking off at 1 p.m. on Dec. 30. As important as bowl-week practices are, the extra time would theoretiocally give UCF’s coaching staff an opportunity to primarily focus on recruiting for the first half of December — retaining its top players, scouting the transfer portal and wrapping up its record-setting high school class.
Wisconsin has made only one prior trip to Nashville, a 2003 loss to Auburn. The Badgers finished 7-5, defeating Big 10 West foes Nebraska and Minnesota in the final two weeks to ensure bowl eligibility.
Luke Fickell will be a familiar name to Knights fans; the first-year Wisconsin boss coached the previous six seasons at Cincinnati. The same can be said of Badgers quarterback Tanner Mordecai, who led SMU into the Bounce House last October but had his 17-game touchdown pass streak snapped by the Knights’ secondary.
CBS Sports: Cure Bowl vs. Arkansas State
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports’ bowl expert, has the Knights staying home for the holiday season. FBC Mortgage Stadium became the official home site of the Cure Bowl back in September.
This would be a rematch from the 2016 Cure Bowl, played at Camping World Stadium. Arkansas State prevailed 31-13 as Justice Hansen and Kendall Sanders connected for three touchdown passes.
UCF ended that year 6-7, and then won its next 25 games in a row — making back-to-back New Year’s Six bowls.
Sporting News: Independence Bowl vs. USC
Shreveport, La. — with all due respect — probably won’t top the Knights’ list of preferred bowl destinations, especially considering the amount of traveling they did during the regular season.
However, an opportunity to go head-to-head with preseason Pac-12 favorite USC for the first time certainly makes it a bit more interesting. Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and presumptive No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, will surely skip the game to prepare for the pros. But Lincoln Riley’s offense will still have plenty of playmakers on the field.
USC ended the year on a three-game slide, including an ugly 38-20 defeat to crosstown rival UCLA.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Independence Bowl vs. California
ACC-bound Cal — yes, it is still extremely weird — pulled off a three-game winning streak to close its campaign and surge into bowl season. The Golden Bears defeated Washington State, rival Stanford and UCLA, with the latter two victories coming on the road.
Should this matchup happen, UCF’s defense would face a top-10 national rusher for the third time in four games. Jadyn Ott is currently 10th in the FBS with 1,260 yards; Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II is No. 1 (1,580) and Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks is third (1,443).
And, of course, the Knights feature a top-10 rusher of their own in RJ Harvey, sitting ninth at 1,296 yards to go along with his 16 rushing touchdowns — tied for the second-most in a single season in UCF program history.
[ad_2]
Source link