UCF in the Driver's Seat to Stay in Top 25

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Last week, I wrote that the University of Central Florida Knights had a shot at a Top 25 ranking in the country should they beat the Tigers of the University of Memphis. After the 40-13 declawing of the Cats in question, many UCF fans were shocked and elated to see that their organization was immediately placed at #25 in the polls. I spoke to tight end Michael Colubiale about what that means to the Knight Nation.

“I was here in 2013 when we went to the Fiesta Bowl and I haven’t seen this much good vibe around the football team since then and so fans and everyone’s excited about the team. A lot more people are coming to the games and when I was here in 2013 it was a different atmosphere. I think everyone’s a lot more excited to come out games and watch us since we’re ranked now, but we’re just focused on the greater goal. That’s the Conference Championship”.

So now UCF finds themselves transitioning from climbing the mountain to staying on top of it as they head to Cincinnati on October 7th. Head Coach Scott Frost has been stout in his stance that none of the hype of eclipsing the Top 25 mark will be present in his locker room.

When asked if he spoke of the achievement with his players, Coach Frost responded, “Absolutely not. We’re not gonna talk about any of that stuff. In fact, I asked the players what their record was this morning and they knew the answer — It’s 0-0. And I asked ’em where we’re ranked and they said we’re not. It sounds corny, [but] they’re buying into that and that’s what their mindset needs to be. Three wins don’t get ya anywhere — it’s what we do from here, so we’re gonna hit the reset button. . . “.

The Bearcats at 2-3 represent the first of the string of opponents from UCF’s native Eastern Division within the American Athletic Conference. Cincinnati looks to spoil the Knights’ road to an AAC Conference Championship under their first-year Head Coach Luke Fickell and bring their conference record to 1-1. From here, it’s on the Knights to seize the opportunity to win every contest in front of them if they wish to hold that 25th spot in the rankings.