So I inadvertently found the Kansas live pregame show as it was streamed on ESPN+. You can probably find it recorded. Anyway, it was 2 guys talking and
the remarks actually shocked me. One of them said "UCF only has 13% of its students on campus, therefore, it is a commuter school." Maybe his stat has merit, but damn I thought we'd gotten away from that stigma. Then another remarked about how small our stadium was "it only holds 10k." While I understand the rich history of Kansas basketball, I found that mindset a bit arrogant. Anyway, sometimes life offers lessons, even when you think you have it all figured out. This was a teachable moment for them, so no need to find and flame them. The commuter school with a small stadium probably earned some respect last from one of the giants of NCAA basketball. Mighty Casey struck out and Kansas Live had front row seats. The end.*

Cool story to share about Shaquem.

@LongwoodKnight1 works for a company that has a relationship with Margaritaville, the mega-brand owned by Jimmy Buffet. He was recently in a marketing session where they were brainstorming ideas about who could be a "godparent" for their first cruise ship.

For those unaware, "godparenting" is a big thing when it comes to ships:


Anyway, @LongwoodKnight1 suggested Shaquem Griffin. The Margaritaville people loved it and worked out a deal. Shaquem will be at the christening next month and his name will be affixed on the ship's permanent plaque. Margaritaville was paying Shaquem for his time and he requested the majority of it go to charity.

Nice work, @LongwoodKnight1!

Here's more info about the ship:

We've come a long way since we sat 4 rows behind the bench heckling the opposing players and coaches to no end. From having meetings with Kirk on how to drive student attendance to cutting down the nets in Nashville after winning the conference tourney. Here's to all of us who can yell "good coach, bad coach", "start up the bus" and "stomp stomp clap slap whosh" (without the ballin). Never in my wildest dreams as a student would I imagine we'd knock off Kansas at home in a conference game. Oh how far we've come.

This could have been fun.


A bowl game featuring the two worst teams in college football? That's exactly what a Southern California-based promoter wants to see happen in 2024, though sources told the Action Network's Brett McMurphy there is "no chance" the NCAA would issue the necessary waiver allowing for a proposed "Irrelevant Bowl."

Proposed by Newport Beach, California-based promoter Roy Englebrecht, the bowl game would feature a pair of college football teams that are either winless or close to it. Cities would put in bids within the first quarter of the year to host the "Irrelevant Bowl," according to the release. The city selected as the host site would retain all event revenue, including ticket sales, concessions and parking fees.

"No polls, no rankings, no controversy, just two winless or near winless teams looking for redemption and one elusive win," Englebrecht said in a press release. "Knowing that the NCAA has become more flexible with the number of team's wins to qualify for a bowl, I will petition the NCAA asking them to grant a waiver in 2024 so that two teams would be eligible to play in the inaugural Irrelevant Bowl."

While the proposed bowl game would provide a postseason opportunity for two teams who would otherwise be nowhere close to the six-win bowl eligibility mark, it immediately poses questions about the integrity of competition. As one source told Action Network, "a conference or team is not going to mock itself for going 1-11 or 2-10."

Join Eric Lopez and Trace Trylko as they debate some of the current topics surrounding UCF Athletics.

In this episode, the guys start with a quick update on the UCF Football roster before transitioning to some UCF basketball talk, including a break down of the kerplunk at Kansas State.

Plus: What to expect for the Kansas game, should UCF retire jersey numbers, and, do you Peacock?

Click here to watch from the Sons of UCF. Thank you!

^

Join Eric Lopez and Trace Trylko as they debate some of the current topics surrounding UCF Athletics.

In this episode, the guys start with a quick update on the UCF Football roster before transitioning to some UCF basketball talk, including a break down of the kerplunk at Kansas State.

Plus: What to expect for the Kansas game, should UCF retire jersey numbers, and, do you Peacock?

Click here to watch from the Sons of UCF. Thank you!

The UCF Knights Men's Basketball team defeated the 3rd ranked Kansas Jayhawks 65-60 in their Big XII home opener.

The Knights were paced offensively by guards Jaylin Sellers and Darius Johnson, while big man Ibrahima Diallo provided a defensive presence and rim protection to help seal the victory.

Knights Head Coach Johnny Dawkins also deserves some credit for making some key adjustments, including lineup changes and the introduction of a zone defense, to capture the biggest win in his UCF tenure.

Click here for more from the Sons of UCF.

The UCF Knights Men's Basketball team defeated the 3rd ranked Kansas Jayhawks 65-60 in their Big XII home opener.

The Knights were paced offensively by guards Jaylin Sellers and Darius Johnson, while big man Ibrahima Diallo provided a defensive presence and rim protection to help seal the victory.

Knights Head Coach Johnny Dawkins also deserves some credit for making some key adjustments, including lineup changes and the introduction of a zone defense, to capture the biggest win in his UCF tenure.

Click here for more from the Sons of UCF.

I'm not sure this is breaking news though. UCF will always open on Thursday, if possible.

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Courtesy of AP and USA Today.

Donate you pencil pushing pencil pushers

Kingdomnil.com

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Would love to hear how that last minute sounded on the radio

I was going to put 'nm,' but I'm loving even our other, fellow, Big XII members pointing out that we actually played great in the second half, and our home court advantage was for real. Not many are downplaying this, only a few that seem to think UCF sucks really badly, and those have taken a lot of flak.

I've even seen a number of Big XII fans talking about how not only was Houston a great add, but BYU and even complemented UCF as well, while looking forward to Arizona and others next year too. The line was only 6.5 and moved to only 7.5 or 8 before the game. Not many are letting Kansas or other fans make excuses.

Hey Everyone. This week we preview the B12 Conference In Hoops, Discuss What's Different With Regard To Styles, Provide Conference Projections, Argue The Future Of Johnny Dawkins, And Discuss Whether TMO Has The Stones To Hire A New Coach.

We then move onto football and discuss our new transfers, Talk About The Playoff Changes, The Growing P2 Narrative, ESPN and Fox, Their Strategy, Some Insider Baseball With Regard To ESPN's Motivations To Keep The Playoff, What Could Happen With A Split, Where UCF Stands In A Split, SMU's Plight, Discuss A Football NIT, And Playoff Formats.

Thank you for listening/watching and make sure to like, comment and subscribe. Time Stamps Below:

Welcome to The Knighted One’s Podcast, Episode number 20. We are the ONLY podcast that features a former UCF National Champion, a former UCF radio host, and several podcasters shooting the breeze, talking UCF Sports.

This week we preview the BIG 12 Conference and how UCF BBall stacks up, Discuss the bidding war betwen ESPN & Fox for College Football Playoff rights and where UCF falls in the mix, and Josh turns bionic!

Please comment for subjects that we should cover in our Intern Re-Education segment!

Introductions
UCF Hoops B12 Conference Preview With Ben – 5:00
- Kickin It With The Best of The Best
- Working On Our Quads
- Ben’s Questionable Predictions
- A Gauntlet of a Schedule
- Is The Conference Using Us as Stepstools For The Bigger Teams?
- What Makes This Conference Different Than The AAC?
- Getting Worse Before It Gets Better
- How Meticulous Is The Big 12 With The Schedules?
- How Do We Silence The Dawkins Doubters?
- Fans Losing Faith
- Dawkins’ Downfall May Be Imminent
- Jones’ Players are ALSO Dawkins’ Players – Ben Rants
- Do We Got The Stones To Drop Dawkins If He’s Deadweight?
- Conference Record Predictions
- Could Mo’ Money Mean Less Problems?
Text Talk: Hoops – 1:02:50
K-State K.O. – 1:06:25
- CJ Walker Makes Art In The Paint
- Mean Muggin’
- Roger Yells At a Cloud
- The Losing Blueprint
- No Space To Breathe
- Too Much Gas, Not Enough Brakes
- A Multi-Factor Loss
- A Huge Game On The Horizon
- Fans Can Make a Difference
UCF Football Talk – 1:32:24
- The Newly Knighted
- Filling Out Nicely
- Grading The Upgrades
- Early Starting Lineup?
- What Holes Still Need Filling?
- Where Are They Now? – NFL Edition
- Lot of Our Boys In The NFL Playoffs
College Football Playoff Talk – 1:50:52
- Michigan Wins!!
- P2 Is The New P5?
- Dealings Behind the Scenes
- ESPN & FOX Bidding War For CFP
- What Does This Mean For UCF?
- What’s In The Package?
- Some Teams Will Get Left Out In The Rain
- Uncle Sam Will Want His Piece
- For Conference Tournaments, Less Is Not More
- WuTang Clan Had a Point
- College Football Becoming NFL Minor League?
- High Performance Keeps Us At The Top
- Our Market Still Thrives In a New Program
- $MU Not Getting P5 Payouts; Pony Depressed
- Will Fans Embrace a Renewed NIT?
- Turning Bowls Into a Tourney?
- Changing The Narrative Makes NIT & Bowl Games Matter
Listener Love – 2:26:39
Allen Goes MIA – 2:28:19
Josh’s Sometimes Funny Fact Of The Week – 2:28:51
- A Trifecta of Big Game Events On Campus This Week
- Josh Goes Bionic
UCF Athletic Sports Update – 2:31:55
- Women’s Hoops Fumbling In The Big 12
- Softball and Baseball Look Interesting Heading Into The Big 12
Final Thoughts – 2:33:55

#ucf, #ucffootball, #UCFsports, #TK1, #ucfhoops, #ucfwomensbasketball, #ucfvolleyball

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Interesting take from @diducfwin.

Some people don't recognize that goals and expectations at UCF are different for football and basketball.

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Aaa

Proof is in the pudding, guy coached in a Super Bowl and now won a National Championship, and he had to completely rebuild Michigan from the ground up, Ryan Day at Ohio State was born on 3rd base after Urban won a NC and the recruiting gravy train never stopped at tOSU.

Harbaugh proves that there is an actual skill to this and there are coaches worth the money that can fix things from the ground up. Norvell is proving to be one of those as well. Gus has the ability to get the guys in house, his finishing is what needs to be worked on and these coaches at Michigan, TCU, Washington are proving that you cant hide behind the cloth of "we dont have the guys". Sometimes you do, these cold rainy states beat on warm football states Texas and Bama. Maybe there is a decent enough parity beginning to show itself, I think everyones just used to saying such and such has all the talent and thats the reason why our ceiling is this.

We need to tighten up, its revealed that its possible for all the stars to align.

UCF set for inaugural Big 12 game at Kansas State

This Saturday marks a pivotal moment for the UCF men's basketball program as they'll step onto the court at Kansas State for their inaugural conference game as a member of the Big 12.

On Thursday, a day before the Knights depart for snowy Manhattan, we caught up with head coach Johnny Dawkins and players Jaylin Sellers and Shemarri Allen.

Johnny Dawkins

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-Asked about advance scouting of Big 12 opponents, Dawkins stressed you still have to keep the focus on your own team and what you want to accomplish. Their identity has been on defense and that's what they will continue to build on, regardless of the conference or who they are playing.

-Dawkins says there are three seasons in college basketball: Preseason, conference play and postseason. This is a new season - everybody is 0-0.

-UCF was predicted to finish at the bottom of the Big 12. They know it. Dawkins says they can't be worried about it. He brings up K-State was ranked at the bottom last year and ended up being an Elite Eight team. You still have to play the games.

-Dawkins confirmed they will fly charter to the Kansas State game and believes that will be the case for most of the games.

-Dawkins says they message they'll want to send to the Big 12 is showing that they belong.

-Looking back at the non-conference schedule, Dawkins liked their "competitive spirit." He liked how they've been establishing their identity defensively. They need to be more consistent and cut down on turnovers.

-On a national level, the 14 toughest remaining strength of schedules are the 14 teams in the Big 12. UCF has the No. 2 toughest remaining SOS. Dawkins says the margin will be extremely tight in the Big 12.

-Scouting Kansas State, Dawkins says they have great perimeter players between Cam Carter, Tylor Perry and Arthur Kaluma. Their bigs are very good also. They are a very good offensive rebounding team. Good on defense. They play with good pace. UCF will have to slow them down. Whether it's a make or miss, they're running down the floor.

-The entire Big 12 schedule is a gauntlet. There are no "easy" games.

-The atmospheres will be new to many UCF players. They've been pumping in crowd noise during practices because they know it'll be extremely loud which will make it tough to yell out calls from the sideline.

-Dawkins says he's "honored" to be the head coach that leads UCF into the Big 12. The goal is to be an elite program, a top 25 program. This conference move helps UCF in becoming the program that he envisions. This opportunity was earned. UCF belongs. They will make everybody proud with how hard they play.

-Dawkins was candid, saying their defense is ahead of their offense right now. Their offense has to catch up. He's seeing steady improvement offensively though.

-Dawkins stressed the importance of the fanbase showing up for the Big 12 home games and matching the intensity of the fans they'll encounter at the road games.

-CJ Walker is continuing the progress after returning from his injury.

-What would be a successful first season for UCF in the Big 12? Dawkins is just looking at it one game at a time. He just wants his players to have the mindset that they belong.

-This was from the BCU postgame presser, but is worth repeating: Dawkins' first year at UCF, they were the No. 1 ranked defensive team in the nation, held teams to 36 percent shooting. He thinks this team can challenge that team in terms of being a top 10 or 25 defensive team in the country. And with a playing rotation of 10-11 players, that has influenced his decision to become a full-court pressing team. He had to more strategic in some years because he didn't want to tire a rotation that might have only been 7-8 players.

Shemarri Allen

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-Allen says they are "super excited" to play their first Big 12 game.

-There are no "off nights" in the Big 12.

-Was non-conference play a success? Allen says he felt a couple games they let slip, but now it's about looking forward.

-Allen says outsiders are counting UCF out in the Big 12, so they're looking forward to proving them wrong.

-What's the identity of this team? A blue-collar program that gets it done on both ends of the floor.

-Allen says they hang their hat on their defense and they know their offense will pick up and come along.

-Allen played at UMKC last seaosn and they played a game at K-State. Allen led his team in scoring that day with 21 points. He says he remembers K-State had a great student section. He loves playing on the road and getting road wins.

-On K-State, Allen knows they are a great offensive rebounding team.

-Allen says they'll use the Big 12 preseason projections as motivation. They know they belong.

-Allen says their goal is to finish in the top half of the Big 12 and make the NCAA Tournament.

-Asked what Big 12 teams will learn about UCF, Allen says it'll be in how hard they play which may surprise teams.

Jaylin Sellers

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-Sellers says it's a blessing to be at UCF for this inaugural Big 12 season. They're anxious to prove what they can do in this league.

-They have to focus on themselves and not worry about the crowds.

-UCF was predicted to finish at the bottom of the Big 12. Sellers says it doesn't really bother him. It just serves as motivation.

-Sellers says the team has bonded better than he anticipated.

-He says the Big 12 will learn that UCF will play hard every night, never back down and prove they belong.

-On K-State, they're very good at offensive rebounding, No. 12 in the country in that stat. They have quality guards and a good coach.

-The biggest area they need to improve is putting together a complete game, first half and second half.

-Sellers likes playing in loud atmospheres, so that aspect of the Big 12 will be fun.

Coming off of a tough inaugural road loss at Kansas State, the UCF Knights Men's Basketball team welcomes 3rd ranked Kansas to Orlando for the home Big XII contest.

Coach Dawkins and his players know that they will have to be much more composed if they want to have a chance to stay competitive in this game.

Click here for more from Andrew Cherico for the Sons of UCF.