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

In this episode, the guys break down the latest with Spring Football, which is, well, not much really. Is that a good thing though?

We also discuss the latest news with the basketball transfer portal and high school recruits.

Also: the battle for the sign, Deestroying, did Big XII basketball blow it, and words that start with the letter "U"

Thanks for watching here ... from the Sons of UCF.

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UNF removed tonight's game from their schedule page and added a new game vs. UCF (at UNF) on April 30.

UCF or UNF hasn't posted anything to their socials yet though.

Has UCF hosting as the 16-seed.

1. UCF* (16)
2. Georgia
3. Southern Miss
4. Grand Canyon

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Houston Chronicle:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Big 12 is set to expand its footprint south of the border.

The conference is aiming to host regular-season football and men’s and women’s basketball games in Mexico within the next two years, two sources with knowledge of the plans told the Houston Chronicle.

The University of Houston, which is set to join the Big 12 on July 1, has expressed interest and is on the short list of men’s basketball teams that could play in Mexico City as early as the upcoming 2023-24 season. The Big 12 has not finalized the teams that will play in the games.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark recently visited Mexico on a fact-finding trip, meeting with various officials and touring potential sites, a source said. Arena CDMX, a 22,300-seat venue in Mexico City, is a candidate to host a men’s basketball game. A football game, likely at 53,500-seat Estadio BBVA, known as “El Gigante de Acero,” Spanish for “The Steel Giant.” has been targeted for the 2024 or 2025 seasons in Monterrey, a source said.

Chris Pezman, UH’s vice president for athletics, was not immediately available for comment. An announcement could come this week at the Big 12’s annual spring meetings.

Houston, along with Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech, would all offer regional appeal based on proximity to the border.

Plans to play games in Mexico are part of a broader vision for the Big 12, which spans multiple time zones and has been rumored to have expansion interest in Pac-12 schools Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.

“We want to be a truly national conference from a brand perspective, but also a geographic footprint,” Yormark said recently.

The Big 12’s desire to play games in Mexico would follow in the footsteps of the NFL, MLB and NBA — each having made regular trips south of the border in recent years — but seize a chance to become the first U.S.-based conference to play in the region. There has never been a game between two U.S. college football teams played in Mexico.

The Pac-12 has played games in Sydney, Australia, and the Big Ten, ACC and Notre Dame have gone overseas for games in Dublin, Ireland. The only time UH football has played an international game was in 1990, against Arizona State in Tokyo. The basketball team has played two games in Japan, including against No. 1 Virginia in 1982.

College basketball teams are allowed to travel internationally during the summer once every four years. UH is planning a trip to Australia for August.

Along with football and basketball, the Big 12 also has interest in playing baseball and women’s soccer games in Mexico. If the Mexico games go well, the Big 12 has interest in playing games in Europe and Africa down the road, a source said.

The Big 12 will become a 14-team league for one season when UH, BYU, UCF and Cincinnati join on July 1. The rest of the conference includes Baylor, Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia. UT and OU will leave for the SEC in July 2024.


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Just saw the commercial for Dicks Sporting Goods and the domain dicks.com.

Wonder how much they had to pay the degen that owned that name?

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At the midway point of spring practice, UCF defensive coordinator Ted Roof talks about his group and what he learned from the recent scrimmage.

On last Saturday's scrimmage, Roof liked the physicality. He thought they gave up too many explosive plays though.

"A lot of work to be done, but moving in the right direction."

He liked the run defense in the scrimmage, but not so much during Tuesday's practice.

"You've got to be able to stop the run. If a team can run the football on you, you're going to lose and the team is going to be demoralized."

At linebacker, Roof said there's a lot of ongoing battles. At will, players in the mix are Deshawn Pace, Xe'ree Alexander and Andrew Harris. At mike, there's Ethan Barr, Jesiah Pierre, Cam Vining, Kam Moore and Troy Ford. At sam, Ladarius Tennison and TJ Bullard.

There hasn't been as much separation as he would like.

Ethan Barr has a "very high football IQ." He communicates well in getting his teammates lined up. Roof said Barr reminds him of Josh Bynes whom he coached at Auburn. Bynes, who played in the NFL, is now the LBs coach for the Seattle Seahawks.

Roof said they're in the process of experimenting with helmet communication, which is now allowed in college football.

He wants his defense to be aggressive, efficient and strain. There's a difference between strain and effort. Effort is trying hard, strain is giving everything you can give.

If he wants the UCF job this offseason what does Terry do?

Dan Wetzel:

For about 40 years Nike and Adidas ran college basketball. They sponsored the teams. They paid the coaches. They stocked the rosters … via everything from running vast grassroots systems in order to identify and control recruits to flat out paying players to sign with their preferred “blue blood” programs.

Their top teams, not surprisingly, dominated the game in general and March Madness in particular.

The past couple Final Fours suggest Nike's and Adidas’ influence over the on-court results may be waning, at least to the extremes of the past.

A year after a Final Four with three first-time participants (Florida Atlantic, Miami, San Diego State), here comes three more who either have never been (Alabama), or are ending lengthy droughts that date to 1983 (North Carolina State) and 1980 (Purdue). Each of them were constructed in ways that wouldn’t have made sense even five years ago.

Connecticut, meanwhile, is back and looking for consecutive national championships, but despite a Nike deal, it has never had the shoe company lean in heavily to do its recruiting. Under Dan Hurley, like Jim Calhoun before him, the Huskies are a product of intense coaching and culture as much as anything.

It begs a question, did the confluence of NIL, the FBI and the transfer portal combine to finally break the decades-long stronghold Nike and Adidas had on college basketball?

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It's a spring of opportunity for UCF's wide receivers.

Chauncey Magwood, a former Kentucky transfer who played in four early games last season before redshirting, looks to establish himself within the primary rotation.

"I just want to do what I've got to do to get on the field and contribute to us winning," Magwood said. "That's what we've got to do, win."

The UCF Knights football team was back at practice following their first scrimmage of the spring season. The message from players and coaches was simple: we must execute consistently and get better each day. New Knights defensive coordinator Ted Roof was disappointed with the physicality of the team, but DB Quad Bullard and DL Matthew Alexander feel like the team will make the necessary strides to improve.

Click here for more from the Sons of UCF.

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There was no Bear

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Jarrad Baker is ready to make his last year his best year.

The former Eau Gallie star joined the program in 2019, but saw his trajectory sidetracked with a pair of ACL injuries early in his career. After seeing mostly special teams action in 2021 and 2022, Baker emerged as a receiving option in 2023 catching seven passes for 45 yards.

The goal for his redshirt senior season is to break into UCF's primary receiver rotation.

"I haven't done anything I want to do yet," Baker said. "To keep the story short, I'm on a revenge tour."

Baker is anxious to prove he's an all-around receiver, living up to the potential he had coming out of high school when he was one of the top players in Central Florida.

Hall of Fame defensive lineman Warren Sapp is headed back to the classroom in order to be more of a hands-on coach for the Colorado Buffaloes.

Deion Sanders added the 51-year-old Sapp to the staff as a graduate assistant, which paves the way for him to work on the field with the team. Sapp, who's taking classes, introduced himself to the Buffaloes as the senior quality control analyst -- a mouthful, he added -- but that role would limit his involvement on the field.

"We're building mansions here," Sapp said to the team when he was introduced by Sanders to the group in a video posted on YouTube. "That's why I'm here, to help you build your mansion."

The University of Miami standout spent 13 seasons in the NFL with Tampa Bay and the Oakland Raiders. Sapp was the 1999 AP Defensive Player of the Year and won a Super Bowl title with the Buccaneers following the 2002 season.

Sapp, who finished his career with 96½ sacks, is looking forward to working alongside Sanders and the rest of the staff.

"I've been a Deion Sanders fan since I was 12 years old," Sapp said in the video posted through Well Off Media, which is run by Deion Sanders Jr. "We're all here for the man. Let's go ride -- championship time."

In 2015, Sapp took a plea deal that spared him jail time in a Las Vegas criminal case involving a scuffle with his former girlfriend at a casino hotel swimming pool. The incident came months after Sapp was fired as an analyst for the NFL Network following his arrest in Phoenix for assaulting and soliciting a prostitute during Super Bowl weekend. He pleaded guilty to both charges, and the solicitation charge was dropped after he completed a diversion program.

“We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.” - Margaret Sanger, founder of ABCL, which evolved to Planned Parenthood.

She started “The Negro Project” in 1939, with the aim of expanding birth control services for Black communities in the south, according to the New York University’s project documenting Sanger’s writings.

The NYU’s Margaret Sanger Papers Project acknowledged that Sanger was a supporter of eugenics, selective breeding with specific characteristics, and described “The Negro Project” as controversial from the onset and “constructed in terms and with perceptions that today smack of racism.”

Welcome to The Knighted One’s Podcast, Episode number 32. We are the ONLY podcast that features a former UCF National Champion, a former UCF radio host, a INfamous rapper, and an IG star, shooting the breeze, talking UCF Sports.

This week we evaluate Dawkins' extension, talk big expectations for the Gus Bus, and dream about being the next Kings of Florida College Football. Oh...and without Roger and Josh we still managed to talk for two hours!

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

Introductions
Hoops News - 00:01:34
- Dawkins Gets Extended
- Is He Really The Answer?
- Having That Dawg In You
- Missing Leaders
- Addressing The Droughts
- Expecting More From Less
- Consistency Is Key
- The Last Clutch Games Need To Matter
- The Big Bad Portal Claims More Knights
- Bittersweet Goodbyes
- KJ Greene NLI Release
- College Players Have Commitment Issues
- An "Unsustainable" System
- Just Seeing Dollar Signs
UCF Football Talk - 01:03:52
- Spring Is In The Air
- Getting Hype For The Season
- QB Battle Is No Contest
- Defense Could Look Different
- The Cream Will Rise To The Top
- Already Having Big Talent
- Run Game Defense Importance
- Big Expectations For Our Talent
- Is The Gus Bus Overrated?
- Little Excuses This Season
- Needing Adjustments On Both SIdes of The Ball
- Gus' Recruiting Game
- Punching Back
- 10 Wins or Bust
- Setting The Culture With The Vets
- At Eye-Level With The Gators
- Gators Have A Lot To Lose
- A Tough Gauntlet To Run
UCF Baseball - 02:10:02
- UCF Ranks Top 25 In The Nation!
- Smack Jacksonville 6-0, Texas Tech 2-1 In Series
- Cooking In the Season So Far 18-7 Overalll and 6-6 in Conf.
UCF Athletic Sports Update - 02:13:58
- Softball Beat Texas Tech in Series 2-1
- Women's Tennis Takes The W Over Houston
- Men's Tennis Beat OSU but Fall to Oklahoma 4-0
Final Thoughts - 02:14:52

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No need to experiment on kids in Latin America , Phillipines and Africa anymore. Talk to any Filipino they know their kids were experimented on. Same in Africa , there are botched experiments from vaccine companies. Stanley Plotkin the so-called father vaccines is proud of experimenting on pregnant mothers in Africa

They're coming for rich kids next. No religious exemptions, no exceptions 💰🤦‍♀️

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Man, maybe I am getting older and grumpier, maybe the world is flooded with so much disinformation that I can no longer tell what is a joke and what is not, but April Fools day just seems less interesting than in years past.

On the first day of 2024 UCF Spring Football practice, new Knights QB KJ Jefferson spoke with Trace Trylko about his first 3 months in Orlando. KJ has been prioritizing learning - both the playbook and his new teammates. With a ton of talent on the offensive side of the ball, KJ is excited about what the offense could look like in 2024.

Click here to watch.

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Quadric Bullard, a defensive mainstay at UCF since his arrival in 2020, will play his fifth and final season this fall. We caught up with him following Tuesday's practice.

How is Ted Roof's defense different?

"The biggest difference is the pressure," Bullard said. "There's a lot more pressure on quarterbacks which leads to DBs capitalizing on interceptions. I'm liking the defense a lot."

Bullard said last Saturday's first scrimmage was "decent overall" but "not where we want it to be."

With no news organizations sharing anything significant about UCF football--I guess they decided to stop covering it since they don't have a roster--I figured I would weigh in with an update of my own.

Bolded names indicate projected starters.

One wide receiver spot is up for grabs.

With Kobi Hudson out for the time being, Chauncey Magwood and Bredell Richardson are splitting time at X. Goldie Lawrence, along with Trent Whittemore (for the time being) is playing the Z spot. Tyree Patterson appears to have slipped a little on the depth chart. Xavier Townsend and Jarrad Baker Jr. are manning the slot.

EDIT: Hudson, Magwood, and Richardson will be at X. Whittemore and Baker Jr. will battle for the slot. Townsend and Patterson will man Z.

Two offensive line spots remain undecided.

Amari Kight is the starting left tackle. His backup is anybody's guess. Adrian Medley and Cameron Kinnie are solid at left guard. Caden Kitler has locked up the center position. Waitclaire Flynn Jr. is trending toward being his reserve.

The right side of the offensive line is sketchy.
Marcellus Marshall is a definite starter either at RG or RT. Herb Hand has to determine who is the best fifth option among Jabari Brooks, Johnathan Cline, Paul Rubelt, Wes Dorsey, and Keyon Cox. None of the five guys have been rolled out to the media (which is very telling.)

Update: Rubelt, as of today, is the leading candidate to be the fifth starter.

The backfield of RJ Harvey, Johnny Richardson, Myles Montgomery, and Cam Ingram and quarterbacks JK Jefferson, Timmy McClain, Dylan Rizk, and Riley Trujillo is set for the spring.

Randy Pittman is the starter at tight end, but Grant Stevens has probably made the biggest jump on the depth chart. Ethan Morris is likely destined for Zach Marsh Wojan duties as the No. 3 TE.

Defensively, both DE positions were open.

Malachi Lawrence and Kaven Call are bookends, with Daylan Dotson pushing Call for Tre'Mon Morris-Brash's position. Jamaal Johnson is backing up Lawrence. Isiah Nixon is struggling at buck. Andrew Rumph is getting reps at strongside defensive end. Walk on Finau Fine will also get reps at SDE.

UCF may have the best interior defensive linemen in the Big 12, with Lee Hunter as the crown jewel. He will soon draw comparisons to Nick Fairley dangerous man. Ricky Barber is at Hunter's side. John Walker, Matthew Alexander, and Derrick LeBlanc round out the bunch who play.

Both linebacker positions were vacated.

MIke is manned by Great White Hope Ethan Barr, the only Caucasian on the defensive depth chart. His backup is Jesiah Pierre, Cam Vining, Kam Moore, and Troy Ford, Jr. Deshawn Pace is penciled at Will LB. Xe’ree Alexander and Andrew Harris are the backups. Ladarius Tennison, Quadric Bullard, and Braeden Marshall play the Knight LB/slot cornerback position.

Three positions are open in the defensive backfield.

Chosen Johnson and Brandon Adams are likely starters at cornerback. Antione Jackson is the top backup at both positions for the time being. Ja'Cari Henderson will return to the mix when Healthy. Nikia Martinez reprises his role as free safety. William Wells is his backup. Bryon Threats will start at strong safety. Demari Henderson will be his backup.

That's all I have, but more than you get from beat writers.

Updates: Hudson Gibbs is still on the team. Uncertain about Rian Davis.

Knights crack Top 25 after series win over Texas Tech​

For the first time since 2020, the UCF Knights Baseball team is ranked! Slotting in at 25th on D1Baseball’s list and 20thon Perfect Game’s top 25, the Knights have rolled the momentum of the last three weeks into the rankings.

Click here for more from Michael Theed about the week that was and the week ahead for UCF Baseball ... from the Sons of UCF.

Knights crack Top 25 after series win over Texas Tech​

For the first time since 2020, the UCF Knights Baseball team is ranked! Slotting in at 25th on D1Baseball’s list and 20thon Perfect Game’s top 25, the Knights have rolled the momentum of the last three weeks into the rankings.

Click here for more from Michael Theed about the week that was and the week ahead for UCF Baseball ... from the Sons of UCF.