In the past couple weeks we've taken a look at Athlon (UCF third in the AAC East) and Lindy's (UCF second in the AAC East). Today a glance through the annual Sporting News publication, which I located at Publix.
Front of the magazine has your standard top 25 breakdown. In what's becoming a trend, Boise State is No. 21 and their access bowl prediction.
Flipping over to the AAC pages, this is what I found for standings predictions:
East Division
1. Cincinnati
2. UCF
3. East Carolina
4. Temple
5. UConn
6. South Florida
West Division
1. Memphis
2. Houston
3. Navy
4. SMU
5. Tulane
6. Tulsa
And the bowl projections:
Cincinnati: Military Bowl
UCF: St. Petersburg Bowl
East Carolina: Cure Bowl
Memphis: Birmingham Bowl
Houston: Armed Forces Bowl
Navy: Miami Beach Bowl
It's a running tradition with The Sporting News having a poor understanding of bowl tie-ins. Last year, they thought UCF would appear in the Orange Bowl which would have been impossible. The Armed Forces Bowl is not in the AAC rotation this year (the Hawaii Bowl is) and they forgot to include the Boca Raton Bowl unless they don't think a seventh team attains eligibility. That said, I'm curious which is truly the "last place" AAC bowl (i.e. the one that wouldn't get a team). I'd think the Cure.
And UCF isn't going back to the Trop. It will be Miami Beach, Boca or Orlando if it's a Florida bowl.
Eric Bailey, the Tulsa beat writer for the Tulsa World, wrote the AAC preview which focuses on the Navy addition, divisions and championship game.
The Preseason All-AAC First Team has one UCF player: DL Thomas Niles. No Stanback. The RBs are Houston's Kenneth Farrow and USF's Marlon Mack.
They have a list of superlatives, including Fastest Receiver, Best Hands, Most Elusive RB, Best Instincts etc. Joey Grant was recognized for "Most Likely to Succeed Off the Field" for already working towards his master's in the DeVos Sport Business Management Program.
Willie Taggart is on the "Hottest Seat." Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium at ECU is "Best Venue" and Coach Ruff is "Best Recruiter." Can't say I agree about the latter.
Sporting News used "batter up Knightro" for their preview page logo.
So far, The Sporting News is the only preview to offer coach quotes in the individual previews. O'Leary made comments such as, "The program has one goal: To win the conference championship," and "I've been greatly impressed by our offense," and "I think it's the best front four (defensive line) that has been here."
The "bottom line" on UCF's 2015 season: "UCF knows how to win football games. It is one of the few schools nationally to win 30-plus games over the past three years. The date to circle on its schedule: Oct. 31 at Cincinnati.
