Completely forgot about this in light of tonight's result, but administrators confirmed before the game that UCF will host South Carolina State to open the 2016 season.
This wasn't a surprise. If they couldn't come to an agreement with Miami - and the Citrus Bowl people were rumored to get in the middle of that negotiation - there simply wasn't any FBS school left available to play.
Maybe it's for the best. For the purpose of wins and losses, it probably doesn't make sense for a G5 to schedule an OOC slate full of challenging games. But for ticket sales purposes, Miami would have been a nice game to sell. Maryland may be Big Ten but doesn't have much appeal.
2016 non-conference schedule:
Sept. 3 - South Carolina State
Sept. 10 - at Michigan
Sept. 17 - Maryland
TBA - at FIU
Home Games: South Carolina State, Maryland, Cincinnati, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa
Away Games: Michigan, FIU, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, USF
This wasn't a surprise. If they couldn't come to an agreement with Miami - and the Citrus Bowl people were rumored to get in the middle of that negotiation - there simply wasn't any FBS school left available to play.
Maybe it's for the best. For the purpose of wins and losses, it probably doesn't make sense for a G5 to schedule an OOC slate full of challenging games. But for ticket sales purposes, Miami would have been a nice game to sell. Maryland may be Big Ten but doesn't have much appeal.
2016 non-conference schedule:
Sept. 3 - South Carolina State
Sept. 10 - at Michigan
Sept. 17 - Maryland
TBA - at FIU
Home Games: South Carolina State, Maryland, Cincinnati, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa
Away Games: Michigan, FIU, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, USF
