UCF moves up in rankings in Power index and Sagarin

[UCFProf]

ESPN Power Index out and we moved up 16 spots to #82, just ahead of ECU as well as above Tulane, UConn, and SMU. Next targets are Temple (#70) and Tulsa (#69), and Cincy (#65).

Also at #82 in Sagarin, up from the mid-90s last week, with Temp, Tulsa, Cinci at 71, 69. and 65. Unusual agreement! But they have ECU up at #76, so should be a great test in front of a big boisterous crowd and a traditional rival for the two newly hired coaches.

Another opportunity to move up in the ratings by return to play against tougher opposition before UCF hits the tough part of its conference schedule. ECU, Tulane, Temple, and UConn are all winnable games: 3-1 would get UCF to 5-3 going into Houston (followed by Cincy playing here). That would make us 5-5 or 6-4 before taking on Tulsa and USF.

 

[Knight_Classes_begin_7pm]

keep chipping away

 

[Central Floridave]

So far we are two games better than last year! That FIU game was fun to watch coming off an 0-12 season. Finally...

 

[jetsaholic]

So far we are two games better than last year! That FIU game was fun to watch coming off an 0-12 season. Finally...

Agreed. We hadn't manhandled anybody since SMU in 2014. #FeelsGoodMan

 

[jtGoldenKnights]

I like how Miami has played virtually nobody and is 14th lol....Keep chipping away Knights!

 

[jlcolvin]

I've been impressed by Frost and the resiliency of your players so far. The last game of the season looks like it could be a high scoring event.

 

[SiberianKnightmare]

Agreed. We hadn't manhandled anybody since SMU in 2014. #FeelsGoodMan

We won the first game 38-0???

 

[KnightVision82]

Best surprise this season has been the defense. Keep it up!

 

[jetsaholic]

We won the first game 38-0???

Against a team that asked for the mercy rule against Clemson. Had it been an FBS school, any FBS school, I would look at it different. But that wasn't North Dakota State or any other FCS powerhouse, it was South Carolina State, a team we barely beat 17-0 in 2008, I might add.

I wasn't impressed by that win. Happy? Sure. Impressed? Not even close.

 

[80'sKnight]

If our team gets rattled by "big crowd" which will be less than half of what they played before 2 weeks ago, then they need to be benched and start over next year. (not really a serious post, just tired of hearing about ecu's crowd being big. Yes a bit bigger than ours, but nowhere near others).

 

[SiberianKnightmare]

Against a team that asked for the mercy rule against Clemson. Had it been an FBS school, any FBS school, I would look at it different. But that wasn't North Dakota State or any other FCS powerhouse, it was South Carolina State, a team we barely beat 17-0 in 2008, I might add.

I wasn't impressed by that win. Happy? Sure. Impressed? Not even close.

That is neither here nor there. You said we hadn't manhandled anybody. We did. 38-0.

It's your right to not be impressed but we were 0-12 last year and lost to Furman. FURMAN. In our first game under a new coach we manhandled a team that we probably would have lost to last year. If you are unimpressed because we didn't win 75-0, the problem is with your unrealistic expectations. A team that we barely beat by 3 scores 8 years ago. I'm not sure how that matters at all, but I included it because you did.

 

[jetsaholic]

That is neither here nor there. You said we hadn't manhandled anybody. We did. 38-0.

It's your right to not be impressed but we were 0-12 last year and lost to Furman. FURMAN. In our first game under a new coach we manhandled a team that we probably would have lost to last year. If you are unimpressed because we didn't win 75-0, the problem is with your unrealistic expectations. A team that we barely beat by 3 scores 8 years ago. I'm not sure how that matters at all, but I included it because you did.

In my opinion, you can't call it manhandling if it's an FCS team.

You're right, it's my right. I'm actually more impressed by the performance against Maryland than I am by the performance against FIU. At this level, we are supposed to beat FIU by 30 points. And at this level, we are supposed to destroy an FCS team by 60. That's all I'm saying. 0-12 was last year, this is a new year. I only mentioned the game from 8 years ago as an example, not as a measure.

I'm happy that we're 2-2. Shit, I'm ecstatic! I'm just not impressed. Hopeful? Yes, very. Impressed? Not yet.

 

[Mikesi]

If our team gets rattled by "big crowd" which will be less than half of what they played before 2 weeks ago, then they need to be benched and start over next year. (not really a serious post, just tired of hearing about ecu's crowd being big. Yes a bit bigger than ours, but nowhere near others).

I know. They usually get what 49,000?
55,000? Big freaking deal.

 

[Poolside Knight]

We won the first game 38-0???

at halftime of that first game I was still nervous about the result being in doubt, I didn't have that feeling during the FIU game. The QB change and the growing confidence of the players has made great strides since that 1st week

 

[ucfversusbcs]

Why the 2015 team didnt ask for the mercy rule towards the end of the year is beyond me.

 

[SiberianKnightmare]

At this level, we are supposed to beat FIU by 30 points. And at this level, we are supposed to destroy an FCS team by 60. That's all I'm saying. 0-12 was last year, this is a new year. I only mentioned the game from 8 years ago as an example, not as a measure.

It isn't that simple. This isn't XBox where you can just remake your own team and pump up all your players strength and speed numbers with a controller. It's completely unrealistic to expect a team that went 0-12 and looked bad doing it to suddenly beat any team by 60. It's not realistic to suddenly expect to beat a team we LOST TO last year by more than 52-14. It's simply not logical. That's "crazy fan" talk.

Based on your expectations, we should be a 9-10 win team this year. If we're beating FCS teams by 60 and FIU by 40+, why would we expect to be anything but the favorite to beat everyone except Houston and Michigan? Because the rest of our opponents aren't beating up cupcakes like that.

What Frost has done with the steaming pile of crap that this team was is nothing short of a miracle.

 

[jetsaholic]

It isn't that simple. This isn't XBox where you can just remake your own team and pump up all your players strength and speed numbers with a controller. It's completely unrealistic to expect a team that went 0-12 and looked bad doing it to suddenly beat any team by 60. It's not realistic to suddenly expect to beat a team we LOST TO last year by more than 52-14. It's simply not logical. That's "crazy fan" talk.

Based on your expectations, we should be a 9-10 win team this year. If we're beating FCS teams by 60 and FIU by 40+, why would we expect to be anything but the favorite to beat everyone except Houston and Michigan? Because the rest of our opponents aren't beating up cupcakes like that.

What Frost has done with the steaming pile of crap that this team was is nothing short of a miracle.

It is a miracle. These kids that were in last year's team are the equivalent of beat up puppies but Frost has been able to get them to like the sport again.

It's not crazy talk. Our worst recruiting class should be better than SC State or FIU. We are on a different level. Last year was an anomaly. I actually expect us to win 5-7 games and, tbh, as long as I see improvement, I don't care how many games we win.

The outcome of last Saturday's game is the outcome that should happen every time we play a program as FIU. Anything besides that outcome is an anomaly. 38-0 vs an FCS team is underwhelming for me. It felt good after going 0-12, but if we had gone 12-0, beating SC State 38-0 would've felt like "hmmm..." to almost everyone.

Having high expectations doesn't make them unrealistic. I expected us to get crushed by Michigan. I actually don't think we're going to beat ezu this weekend, but I'll be there rooting on my Knights regardless.