UCF's inaugural campaign in the Big 12, thru Winter Season

[Bring Back Wackadoos]

Heading into the Spring, here is how UCF teams finished in their first season in the Big XII:

Team, Conference Record, Conference Finish

W. Soccer, 5-4-1, 6th (predicted to finish 6th)
W. Volleyball, 8-10, T8th (predicted to finish 9th)
M. Basketball, 7-11, T11th (predicted to finish 14th)
Football, 3-6, T9th (predicted to finish 8th)
W. Basketball, 3-15, 14th (predicted to finish 14th)

Total: 26-46-1

Obviously, we all knew it wasn't going to be easy breaking into a new conference with stiffer competition across all sports. What are your thoughts so far regarding UCF's overall performance in the Big 12? Better than you thought? Worse? About what you expected?

 

[U C to the F]

Heading into the Spring, here is how UCF teams finished in their first season in the Big XII:

Team, Conference Record, Conference Finish

W. Soccer, 5-4-1, 6th (predicted to finish 6th)
W. Volleyball, 8-10, T8th (predicted to finish 9th)
M. Basketball, 7-11, T11th (predicted to finish 14th)
Football, 3-6, T9th (predicted to finish 8th)
W. Basketball, 3-15, 14th (predicted to finish 14th)

Total: 26-46-1

Obviously, we all knew it wasn't going to be easy breaking into a new conference with stiffer competition across all sports. What are your thoughts so far regarding UCF's overall performance in the Big 12? Better than you thought? Worse? About what you expected?

Football and MBB lost some games they shouldn’t have and both teams struggled on the road. Both sports have really tough competition in the Big12, no easy gimme games and will only get harder with the new adds.

The AAC had weak road game crowds and half the league was bad. We don’t have that anymore, which is great. Need to keep recruiting at a high level.

 

[DaShuckster]

What are your thoughts so far regarding UCF's overall performance in the Big 12? Better than you thought? Worse? About what you expected?

Overall, it was about what I expected, although to be honest, I thought the football team would fare better than it did.

In Big Boy Football, the key to success is recruiting and being a central Florida team bodes well for the Knights' future in the Big XII. Despite the usual "fire the coach" naysayers that you'll find with most CFB programs, UCF does have a good head coach and staff. This is particularly important for a program moving up to the old P5 level. You want a coach who knows what it will take to win a Big Boy conference.

I'm high on the Knights' future prospects. 👍

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

Despite the usual "fire the coach" naysayers that you'll find with most CFB programs, UCF does have a good head coach and staff.

I'm high on the Knights' future prospects. 👍

Gus will make believers of the jabronies in 2024.

 

[Central Floridave]

"Gus will make believers of the jabronies in 2024."

No Gus won't. He'll just make them go back in lurk mode and sit and wait for the first loss, then come back on the forum and say, "I told you so."

Concerning the original topic, I like the new Big12 conference and excited for the new teams coming in as well. Much More fun to play and compete against named quality opponents. Yea for never having to play the temples, tulsas, & temple terraces teams again. UCF has been in an upward trajectory for a long time and I like where we are right now!

Go Knights!

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

"Gus will make believers of the jabronies in 2024."

No Gus won't. He'll just make them go back in lurk mode and sit and wait for the first loss, then come back on the forum and say, "I told you so."

 

[BlakNGoldAllDay]

Heading into the Spring, here is how UCF teams finished in their first season in the Big XII:

Team, Conference Record, Conference Finish

W. Soccer, 5-4-1, 6th (predicted to finish 6th)
W. Volleyball, 8-10, T8th (predicted to finish 9th)
M. Basketball, 7-11, T11th (predicted to finish 14th)
Football, 3-6, T9th (predicted to finish 8th)
W. Basketball, 3-15, 14th (predicted to finish 14th)

Total: 26-46-1

Obviously, we all knew it wasn't going to be easy breaking into a new conference with stiffer competition across all sports. What are your thoughts so far regarding UCF's overall performance in the Big 12? Better than you thought? Worse? About what you expected?

Mens basketball is only one that did better than expected. Season not over yet.

 

[vroomba]

Its about what I expected jumping up in competition and having legit road environments. Even if performance wasn't great, I don't think we see any coaching changes in any of the sports until the full B12 check starts rolling in and a trend is set (3ish years).

Only thing that really worries me is the B10/SEC trying to commandeer the CFP and get themselves auto byes and take significant portions of the payouts. I'm surprised that hasn't been discussed on here, since it could be our biggest hurdle compared to competing within the B12.

 

[DIDIT]

It's a start, we didn't seem overwhelmed and appear to be building for a better future. Football was a bit of a let down but excited for the upcoming season...as always.

 

[goodknightfl]

It has been about as expected for me, maybe even a bit better than expected. I thought 6-6 to 7-5 in FB. In BB we have done better than I expected. Coach Dawkins has done a pretty darn good job. Knocking off 3 ranked teams, and over 500 for the season was a surprise for me. Baseball looks great so far.

 

[Poolside Knight]

Football was a disappointment.

We are a Football School. Let’s act like it. With the sport so uncertain in the future UCF can’t afford to be content with Gasparilla Bowls.

 

[lawknight]

It has been about as expected for me, maybe even a bit better than expected. I thought 6-6 to 7-5 in FB. In BB we have done better than I expected. Coach Dawkins has done a pretty darn good job. Knocking off 3 ranked teams, and over 500 for the season was a surprise for me. Baseball looked great until conference play started.

FIFY

 

[DaShuckster]

Football was a disappointment.

We are a Football School. Let’s act like it. With the sport so uncertain in the future UCF can’t afford to be content with Gasparilla Bowls.

I understand the sentiment but fans have to be realistic. This past season was UCF's introduction into a new, 'Power 5' world. Everything was different from before. Most of the opponents were new. The travel was different. The venues were different. And many of the away game crowds were big time. It's a huge adjustment, even if UCF had been returning a Top 25 team---which it wasn't.

Fan impatience is one of the killers to establishing a program with a solid foundation. Gus has proven himself to be a damn good college coach. The key thing about his leadership is that he knows what a championship-level team at the Big Dawg level looks like. That is no small deal for a program like UCF that's moved up to the Big XII.

There's likely to continue to be growing pains for awhile. But with experience -- and good recruiting -- I expect the Knights to show what they're capable of. Unfortunately, way too often, the pressure from critical fans has the AD "throwing the baby out with the bath water." Then guess what? It's back to Square One.

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

It's a huge adjustment, even if UCF had been returning a Top 25 team---which it wasn't.

Correct. Gus inherited the 62nd- (2018), 60th- (2019), 75th- (2020), and part of the 58th- (2021) ranked COMPOSITE recruiting classes in the nation.

In Gus gets any grace, it should be for the fact alone that he made a bowl game while overcoming the recruiting classes listed above. If not for the transfer portal, Gus would have struggled to have made bowl games in each of his three seasons, not just in 2023.

Fan impatience is one of the killers to establishing a program with a solid foundation. Gus has proven himself to be a damn good college coach. The key thing about his leadership is that he knows what a championship-level team at the Big Dawg level looks like. That is no small deal for a program like UCF that's moved up to the Big XII.

In the NFL, if you suck, you get chopped, Gus is doing things with UCF that no coach has been able to do. He is arguably the best coach in Florida and one of the top three in the Big 12.

Consider this: If you add up all of the collective successes of the other five FBS coaches in Florida, their accomplishments pale in comparison to Gus's.

There's likely to continue to be growing pains for awhile. But with experience -- and good recruiting -- I expect the Knights to show what they're capable of. Unfortunately, way too often, the pressure from critical fans has the AD "throwing the baby out with the bath water." Then guess what? It's back to Square One.

I think UCF is poised to have a good season in 2024. Now 2025, however, may be a train wreck.

 

[Gwoz]

Correct. Gus inherited the 62nd- (2018), 60th- (2019), 75th- (2020), and part of the 58th- (2021) ranked COMPOSITE recruiting classes in the nation.

In Gus gets any grace, it should be for the fact alone that he made a bowl game while overcoming the recruiting classes listed above. If not for the transfer portal, Gus would have struggled to have made bowl games in each of his three seasons, not just in 2023.

In the NFL, if you suck, you get chopped, Gus is doing things with UCF that no coach has been able to do. He is arguably the best coach in Florida and one of the top three in the Big 12.

Consider this: If you add up all of the collective successes of the other five FBS coaches in Florida, their accomplishments pale in comparison to Gus's.

I think UCF is poised to have a good season in 2024. Now 2025, however, may be a train wreck.

Weird how UCF was able to succeed in 2017-2018, with recruiting classes of 74, 70, 68, 50 leading up to it. Good thing Gus wasn't here.

 

[UCFhonors]

We should be in the conference title race every year in UCFootball. So that is a disappointment.

Men's basketball performed slightly better then expected. Women's baseketball was a huge disappointment.

In the Sun Belt, Men's Soccer impressively were #1 for weeks. But disappointed in the UCFirst round NCAA loss. Great season overall.

#UCFacts

 

[PositYourself]

Fan impatience is one of the killers to establishing a program with a solid foundation. Gus has proven himself to be a damn good college coach.

So what you're saying is, is that "damn good college coach" Gus should simply get a pass for blowing the Baylor game at home and then in another game (or two?) running the ball up the middle on goaline with no TO's and coming up with no points?

Any real "football" school would've burnt down his f'ing house and run him outta town before Saturday's sundown.

 

[Bring Back Wackadoos]

Now that a few folks have weighed in, I figured I would share my take. The fall/winter sports have gone mostly as expected.

My biggest disappointment was also football. The Baylor game was completely unacceptable. Finishing that game out alone changes our standing in the Big 12. The GT bowl game was also disgusting, but the point of this post was to focus on conference play.

Women’s Basketball is a shit show, but we knew that going in. A coaching move in that program should be coming down the road. Although, it’s a sport that’s already not creating revenue. So probably better off to just let the HC play out her contract before moving on (rather than dismissing her and finding a new HC - is that cost beneficial?).

Even with football slightly underachieving, UCF overall has held their own for the most part. If you take out WBB, UCF has won nearly 42 percent of their cumulative conference games. And I think that number will be even higher after the Spring.

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

Weird how UCF was able to succeed* in 2017-2018, with recruiting classes of 74, 70, 68, 50 leading up to it. Good thing Gus wasn't here.

*Against a bunch of no account Group of 5 opponents.

I added the asterisk for you.

 

[DaShuckster]

The Baylor game was completely unacceptable. Finishing that game out alone changes our standing in the Big 12.

That loss was also on the home fans. A mass exodus of fans at halftime was completely unacceptable. You're in the Big Leagues now Knight fans, act like it.

As a ravid CFB fan, I still SMH thinking about all the empty seats I saw on TV that day.

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

That loss was also on the home fans. A mass exodus of fans at halftime was completely unacceptable. You're in the Big Leagues now Knight fans, act like it.

As a ravid CFB fan, I still SMH thinking about all the empty seats I saw on TV that day.

They refuse to shoulder 1/1,00,000,000th of responsibility. They think homefield advantage is automatic.

One loud set of cheers could have caused one false start that ultimately could have changed the outcome of the game.

Down vote that!

 

[DaShuckster]

A thumb's down, positYourself? I imagined all those empty seats?

If you think other Big XII fan bases would have left the game with a big LEAD at the half, you're seriously delusional.

Fans of the other teams in your conference would have been relishing the start of the second half to rub the beatdown in their opponents faces with non-stop noise. If, for some crazy reason, the MO changed, they'd be there to add their support.

THAT, my friends, is Big Boy football in a Big Boy Conference.

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

A thumb's down, positYourself? I imagined all those empty seats?

If you think other Big XII fan bases would have left the game with a big LEAD at the half, you're seriously delusional.

Fans of the other teams in your conference would have been relishing the start of the second half to rub the beatdown in their opponents faces with non-stop noise. If, for some crazy reason, the MO changed, they'd be there to add their support.

THAT, my friends, is Big Boy football in a Big Boy Conference.

It was the first Big 12 win. Fans should have stayed if for no other reason than to rush the field (like they did during the first basketball win).

I remember done poster saying fans didn't know the significance of the game. My azz!

 

[muckdawg24]

Even Gus said he was disappointed in his first ever losing season. He did make changes and honestly that's all you can ask for because what we had didn't work. I am, in no way, defending Gus because as a game day coach, there have been several games where I'm like "am I that drunk?" A few different calls or outcomes and we're 8-4 and not 6-6.

Even fans now know that the team (and us) need to be in the game all 4 quarters. We aren't playing beat down U anymore.

 

[Bring Back Wackadoos]

Figured I would bump this with the updated information now that Spring (regular season) has concluded, here is how UCF teams finished in their first season in the Big XII:

Team, Conference Record, Conference Finish

M. Tennis, 4-3, 4th (predicted to finish 6th)
W. Soccer, 5-4-1, 6th (predicted to finish 6th)
W. Tennis, 7-6, T6th (predicted to finish 4th)
Baseball, 14-15, 8th (predicted to finish 10th)
Softball, 12-15, 5th (predicted to finish 5th)
W. Volleyball, 8-10, T8th (predicted to finish 9th)
M. Basketball, 7-11, T11th (predicted to finish 14th)
Football, 3-6, T9th (predicted to finish 8th)
W. Basketball, 3-15, 14th (predicted to finish 14th)

Total: 63-85-1 (.425 winning percentage)

 

[BlakNGoldAllDay]

Best was 4th. Don’t get how a Florida team doesn’t dominate in baseball and tennis and even golf. Play year round and lose to teams in Kansas and Oklahoma. Football should have been better. Gus not getting it done so far.

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

Football, 3-6, T9th (predicted to finish 8th)

UCF won't finish tied for 9th this season.

Gus not getting it done so far.

I have yet to see a scenario where Gus can back door into the Big 12 Championship Game with two conference losses and a non-league loss at Florida, but IF UCF can somehow reach the title game at 9-3, then the Knights can win the conference title as a spoiler and advance a round or two in the CFP, as a 12th-seeded Big 12 champion, before Gus suffers his fourth customary loss in the quarters or semis.

An 11-3 or 12-4 campaign would make for a magical 2024 season for UCF and "four-loss" Gus!

 

[BlakNGoldAllDay]

UCF won't finish tied for 9th this season.

I have yet to see a scenario where Gus can back door into the Big 12 Championship Game with two conference losses and a non-league loss at Florida, but IF UCF can somehow reach the title game at 9-3, then the Knights can win the conference title as a sporlii and advance two rounds in the CFP, as a 12th-seeded Big 12 Champ, before Gus suffers his fourth customary loss in the semis.

A 12-4 campaign would make for a magical 2024 season for UCF and "four-loss" Gus!

Even AAC he wasn’t dominant. Should have been 9 or 10 wins every year if you only played 1 P5 and Cincy as decent opponents. Hoping Jefferson is good because Plumlee was average at best.

 

[Bring Back Wackadoos]

Pretty much what you would expect for a first year after a jump in conference competition. Every sport finished right around expectations, if not a little above expectations.

Football was the most disappointing for sure. Losses are losses, no moral victories - I get it. But even their disappointing conference record could have easily been different (a couple losses by a point or two, a 30-point blown lead at home, etc.).

Womens Basketball seems to be our only sport at the moment that is far behind our conference competitors. Changes need to happen soon with that program, one way or the other.

 

[BlakNGoldAllDay]

Pretty much what you would expect for a first year after a jump in conference competition. Every sport finished right around expectations, if not a little above expectations.

Football was the most disappointing for sure. Losses are losses, no moral victories - I get it. But even their disappointing conference record could have easily been different (a couple losses by a point or two, a 30-point blown lead at home, etc.).

Womens Basketball seems to be our only sport at the moment that is far behind our conference competitors. Changes need to happen soon with that program, one way or the other.

I think her recruiting got better recently. But still not at B12 Level.

 

[connerito]

I think her recruiting got better recently. But still not at B12 Level.

The worst I saw was 5th in the league in football https://247sports.com/season/2024-football/compositeteamrankings/?Conference=Big 12

Basketball agree

 

[Square Knight]

Womens Basketball seems to be our only sport at the moment that is far behind our conference competitors. Changes need to happen soon with that program, one way or the other.

The previous UCF coach decimated the program when she took pretty much the whole team to Georgia with her. Current coach only just finished her second year. I think you have to give her at least two more years and see if she is able to build something.

 

[Tiemanster]

The previous UCF coach decimated the program when she took pretty much the whole team to Georgia with her. Current coach only just finished her second year. I think you have to give her at least two more years and see if she is able to build something.

While it's true the team was gutted there have been some crushingly bad decisions made outside of the players. They were in a lot of close games this year and not sure they won any of them. Against Houston they were down 1 with 20 seconds left and didn't even get a shot off. Against K State they tied it with about 5 seconds to go and gave up a winning layup to lose. The most damning was losing against a TCU team that didn't had only a handful of scholarship players available and had forfeited the previous two or three games.

I would hope that this is a make or break year because it's been ugly so far.

 

[PositYourself]

It was a success. UCF is vastly underfunded athletically compared to almost everyone else in the Big12. Our facilities are quite lacking as well (ahem! softball, baseball).

Everything considered, I give them one and half thumbs up. We've only got up up up.