#ChargeOn Today: See you later, Gators π β Turf makeover π₯ β Stacked schedule π
Itβs not every day that Terrell Owens pays your school a visit! The former NFL wide receiver was on campus for his daughter, Kylee Owens, who was attending a volleyball camp at The Venue. Weβll have more on the volleyball squad in a bit.
First, some major football scheduling newsβ¦
Todayβs read is 4 minutes β²οΈ
Trending in the Kingdom: Plans for 2030? π
UCF AD Terry Mohajir is on the brink of getting the Florida Gators on the football schedule
You may want to look away, Danny White. That bold-yet-noble stance you took three years ago, refusing to accept a 2-for-1 scheduling offer from the Florida Gators? Yeah, itβs about to go up in smoke.
Hereβs the scoop: UCF is finally set to agree on a football series with the Florida Gators, and itβs going to be of the 2-for-1 variety, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Hereβs the proposed timeframe for the three games:
2024: UCF at Florida (Gainesville)
2030: UCF vs. Florida (Orlando, at the Bounce House)
2033: UCF at Florida (Gainesville)
Thereβs clearly been a swap in scheduling philosophy with a new AD in town. White was adamant about UCFβs stance on scheduling home-and-homes, saying in a December 2018 interview that UCF is already a major program and doesnβt need to settle for an uneven series with a Power 5 school.
βWe just finished the last two regular seasons in the top 10. Weβve accomplished a lot. Weβve won two New Yearβs Six bowl games in the last five years. Weβre about to play in our third. We donβt need to be doing 2-for-1βs. I donβt think anybody in our position in college football would agree to a 2-for-1 unless it was in our favor because I think our program is in that place.β - Danny White, per Brandon Helwig of UCFSports.com.
White even slammed USF for its 2-for-1 deals with Florida and Miami, saying itβs a βprecedent I donβt like being setβ in the AAC, but thatβs a stance that apparently left Orlando on January 21, when White took off for Tennessee.
So, will it be a 2-for-1 free for all now? I wouldnβt go that far, but new Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir and head football coach Gus Malzahn have been pretty clear on their scheduling philosophy. When Malzahn was hired, he was asked about scheduling tougher opponents, even if its an uneven series, and said βIβll play out in the parking lot,β which explains this cryptic tweet from the UCF Football account on Wednesday.
USF has 2-for-1 series scheduled against Florida (2021, 2022 and 2025), Alabama (2023, 2024 and 2026) and Miami (2025, 2027 and 2028) in the coming years, but I donβt expect UCF to go that crazy.
So, on the rumored 2-for-1 dealβ¦
π The pros: The obvious here is that three games against the Florida Gators drastically improves UCFβs non-conference strength of schedule in 2024, 2030 and 2033. Mohajir needs to fill open slots in a bad way, and this helps, for sure. We examined the scheduling conundrum in a previous edition, but thereβs a clear need for high-quality opponents, when you look at the future slate.
2022: at FIU, vs. Louisville, at FAU, vs. Georgia Tech
2023: at Boise State, vs. BYU
2024: at BYU, vs. Liberty
2025: vs. North Carolina, FAU
2027: at North Carolina
Thereβs two slots open in 2023, 2024, and 2025, so Mohajir has his work cut out for him.
π The cons: For starters, it feels like UCF wonβt even need these type of Power 5 opponents on the schedule to make the playoff in 2024 and beyond. With the playoff headed for expansion, reportedly to 12 teams, all UCF has to do is beat the G5 teams on their schedule to get in. Whatβs the need to play schools like Florida, Florida State or Miami if being the best G5 team secures you a spot? We wouldnβt have to.
The other factor here is even though White was the driving force behind the refusal to accept a 2-for-1 deal, it seemed to fall in line with how most of the UCF fanbase felt. This sort of feels like giving in, to a degree.
π€ My take: Any time you can add a team with this type of pull, interest and pageantry, Iβm game. Florida will always pull the elitist card and UCF will fight to prove it belongs in the Big 3, which they do. It helps build up the in-state drama that has been missing from UCFβs Saturdays for far too long. Also, consider what this could do from a financial standpoint for UCF, especially coming off pandemic shortfalls. Iβm interested to see the payout for this series - and what UCF will pocket for traveling up to Gainesville twice. Look, I damn sure want to play the βwe donβt need youβ card, but Iβm all for kicking the Gators ass, whether it be in Gainesville or at the Bounce House. LFG.
Oh, and this tweet got me good π€£
When the gators finally play in the Bounce House https://t.co/iTrFouGRzF https://t.co/MhNynOTA82
Itβs worth reminding you that UCF has never beaten the Gators in football, losing 58-27 in 1999 and 42-0 in 2006. Chris Leak had a career day in that most recent game in Gainesville and Tim Tebow played a quarter-plus against the Knights in the game. Back then, head coach George O'Leary said, βweβre just not at that stage yet that Florida plays.β
Canβt wait to show them what stage weβre on three years from now.
Knights of the Roundup ππβΎ
We love when πππ πππ£πͺπ is packedπ€#ChargeOn https://t.co/yiDqfBqRKA
π You talk about scheduling for the football team, how about the upcoming opponents for Todd Dagenaisβ club? It reads like a Top 25 program should. UCF has 32 matches on the slate, with 16 at home, including against some huge Power 5 opponents. Hereβs some of the big-name matches:
Aug. 27: Georgia tech (home)
Aug. 28: St. Johnβs
Aug. 28: Penn State (home)
Sept. 2: Clemson (away)
Sept. 2-3: South Carolina (away)
Sept. 10: Florida State (home)
Sept. 11: Georgia (home)
Sept. 16: Miami (away)
Oct. 13: USF (away)
Nov. 17: USF (home)
βThis is by far the most difficult schedule we have ever tried to put together and while itβs going to provide us with some very difficult challenges in terms of opponents, itβs also going to go a long way in building the necessary RPI that we need to be recognized as one of the top volleyball teams in the nation,β - Todd Dagenais, head coach
UCF is looking for its fourth-straight conference championship and returns a ton of its talent, including the reigning AAC Player of the Year, outside hitter McKenna Melville.
π How about that new turf inside the Nicholson Fieldhouse? The indoor practice facility got a much-needed upgrade thanks to the team at Geo Surfaces. The original turf was installed in 2004, so yeah, a facelift was long overdue. The overhead view is even prettier.
UCF baseball will begin to install some of the new turf in September in some of the areas in foul ground, so thatβs cool. Money for the new turf was already included in the budget for facility upgrades.
βΎ It was cool to see three Knights selected in the MLB Draft this week, with pitcher Colton Gordon (8th round, Houston Astros), catcher Josh Crouch (11th round, Detroit Tigers) and pitcher Jack Sinclair (16th round, Washington Nationals) all picked. It marks the 14th year in a row a Knight has been drafted.
Overall, 111 Knights have been drafted in the programβs 48-year history.
By Ryan Bass
The #ChargeOn Today Newsletter is dedicated to covering trending UCF Athletics news and topics. Have some feedback? Shoot me a message: chargeontoday@gmail.com
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