UCF Knights football coach Scott Frost has led a revival in Orlando in his first season back at the helm after a disastrous stint with the Nebraska Cornhuskers and a career rehabilitation stint on Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams staff.
Unfortunately, the team’s first road matchup didn’t go as planned. UCF took a 34-20 loss to the Kansas State Wildcats in the “Little Apple” this past weekend.
Things may get easier for the Knights. Or it may get tougher. It's genuinely hard to tell. Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde didn’t seem to have a grasp on how that stretch might go, given the Big 12’s parity.
“It’s a winnable October, with games against Kansas, Cincinnati and West Virginia. But also losable. Who knows with this league,” Forde wrote.
Experts don’t have a grasp on the Big 12 in the slightest, and haven’t for quite some time. The Arizona State Sun Devils were predicted to be the No. 16 team out of 16 in the expanded conference last year, but ended up with the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff field after dominating the Iowa State Cyclones in the Big 12 Championship Game.
The Big 12, as currently constructed, has a few blood feuds, the Utah Utes and BYU Cougars, ASU and Arizona Wildcats, and Baylor Bears and TCU Horned Frogs spring to mind, but it’s not a conference rich with history anymore.
Can UCF defeat the Kansas Jayhawks at home? Sure, but quarterback Jalon Daniels can easily spark a KU explosion offensively and quiet the Bounce House. How about the Cincinnati Bearcats on the road? UC owns one loss on the season, a three-point road loss in Lincoln to the Cornhuskers. They’ve looked impressive. The West Virginia Mountaineers could have things figured out by then, or Rich Rodriguez could be on the hot seat in Morgantown quicker than anyone could’ve imagined.
No result is guaranteed in college football, but it’s hard to tell how the Big 12 stacks up. Consider most of the conference’s games a crapshoot until further notice.