Knights stun Jayhawks, enter AP Top 25. Their dominant play ignites March Madness hopes and Big 12 dominance.
After the Knights' impressive 11-1 record in non-conference play, UCF hosted No. 17 Kansas for the team's Big 12 opener. After forty minutes of back-and-forth action, the Knights prevailed victorious 81-75, knocking off the Jayhawks for a statement conference-opener win.
Now, after the victory, the squad has cracked into the AP top 25 debuting at No. 25. This is just the second time UCF has been ranked during head coach Johnny Dawkins' tenure and is the first since 2019.
The Knights join No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 Iowa St., No. 7 Houston, No. 9 BYU, No. 14 Texas Tech, and No. 22 Kansas as the nation-leading seven teams ranked in the Big 12. The next closest conference is the Big Ten who currently claims six ranked squads.
As of Jan. 5, UCF ranks No. 32 in the NCAA NET rankings and has climbed to No. 43 on KenPom. According to Joe Lunardi's Bracketology (last updated Dec. 30th), the Knights are currently firmly in the mix for the program's first March Madness bid in over six years.
As of now, UCF sits as a nine seed and would take on an eight-seeded Georgia. However, in Lunardi's next update, I expect UCF to rise even higher thanks to their statement win this past Saturday.
Some outlets have already elevated UCF much higher in their rankings. CBS, for example, ranked UCF No. 19, giving credit to senior guard Riley Kugel for his nineteen-point performance. For context, the Knights (previously unranked) jumped blue bloods like North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and the recently defeated Kansas Jayhawks.
UCF has never ranked higher than No. 19 in the AP Poll, giving the team a new goal to strive for. However, it will not be a simple task as conference play is just heating up. The Knights will now face their first true road-test this Tuesday against Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys are coming off of a 102-80 road loss against No. 15 Texas Tech, but have been a juggernaut at home this season, accumulating a perfect 10-0 record. Last season, the teams split the two-game series, both winning on their home courts.
UCF will look to snap the Cowboys' home winning streak while protecting its own, which has now grown to eleven - the seventh longest active streak in the country. The newly-ranked No. 25 Knights travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma to defend their ranking Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.