Tag: Central Florida Knights

Top Big 12 nonconference games includes this Florida matchup

The in-state battle between the Gators and Knights is one of the Big 12’s top nonconference games this season.

It is no secret that Florida football faces one of the toughest schedules in the nation this fall but the Gators also represent a robust opponent for a few teams out there as well.

College Sports Wire’s Patrick Conn recently broke down the top five nonconference matchups for the Big 12’s 2024 campaign, with the Orange and Blue taking on the UCF Knights as the final entry on the list.

“We have a Sunshine State matchup between the UCF Knights and Florida Gators in Week 6 of the 2024 season,” Conn begins.

“These two teams have only met three times in their history, the last being a 29-17 UCF win in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl in Gus Malzahn’s debut season with the Knights. The previous two matchups came in 1999 and 2006, the Gators won both matchups by a combined 100-27 margin. The latter matchup finished with a 42-0 score in favor of Florida.”

Conn continues by noting the number of Power Four matchups the two programs face.

“This is one of three Power Four matchups in nonconference play for the Gators, by far the most among power conference teams. The Knights are hoping to have a better go in year two of the Big 12 after finishing just 6-7 and 3-6 in conference play.”

Florida’s 2024 season opener

Florida and the Miami Hurricanes — another tough nonconference opponent for the Gators — open their schedule on Aug. 31 in Gainesville, Florida. Kickoff time is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ABC Sports.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida basketball’s NIT loss to UCF Knights

Take a look back at highlights from Florida’s season-ending loss.

Florida basketball’s 2022-23 season came to an abrupt close in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament at the hands of the UCF Knights, who earned the upset victory 15 months after the school beat the Gators in a football bowl game — both of which sealed losing seasons for the two respective UF programs.

The Gators were bad in every phase of the game and were humiliated by the Knights, 67-49. Todd Golden’s team could not shoot, could not defend and did not take care of the ball, sending them to their sixth loss at home for only the second time in 25 years. Riley Kugel led Florida with 13 points but was also just 4-for-12 from the field with three turnovers.

Take a look below at highlights from Florida basketball’s disappointing culmination to the current campaign against their in-state foes, the UCF Knights, inside the O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida.

 

Florida basketball accepts NIT invite, to host UCF on Wednesday

The Gators accepted their NIT invite and will play UCF on Wedensday.

Florida basketball punched its ticket to postseason play on Sunday night when it received an invitation to play in the National Invitation Tournament this March. The fourth-seeded Gators are slated to face the Central Florida Knights on Wednesday inside the O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida.

The winner of Wednesday night’s tangle between Sunshine State schools will earn the opportunity to take on the winner of the Oregon Ducks vs. UC Irvine Anteaters on either Saturday or Sunday.

The Orange and Blue are No. 62 in the NET rankings with a 16-16 record overall along with a 2-13 mark in Quadrant 1 competition, 1-2 in Quad 2, 9-1 in Quad 3 and 4-0 in Quad 4. The Black and Gold, on the other hand, finished up at No. 71 with an 18-14 overall record that includes a 2-6 mark in Quad 1, 3-4 in Quad 2, 4-4 in Quad 3 and 9-0 in Quad 4 games.

The third-seeded Gators defeated the Iona Gaels in the first round of the NIT last season but ultimately fell in the second round against the Xavier Musketeers. This season’s appearance will be the 12th for the program in the historic tournament.

The competition will begin on March 14 at campus sites of the higher-seeded schools. Fans subscribed to ESPN+ will also be able to stream the show while there is an additional option to stream by subscribing to fuboTV, which offers a 7-day free trial for new users when you sign up.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1365]

[mm-video type=video id=01gvcf927a2bznn4m027 playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gvcf927a2bznn4m027/01gvcf927a2bznn4m027-9bde47dbdccacfadbdb3af94826005a4.jpg]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

This UCF golfer broke her own record after one day, a wind cancellation in Hawaii and more highlights from the last week in college golf

Here’s what you need to know from the last week in college golf.

It’s February, which means college golf is again in full swing.

That means there are multiple tournaments every week, as teams look to quickly get into form ahead of regionals and the NCAA Championships, which will be at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the final time before moving to San Diego next year.

Each week, Golfweek will put together a roundup of the best individual and team performances from across the country, as teams continue on the road to Grayhawk, highlighting spectacular performances and keeping you up to date on which teams are making a title push.

Here’s what you need to know from the last week in college golf.

USA TODAY Sports’ bowl projections has Gators playing a familiar in-state foe

According to USA TODAY Sports’ latest bowl projections after the regular season, the Florida Gators will face a familiar in-state opponent in December

USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith released his updated bowl projections following the final week of the college football regular season. He projects the Florida Gators will take on the Central Florida Knights in the Birmingham Bowl to be played on Tuesday, Dec. 27 in what would be would be the second-straight postseason that UF and UCF play each other. The Knights beat the Gators 29-17 in last year’s Gasparilla Bowl.

Florida finished the season at 6-6, with all five of their six losses coming in SEC play. The other loss was against in-state rival Florida State last week. The regular season had its ups and downs, with the Gators coming out of the gate with a massive win over Utah, but then they then lost to Kentucky the following week and had inconsistent performances all season long.

At times, they looked like they turned a corner. Then, they would inexplicably lose games to opponents like Vanderbilt. Ultimately, [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] will receive the extra practices that come with playing in a bowl game, something that every first-year coach wants to have.

UCF finished their regular season at 9-3 and will be playing in the American Athletic Conference championship game on Saturday. A win would not only give them the conference title, but they would be the front runners to represent the Group of Five at the Cotton Bowl. With their move to the Big 12 next season, this is their last opportunity to be the automatic New Year’s Six representatives that the Group of Five is guaranteed.

If the Knights are going to play the Gators in the Birmingham Bowl, that would mean they lose to Tulane on Saturday, a team they beat earlier in the season. They are coming off a win over USF that saw them blow a 28-point lead at one point and required their backup quarterback to lead them down the field to score the game-winning touchdown with seconds to spare.

With conference championship games this weekend, bowl assignments will be put on hold until Sunday afternoon. The College Football Playoff Selection Show will announce the four playoff teams first, followed by the New Year’s Six bowl games. After those have been announced, individual bowl games will be to be announced throughout the day.

[mm-video type=video id=01gjx6vaz8tcbetbenrf playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gjx6vaz8tcbetbenrf/01gjx6vaz8tcbetbenrf-6b51a8614f2a12246d6428aafe740ec5.jpg]

[lawrence-related id=96895,96813,96812,96682]

[listicle id=96880]

[listicle id=96836]

[listicle id=96804]

[listicle id=96736]

[vertical-gallery id=96674]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today!

Phil Steele’s full 2022 preseason college football top 40 rankings

What does Phil Steele’s preseason top 40 look like? Which programs are the favorites to reach the College Football Playoff?

Phil Steele is one of the top voices in all of college football. His annual college football preview magazine is something fans look forward to every year.

Now, we get a look at his preseason top 40 college football rankings. The Iowa Hawkeyes are inside his top 20 after winning the Big Ten West in 2021. How many other Big Ten teams find their way inside the top 40?

According to Phil Steele, seven Big Ten teams will finish inside the top 40. Is one of them perhaps his predicted national champion? Let’s take a look below at how Phil Steele projects all of the top 40 to shake out in 2022.

The definitive, final, ‘show me the money’ top 25 future Big Ten expansion candidates

If the Big Ten expands again in the future, this is the list of teams and the rankings that Big Ten brass should operate from.

Enough talk about who fits in academically with the Big Ten through their Association of American Universities ranking. Let’s get down to brass tax. Who can Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren add that increases everyone’s bottom line?

Let’s end the charade. That’s what all of this expansion business is about anyways. Warren and others can act like it’s about respected research universities, but this is about dollars and cents. It’s why he convinced Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff that they were on the same team, and then turned around and poached his league’s two biggest assets.

For the most part, this isn’t about regional fits anymore. USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten in 2024 shows us that. Now, adding a dance partner or two for the Trojans and Bruins makes sense, but only if it enhances the league members’ per-school payouts.

So, what should the top 25 big board of future Big Ten expansion candidates look like? Feel free to reference this list as needed Mr. Warren. It’s the “Show Me the Money” rankings. If your school isn’t on this list, sorry, you’re not joining the Big Ten conference now or in the future.

For our friends over in Ames, Iowa, save your time. Iowa State isn’t joining the Big Ten and, in fact, they’re not in the top 25 pool of candidates either. This is about TV ratings and expanding market shares. The Cyclones don’t add anything that the Big Ten doesn’t already have with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Every program is fair game so long as they aren’t already in the Big Ten or SEC.Without further ado, here’s the official, no-need-to-look-anywhere else top 25 future Big Ten expansion candidates.

Florida football cracks top 5 for this 4-star linebacker

UCF might’ve been the first Florida school to offer 4-star LB Malik Bryant, but Billy Napier and the Gators are now firmly in the mix.

Four-star Jones (Orlando, Florida) linebacker [autotag]Malik Bryant[/autotag] plans to make his college decision on July 23 and that means it’s time to cut down the list of 40 offers to a top five. The Florida Gators made that list on Monday along with Alabama, Miami, UCF and USC.

Bryant has an official visit scheduled with Florida on June 10. He’s already been to Gainesville twice this spring and has developed a strong relationship with the new staff. In an essay written by Bryant and published in the Montgomery Advisor, the 6-foot-2-inch, 235-pounder opened up about what made each of his top programs stand out. For Florida, the staff is everything.

“I like that when the new staff came in how they got a grip in recruiting,” Bryant said in his essay. “They know their guys and they’re recruiting the families. I like their scheme and how they want to use me all over the field, how they can set me up to make plays. Everybody I’ve talked to on their team, even with them losing their old staff and getting a new staff, they still feel at home and that says a lot.”

UCF was Bryant’s first offer and it came when he was a freshman and that seems to have stuck with him. Miami and USC are in roughly the same boat as Florida after changing coaches over the offseason, and Alabama is always in the mix for the nation’s elite.

Bryant played at Jones for his freshman year and transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He’s announced his return to Jones for his senior year, but Napier’s interest in IMG players could reunite him with some former teammates if all goes in favor of the Gators.

Bryant is the No. 35 overall recruit in the class of 2023, according to the 247Sports composite, and is also ranked No. 2 among linebackers.

[mm-video type=video id=01g197pq4xejztknfft6 playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g197pq4xejztknfft6/01g197pq4xejztknfft6-f2ba5a1feb4572b4013e201f48d2a8df.jpg]

[lawrence-related id=83248,83236,83184,83128,83125]

[listicle id=83276]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Good, Bad and Ugly: A post mortem of UF’s embarrassing Gasparilla Bowl loss

The Gators Wire staff gives its farewell words in the aftermath of the Gasparilla Bowl.

Perhaps it was a fitting end to one of the more frustrating seasons for the Gators in recent memory when the Central Florida Knights beat them in the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl on Thursday night. The win gave UCF sole claim as the best college football team in the state of Florida and sent UF packing with its first losing season since 2017.

While the tumultuous campaign endured by the Orange and Blue was completely unexpected, the program’s performance in the consolation bowl game was not — at least to anyone who has watched this team since the loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in Week 5.

In Pat Dooley’s words:

It was ugly. Again.

It was a loss. Again.

Florida finished off a disappointing season with a disappointing loss. The brutal finish was secondary to seeing Justin Shorter carted off the field at the end, but we will deal with the football for now.

The good, the bad and the ugly of the bad finish to a bad season:

Sunday Brunch: How the Knights trampled the Gators in the Gasparilla Bowl

Pat Dooley serves up his Sunday brunch with a side of sadness.

These are a few of my least favorite things about this football team.

When the flags fly.

When the pass is dropped.

When Emory Jones is bad.

I think of a few of my least favorite things and everything seems … so … sad.

A deep dive into another terrible loss for the Gators with a special Friday Brunch: